kscans

Chapter 128 - A Beginning for the Otherworld Thermostatic Chamber 3. The Culture/Cultivation Laboratory (Part 2)

Although he had somehow obtained the constant-temperature magic formula, he had no choice but to create the heating equipment itself from scratch. What Yuri had in mind was a type of central heating. It was a method of heating the room by circulating warm water through pipes under the floor and relying on the heat radiated from them. With this, there was no risk of the temperature rising above one hundred degrees, and he thought it would have few problems in terms of safety.

"But... I don’t think I can make a radiator properly... so for the time being at least, I’ll have to rely on the heat radiating from the pipes."

The idea was to monitor the room temperature with the constant-temperature magic tool, the thermostat, and if the temperature got too high, he would stop the supply of hot water to the pipes. With heating from under the floor, the warm air probably wouldn't just stagnate at the top of the room.

"Ah... but maybe it's better not to place chemicals and that sort of thing in low places."

Because it would be warm, the risk of deterioration due to temperature would increase. This was a point he would need to be careful about. Depending on the situation, he might need to install radiators and switch to a system where heat is dissipated from there, but that was something he wouldn't know until he actually operated it and saw how it went.

"In that case... do I also need to think about insulation under the floor?"

He had vaguely thought of making it well-ventilated like a Japanese house, but if he was going for underfloor heating like an ondol, perhaps he should prioritize airtightness. But if he did that...

"Hmm... since it's circulating hot water... I’m concerned about the humidity. Condensation, even without leaks..."

If it were a stone structure like the fermentation storeroom, it would be fine, but in the case of a wooden building, the decay of the foundation could become a problem. As Yuri pondered what to do, he decided to design it so that the underfloor area could be opened up only in the summer, since he wouldn't be using the heating equipment then. He would just have to use it for one winter and check the condition of the underfloor area. If any problems arose, he would deal with them then.

"And then... there’s the matter of what to do if the room temperature gets too high."

As someone who actually used underfloor heating, he didn't think it was something to worry too much about, but this time the subject was a highly airtight hut, so the circumstances were a little different from heating a whole house. He had to take that into consideration, and in any case, there was a possibility that the room temperature would get too high in the summer. A window for ventilation would be essential. He planned to make this a glass window as well for lighting, but he would also have to think about placing it in a way that would allow for good airflow.

"...Or rather... since it’s a constant-temperature experimental chamber, do I need to think about cooling too?"

He worried that it would be a hassle, but fortunately, the summers here weren't as hot and humid as in Japan. While it was hot outdoors in direct sunlight, it became reasonably cool once you entered the shade. The room temperature probably wouldn't rise that much, and more importantly, he had no intention of conducting experiments that required such strict temperature control. He optimistically decided it would probably be fine.

Since it was also a practical test of the thermostatic chamber itself, he decided to try building a wooden hut for now, but...

"Hmm... no matter how I think about it, it looks like I’m going to be tight on planks..."

He had thought he had secured enough lumber to build a house, but the amount he had used for repairing damaged houses was more than he had expected. If he set aside a certain amount of spare material in case of an emergency, the amount of usable lumber would become even more scarce.

"But on the other hand... if I make the hut too small, adjustments and things might become a hassle when I try to put it into practical use..."

Since it was also a practical test of the constant-temperature experimental chamber itself, it was a problem if the size was too different from the storeroom to which he eventually wanted to apply the constant-temperature system.

"And... if I make the walls double for insulation, I’ll definitely run out of planks..."

He also considered making the entire thing with Earth Magic, but,

"Then there's the risk of it becoming unbearably hot in the summer... I’m worried about the humidity too..."

He didn't know much about what a house made with Earth Magic was like, but he did know the properties of concrete, a similar material. He had heard that it had a large heat capacity, so it was slow to warm up and slow to cool down. In Japan, he seemed to recall that the surface temperature of concrete baked by the summer sun didn't drop even at night, and it was one of the causes of the heat island phenomenon. If a house made of Earth Magic was similar, there was a risk of the temperature getting too high in the summer. With no prospect of cooling technology, this was an extremely bad situation. As for what would happen in winter, it was possible that it would take a long time for the room to warm up, in other words, it would require a lot of heat. Once it reached and maintained a constant temperature, it might not be so inconvenient.

"Hmm... I might be able to change the specific heat of the walls by messing with the Earth Magic settings... but that could affect the strength..."

Perhaps because Yuri wasn't well-versed in Earth Magic, he wasn't quite sure about that. For the time being, he judged that it would be better not to mess with the default settings.

Considering all this, it felt like it would be better to stop building the experimental chamber with Earth Magic. But that didn't clear the situation of the lumber shortage...

"...No, what if I add another wall made of Earth Magic to the outside of the wooden house? If I leave a gap between it and the house’s wall, couldn’t that possibly work as an insulated structure?"

Was it that necessity is the mother of invention... or should one say that poverty dulls the wits? Yuri came up with a strange idea. In short, he was proposing to make only the outer part of a double wall with Earth Magic. In his past life in Japan, plywood was sometimes used for the interior of concrete buildings, so perhaps it wasn't such a strange idea.

"Ah... but with this, it would be a hassle if rainwater or something got into the gap between the walls. ...Maybe I should just make hollow blocks and attach them to the outside."

He also had a feeling that if he stuffed the hollow part of the blocks with straw as insulation, it would be quite useful. When summer came, he could just remove the blocks. Fortunately, with Earth Magic, attaching and detaching them was instantaneous.

"With this method, I probably won’t run out of wood... no, wait a minute?"