The large upstairs living/dining room boasts
bright windows from eye periphery on the left to eye periphery on
the right. The view here doesn't do it justice as one looks across
the dining room built-in counter. The domed room is about 30 feet
across
These pictures were taken at night, as you can see, without the aid of professional photography equipment. To the human eye the home is bright and open with lots of light.
To the rear of the living/dining room a
spacious gazebo-like kitchen is open and airy. In the winter one
can relax in the living room and feel the radiant heat coming down
from the top of the dome as heat pours into the home from the warm
(specially insulated) heat storing earth around the home. It's like
setting in the sun shine. Walking into the kitchen, with its false
ceiling, feels like stepping into the shade...in fact it is.
Down stairs in the dome, the large family room
has the open stair case to the upstairs and more windows. To the
left is the door to the master bedroom, and behind the cameraman is
a wood stove that has been used on occasion over the past 16 years,
but is only needed if one likes the temperature to be above 70.
Spring time is the coolest time underground as the home has used up
its heat store from the previous summer's stored heat. And as the
days warm up, and the interior temperature attempts to rise, the
earth around the building will extract the extra heat, preventing
the home from getting too hot during the long hot Montana summers.
It then saves that heat for the following winter.
Still, the most advanced book available on the subject is "Passive Annual Heat Storage, Improving the Design of Earth Shelters." This 1983 text is still quite up to date as it teaches the basic methods of understanding natural heat flow methods that never change. Other supplementary materials, home plans and instruction videos are available.
You can order books, videos, and papers on a large variety of topics which are available from the
Rocky Mountain Research Center.