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Hi All
Following on from my last post, I wanted to add a bit about my assessment on the dome. Anyone interested in purchasing this or something similar may find this helpful.
Originally, I was going to go with a roll off option. I had a few concerns about the dome option. I was worried that it would become a hotbox sitting in clear full sun all day. I was worried about water getting into the dome. And I was concerned about how it would handle the wind. I felt comfortable that all these issues could be addressed in building a roll off. It was the potential for wind and the slit design that convinced me to go for this style dome.
I should also add that I was intending to build a solid floor on the deck, using blueboard or something similar. This was to attempt to better seal the dome from water and crawling things (snakes and scorpions). The advice I got was to have a gap between floor boards to allow water to run through. Concerning! But I heeded the advice, and it has worked well. The floor boards have a 5 mm spacing and I put down a layer of flyscreen under the boards.
The temperature issue. I have very good clear horizons and the Dome gets sunshine pretty well from sunrise to sunset. But it hasn't been a problem. On day 1 at 1 pm the outside temperature was 29.5 and the inside temperature was 22.4 degrees. The next day, at 1 pm the outside temperature was 33.5 degrees and the inside temperature was 25.7. On the first day, at 6 pm the outside temperature had dropped to 14.3 and the inside temperature was 15.4. The daytime temperatures in the Dome were taken with the Dome totally closed. I am quite happy with that.
The water issue. There have been two storms since I constructed the Dome. So far, not a drop of water has come inside. Not a drop. Nothing. Totally dry. Extremely happy with that. And I didn't use any sealant or glue on any joins.
The wind issue. As I have previously said, we get fairly constant wind from the south. Last night I was in the Dome with a strong wind coming in from the south east. I would guess somewhere around 20km/h with gusts to 25. I was expecting it to be draughty, and maybe a bit noisy. Nope. I moved the Dome around and it was very rock solid. The only time it got a bit of a windy howl was when the slit pointed about 45 degrees into the wind. Once again, very happy.
Now for my new mount and some clear sky.
Darrell
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