If YETI can make a cup that keeps water cold or hot for hours and a cooler that holds ice for hours, then why aren’t we building houses with that same material?

Question

If YETI can make a cup that keeps water cold or hot for hours and a cooler that holds ice for hours, then why aren’t we building houses with that same material?

In: 824

Answer 1

We do, they are called [Earthships](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVp5koAOu9M). 6 foot walls surrounded by 4 to 8 inches of insulation. Roofs sometimes 14 inches thick of insulation. Double walls before the interior living space. Big learning curve, but they feel more grounded, embraced and balanced living in. I actually have many Yetis for us while building our Earthship.

Answer 2

We do, they are called [Earthships](https://youtu.be/wVp5koAOu9M). 6 foot walls surrounded by 4 to 8 inches of insulation. Roofs sometimes 14 inches thick of insulation. Double walls before the interior living space. Big learning curve, but they feel more grounded, embraced and balanced living in. I actually have many Yetis for us while building our Earthship.

Answer 3

We do, they are called Earthships. 6 foot walls surrounded by 4 to 8 inches of insulation. Roofs sometimes 14 inches thick of insulation. Double walls before the interior living space. Big learning curve, but they feel more grounded, embraced and balanced living in. I actually have many Yetis for us while building our Earthship.

Answer 4

We do, they are called Earthships. 6 foot walls surrounded by 4 to 8 inches of insulation. Roofs sometimes 14 inches thick of insulation. Double walls before the interior living space. Big learning curve, but they feel more grounded, embraced and balanced living in. I actually have many Yetis for us while building our Earthship.

Answer 5

We do, they are called Earthships. 6 foot walls surrounded by 4 to 8 inches of insulation. Roofs sometimes 14 inches thick of insulation. Double walls before the interior living space. Big learning curve, but they feel more grounded, embraced and balanced living in. I actually have many Yetis for us while building our Earthship.

Answer 6

Yeti cups are using vacuums between layers of metal to prevent heat transfer. We do that sometimes with window panes to improve insulation, but it’s very hard to scale that up to a whole building. Any leak, and the whole effort is lost. It’s possible but would be very very expensive and would probably require frequent maintenance.