Recently, experts started predicting an increased likelehood of a major hurricane hitting the northeastern US.

Though I happen to live miles away from the water, I still worry about the effects of sustained winds of 75mph or more. I have way too many windows to shutter.

It occurs to me that a big part of the problem with wind damage and blown out windows is pressure differential.

I am proposing a set of compressors that would be able to monitor and equalize pressure inside the hoise, acting as a scuba regulator. Given the high likelehood of power interruptions during a major storm, these compressors would be powered by generators, or perhaps even a wind turbine.
-- theircompetitor, Mar 21 2006

Shouldn't this be SCHOUBA?

<whished away in the wind>
-- skinflaps, Mar 21 2006


[tc] Switch Vacu-Maid from 'suck' to 'blow very hard'.
-- ConsulFlaminicus, Mar 21 2006


had SCHOUBA but admin requested non acronym

Consul, I've tried asking the maid to do that, it never works out
-- theircompetitor, Mar 21 2006


Damn those river horses :)
-- skinflaps, Mar 21 2006


That was me - maybe I was being dim but I've only just realised that the title was 'scuba' with extra letters. On the idea though, I'm worried that it would need to react very quickly. For example, if the wind is blowing at 50mph and there's suddenly a 100mph gust across the top of your roof, unless the pressure inside your house is lowered very quickly your roof is going to come off.
-- hippo, Mar 21 2006


What if you used the outside wind to help lower the pressure? Sort of like opening a window but baffled in a way that wouldn't blow your stuff out the window at the same time and counteracts the vacuum that results from high air pressure outside. A house with pop-up air-scoops, perhaps. That would be cool, especially with neon tubes highlighting the stylized look.
-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Mar 21 2006


no doubt it would be challenging, hippo, but I think safely within HB parameters, especially if you had realtime feeds from surrounding areas.

I don't think that the pressure needs to be equal, btw, just compensated for. For instance, those windows already stop 40 or 60 mph gusts

On the other hand, I may delay the posting of that idea of everyone turning on an electric magnet to shield us from the next solar storm :)
-- theircompetitor, Mar 21 2006


mmmm, yes - you could, if you found it necessary to change the pressure differential very quickly, resort to gunpowder.
-- hippo, Mar 21 2006


Surely the problem with windows shattering is from the things in the wind hitting them, not the wind itself?

And trying to match the rapidly fluctuating pressure of storm winds with internal pressure simply ain't gonna work. If you reinforce the windows on one side of the house, those on the other will blow out as the wind eddies around and creates a momentary drop in pressue.
-- DrCurry, Mar 21 2006


During the 'Great Storm of 1987', my bedroom window happily flexed in the wind and withstood gusts of 70mph+ comfortably, but one of our downstairs windows in a more sheltered area was clipped by a fence panel and shattered.
-- oneoffdave, Mar 21 2006



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