Prior to painting we used reflectix insulation (essentially bubble wrap, one side silver, the other side white) to help us maintain a comfortable temperature inside the dome. Ideally the white would have faced out, but we couldn't face living in a big disco ball! The reflectix is inserted in triangular pieces between the dome's skeletal bars and the canvas, then tied in place to the bars using string. We tried the recommended tape to seal the edges of the triangles together, but not only was it very difficult to install since the edges are tucked underneath the bars, but it's adhesive properties just baked right off in the heat of our summer and was torn apart when the canvas and insulation 'popped' against the bars in the wind. Using a needle and string to secure the insulation in place has been much less expensive and more effective.

The dome has large screen panels in each side where the canvas can be rolled up to let the breeze move through in the warm season, as well as round marine vinyl windows that can be popped out and replaced with screens. We have reflectix pieces cut to fit in over the windows for winter nights as well. Overall we manage to maintain a reasonable liveable temperature inside the dome, but it is quite effortful to manage the covering and uncovering of windows, keeping the wood stove going all night and so forth. We look forward to living in a less maintenance demanding house before too long.

Summer sun coming in through the bay window was overpoweringly bright and hot, so we installed reflectix over all but the bottom layer of the bay window. The unanticipated downside was that the silver reflectix in the upper part of the bay window reflectd so much heat that the marine vinyl developed cracks and holes and the reflectix itself burned crisp. Pretty impressive display of solar power. But now we had leaks in the bay window. It doesn't rain often here, but when it does, it pours! Additionally the canvas weathered and its original water sealant treatment began to fail.

In September 2004, in time for the fall wet season, we finally got around to painting the dome. This had been recommended as a step we should take when we originally put the dome up, but we simply had not been able to get it done. The paint is elastomeric thermoshield which means that is has an reflective (insulative) R value and it expands and contracts with the canvas during heat and cold. This kind of paint is used on the nose of the space shuttle to help it shed heat on re-entry. Pretty cool technology! But you can't put this paint through a sprayer since it is very thick and rubbery and would clog it up right away.

So we got out on ladders with rollers and long poles and lots of help from Echo, Stella, Patrick, Phaedra, and Troy. We are so grateful to our dear friends who held and hauled ladders, passed up rollers full of paint, and helped us paint our home. We got all but the roof done in one day. Then in Dec 2004 we had a really beautiful weekend of weather and Jonathan & Lillith finished the job by popping the long ladders out the upper windows of the dome from the inside. Lillith climbed the ladder and finished painting the roof sections while Jonathan moved ladders and managed paint replenishment on the ground floor.

We made the decision to paint over all but the lowest portion of the bay window. In the winter, the sun is low and does a great job passively heating the dome through that lower layer of window. In the summer, it is too bright and hot to allow in at all. So we patched the cracks and holes in the marine vinyl window and then painted over it so that the reflectix would no longer create a double whammy heat treatment and cause further damage.