View East Through Wicket Gate
This small courtyard has been described on its own page: “A Heat-control Courtyard”.
Built to help control the indoor climate, it is enclosed by solid walls and solid gates made of a sandwich of fibre and polystyrene.
At times when free circulation of air is wanted, the gates can be latched open. That has the disadvantage that dogs and small children can pass in and out.
I have now made the control of air separate from the control of traffic by adding a wicket gate in each gateway.
The first photo (above) is a view of the courtyard as one would enter it from the west. Both main gates are open. The west wicket gate stands partly open, and the east wicket gate is closed.
West solid gate closed and wicket gate bolted open.
The second photo, taken from just inside the courtyard, shows the west main gate closed to prevent the flow of air. The wicket gate is fully open, as it would be in that case, secured there by its drop bolt.
Courtyard through east wicket gate
In the third photo, the courtyard is seen through the open east main gate and the bars of the closed east wicket gate.
These photos were taken on the 1st of August 2017 at 10:30 am. They show the courtyard receiving sunshine that passes over the roof of the house, as it does during winter mornings. Some sunshine is direct, some reflecting diffusely off the wall, and some reflecting brightly off mirrors of aluminium foil.
Two thermometer screens can be seen in the third photo. I am monitoring temperatures to find if the courtyard is affecting the indoor climate. As an experiment, I keep the main gates open or closed in alternate months. When gates were open in a particular month of the first year, they are closed in that month of the next year.
The wicket gates are made of welded, pre-galvanised steel tube in the style “Pool’nPlay Flattop”, powder-coated in white. They were supplied and installed in July 2017 by Bluedog Fences for $1793.
climate by surly 