A Bubble of Air in the Shape of a House

 From time to time I become aware, if only momentarily, that separate parts of my home are actually connected in some seemingly mysterious ways. The first and most obvious example would be aromas of food cooking in the kitchen downstairs that can enter and linger in closets in upstairs bedrooms long after the meal has been eaten and the dishes and pots have been put away. 

Have you noticed too, that doors tend to slam shut with unexpected force when closed, if nearby windows are open? Then there are those occasions when the downstairs kitchen door is pulled closed and upstairs bedroom doors that are shut react by rattling a protest in their frame.

We have a sunken living room that is always cooler than the adjoining kitchen, despite the fact that there is no wall of separation. Shouldn't they equalize over time? Understanding bubbles of air and how they behave helps explain all these and many other surprising events in the home.

I've heard it said that a boat is merely a hole in the water into which money is endlessly poured. A similar formulation could also be made about a house. A house is an expensive wooden container designed to keep in captivity a large but malleable bubble of air. The air within is separated from the outside air and because it is contained, it can express it's presence all over the interior of that surrounding container of wood. Any kind of movement within the bubble by people or things is transmitted, invisibly and with a slight time delay to every other object within that same body of air.  This applies to other forms of energy besides movement, and includes aromas.

As far as a sunken family room is concerned, heat is also transmitted and will ordinarily distribute itself equally throughout an air bubble, except for lower elevation parts of that bubble. Because heat rises the top of the bubble will always be warmer. 

Open windows introduce a break in the inner bubble surface resulting in their being less, if any, direct transfer of energy exerted from one closed door. Without the air resistance of a closed bubble, shutting a door meets no resistance and so will be more likely to close very quickly (slam), given the same push by an occupant.

What difference does all this make? Well, for one, a well insulated home will magnify the closed air bubble effects that have been described.

Other than that it provides something to ponder while waiting for your wife to get ready to go out.