I appreciate your efforts, your honesty and your DIY spirit because I am the same. I don't have money to throw around and need to save as much as possible. I am planning on making a Jean Pain pile using a cattle panel as my shape and frame. I will have landscape fabric to it on the inside to keep the stuff together and perhaps keep some of the wind off as well. I had planned on using the same kind of tubing stuff but leaving about 2 feet or so of compost material on the ground before I laid the air tubing on it, kind of an insulation against the cold ground. My methane and hot water production will have to wait until next year. Have you thought about a sand battery??? Might be a better idea than the water tank.
Thank you for the kind words, that sounds like a great idea! I plan to either use a 55gallon metal drum full of water or a smaller pile caged in and filled over by the larger pile in a ring like last winter. As far as insulation goes I would lay leaves and straw, whatever you can find to insulate before you build the pile cause it will loose heat all the way around, something I wish I would’ve done better last year as it lowered my water temps. Sand batteries are very cool and something we’re going to be experimenting with this winter for sure
Why not a 55 gallon barrel of sand with water tubes pushing warm water through that sand. I believe the sand would hold the heat much longer than a 55 gallon of water. Just a thought. 😊
I'm going to try working this Jean Pain compost system with you this winter. I won't be able to use the same substrate as you but I do have literally tons of horse manure/hay bedding and can pick up bags of leaves from the nearby villages. I'll probably try to contain it in used pallets. I'll have to think about insulating the pipes since I really hadn't thought about it when you made your system last winter..
Pallets will work good as they will allow air flow, once you build a huge pile there’s not much turning it in winter. Insulation is everything once you get it going. Good luck with it and feel free to ask any questions
I'm very intrigued by your drain tile pipe heating air directly rather than water pipes for heat extraction. I'm looking to heat a dog house with compost this winter, and was thinking of using PEX piping with water for heat transfer, but I'm really tempted to just use drain tile with a small fan and not involve water at all. Would make it much simpler. Any suggestions on that front?
Try getting a metal fixture that you can exchange heat with instead of using the plastic tubing to exchange, I’ve never had luck finding free metal pipe 4” or bigger laying around lol someday I’ll buy a metal tubing or design a metal u- shape with large pipe for an exchanger but that’s in the future
Wanted to pass this off grid free heating hack, all electric water heaters are ac/dc. I hooked 3 37 volt panels directly to the thermostat... Wa la. Free hot water, pump the water ... You know 😊
I’ve actually almost bought the heating element for one last year to do exactly that! That’s a great idea I may have to see what I can muster up lol thank you sir
@@Earthdwellershomestead any heating element is both ac and dc. No special one needed. I buy used panels for $40 so $120 powers it with nothing else. The thermostat acts as the charge controller
@@Earthdwellershomestead I have a 12 gallon water heater in my 5th wheel. 3 37 volt 240 watt panels wired in series give you the voltage. I even left the normal plug on it so at night I can plug it into my home inverter.
Was going to build a small pile and cage it with mesh to wrap everything around that like the old way it was done. But the density of woodchips keeps everything in place for the most part. I’m going to use a metal drum next winter for the center piece full of water. Great idea and thanks for sharing man!
I was wondering about the gasses.. So you run a tube into the greenhouse powered by a fan? How do you get rid of any unwanted gasses if you wanted to use it to heat a room or home?
@Earthdwellershomestead ah I see! So the tube runs from the greenhouse through the pile and then back in? But if it came straight from the compost then you'd have the gasses? Love the idea of catching the methane too! It's all new to me but really appreciate the reply and the videos!
@@NorthernLycanthrope yes the gasses would potentially fill up the greenhouse if we were drawing air from the pile instead of just transferring heat, mostly it would be carbon dioxide a bit of methane, tiny amounts of nitrous and others. that's exactly why I have been doing it this way. however the carbon dioxide is good for plants but with a huge pile I could knock myself out walking into a CO2 filled greenhouse lol
Lots of urine, chicken poo, horse poo, comfrey, anything we can use that’s nitrogen rich, usually creating a slurry in buckets and dousing the pile Or putting pipes in and running liquid in that way.
Collecting all the poo I get. I'm afraid to ask about urine though. I have a visual of putting my grandson at the top of a ladder and let him go, but I don't think that's going to be enough. @@Earthdwellershomestead
Definitely looking forward to see how you experiment with the greenhouse heating this winter.
I am so glad to have found your channel !!!!
Thank you!!
I appreciate your efforts, your honesty and your DIY spirit because I am the same. I don't have money to throw around and need to save as much as possible. I am planning on making a Jean Pain pile using a cattle panel as my shape and frame. I will have landscape fabric to it on the inside to keep the stuff together and perhaps keep some of the wind off as well. I had planned on using the same kind of tubing stuff but leaving about 2 feet or so of compost material on the ground before I laid the air tubing on it, kind of an insulation against the cold ground. My methane and hot water production will have to wait until next year. Have you thought about a sand battery??? Might be a better idea than the water tank.
Thank you for the kind words, that sounds like a great idea! I plan to either use a 55gallon metal drum full of water or a smaller pile caged in and filled over by the larger pile in a ring like last winter. As far as insulation goes I would lay leaves and straw, whatever you can find to insulate before you build the pile cause it will loose heat all the way around, something I wish I would’ve done better last year as it lowered my water temps. Sand batteries are very cool and something we’re going to be experimenting with this winter for sure
Why not a 55 gallon barrel of sand with water tubes pushing warm water through that sand. I believe the sand would hold the heat much longer than a 55 gallon of water. Just a thought. 😊
I'm going to try working this Jean Pain compost system with you this winter. I won't be able to use the same substrate as you but I do have literally tons of horse manure/hay bedding and can pick up bags of leaves from the nearby villages. I'll probably try to contain it in used pallets. I'll have to think about insulating the pipes since I really hadn't thought about it when you made your system last winter..
Pallets will work good as they will allow air flow, once you build a huge pile there’s not much turning it in winter. Insulation is everything once you get it going. Good luck with it and feel free to ask any questions
Thank you it´s helpful
to see everything before starting it yourself God bless!
Thanks for checking this out!
I'm very intrigued by your drain tile pipe heating air directly rather than water pipes for heat extraction. I'm looking to heat a dog house with compost this winter, and was thinking of using PEX piping with water for heat transfer, but I'm really tempted to just use drain tile with a small fan and not involve water at all. Would make it much simpler. Any suggestions on that front?
Try getting a metal fixture that you can exchange heat with instead of using the plastic tubing to exchange, I’ve never had luck finding free metal pipe 4” or bigger laying around lol someday I’ll buy a metal tubing or design a metal u- shape with large pipe for an exchanger but that’s in the future
@@Earthdwellershomestead Makes sense. Thanks for the fast reply! Sub'd.
Wanted to pass this off grid free heating hack, all electric water heaters are ac/dc. I hooked 3 37 volt panels directly to the thermostat... Wa la. Free hot water, pump the water ... You know 😊
I’ve actually almost bought the heating element for one last year to do exactly that! That’s a great idea I may have to see what I can muster up lol thank you sir
@@Earthdwellershomestead any heating element is both ac and dc. No special one needed. I buy used panels for $40 so $120 powers it with nothing else. The thermostat acts as the charge controller
Sounds like a plan man! Very interested to experiment with this, thanks again!
@@Earthdwellershomestead I have a 12 gallon water heater in my 5th wheel. 3 37 volt 240 watt panels wired in series give you the voltage. I even left the normal plug on it so at night I can plug it into my home inverter.
If you use a barrel instead of the tubing it'll be a lot easier when you tear it apart. The barrel has the surface area of about 75-100 ft of tubing.
Was going to build a small pile and cage it with mesh to wrap everything around that like the old way it was done. But the density of woodchips keeps everything in place for the most part. I’m going to use a metal drum next winter for the center piece full of water. Great idea and thanks for sharing man!
I was wondering about the gasses.. So you run a tube into the greenhouse powered by a fan? How do you get rid of any unwanted gasses if you wanted to use it to heat a room or home?
There is no gasses, we’re heating the air from inside the greenhouse on a closed system. The tubing doesn’t allow any transfer but heat.
@Earthdwellershomestead ah I see! So the tube runs from the greenhouse through the pile and then back in? But if it came straight from the compost then you'd have the gasses? Love the idea of catching the methane too! It's all new to me but really appreciate the reply and the videos!
@@NorthernLycanthrope just happen to be sitting at the computer with my son helping with algebra lol! thanks for checking this out man!
@@NorthernLycanthrope yes the gasses would potentially fill up the greenhouse if we were drawing air from the pile instead of just transferring heat, mostly it would be carbon dioxide a bit of methane, tiny amounts of nitrous and others. that's exactly why I have been doing it this way. however the carbon dioxide is good for plants but with a huge pile I could knock myself out walking into a CO2 filled greenhouse lol
@Earthdwellershomestead Appreciate the info!
do you know how long the drain pipe is? and is it solid or perforated?
100ft non perforated
How do you inoculate the wood chips?
Lots of urine, chicken poo, horse poo, comfrey, anything we can use that’s nitrogen rich, usually creating a slurry in buckets and dousing the pile Or putting pipes in and running liquid in that way.
Collecting all the poo I get. I'm afraid to ask about urine though. I have a visual of putting my grandson at the top of a ladder and let him go, but I don't think that's going to be enough. @@Earthdwellershomestead
@kerncountyrd5263 I let my two boys pee ina bucket over a weekend lol mix it with water and inoculate.
Nice to see that I'm not too far off the mark. Thanks for that! @@Earthdwellershomestead