Have you considered getting some car radiators from a salvage yard, chaining them together, and running the water through them. You could also use the 12v fans for air circulation. Should give you great heat trasnfer.
Charles, car radiators for heat exchange is a great idea. Can we use thermal syphon mechanics here to run the system without a pump since the system is closed circuit if you use radiators? It would be a great save in electricity.I suppose radiators should be in a high position to drain cool water down to the compost pile again. Any one's reply contribution is much appreciated.
Wow, so many armchair composters out there! Beautiful system, and thanks for posting this video. I'm about to build a small system adjacent to my (equally small) greenhouse. Am going to circulate air and pray that I get some transfer. Supplementing an air drive geothermal system.
Hi Morgan, good to see you here again and I am recommenting to get your kind attention. It was suggested here (in comments) about adding a car radiator system and making it a closed circuit. Can we use thermal syphon mechanics in here to run the system without a pump since the system is closed circuit if you use radiators? It would be a great save on electricity.I suppose radiators should be in a high position to drain cool water down to the compost pile again.
Copper would pull he much better than aluminum or plastic but also much more costly. But if you want more heat, run more black piping back and forth and layer it on top of and next to each other. Another idea is to have your plastic tubes drop the heated water into sealed steel collectors which will allow for more heat to transfer much like a large boiling pot with a lid does when boiling potatoes. Another idea would be to greenhouse the pile of compost and add two large air transfer tubes that travel uphill toward the main greenhouse that way hot air will naturally travel upward toward the colder air in your main greenhouse one pipe will carry the hot air to the greenhouse and the 2nd pipe will act as a vacuum carrying colder air and mixed air back into the compost greenhouse. If you want to keep the hot air from mixing with the greenhouse during the day when it tends to get warmer, then just put a temperature sensitive opener on both air transfer pipes so that they only open when it gets below 77 degrees. If the hot air doesn't transfer adequately enough on its own just add a small squirrel cage fan to assist the transfer of air.
Very cool! Great setup! just a small correction: It is called a "Bio-Meiler". Meiler is german for charcoal pit/kiln. Sometimes, we also refer to atomic power plants as Atommeiler, however Atomkraftwerk is more commonly used. Keep up the great work!
That is amazing! I have many bundles of hay that need to be in my new compost area, and the enclosed area is perfect for the large scale bin that I need. I hope to make a 12 x 60 area for composting, and I think this is a much better way than most I have seen. I don't plan on using it for a greenhouse, but it's still perfect for organizing the area in a better way than I had planned before. Thank you VERY MUCH!!! Now I can also plan on all the other materials I need to put in it. Woo Hoo!
Rick Larson I'm new here and I need to go into your other videos and catch up. I saw all that great "matter" in your soil in another video, and that is a major goal for me too, so this is just perfect. To me, the soil is what it's all about, so I'm thrilled to finally know how to handle such a large composting area, and to be able to finally get all the manures and materials together to be able to start it. Have a safe, and wonderful New year, Sheila
The system is made more complicated than necessary. Why not build the compose pile around the green house thus providing direct heating and insulation at the same time? You can still run heat exchange water hose inside the compose around the green house as before.
At the time the gentlemen conducting the experiment was not interested in any advice, he was following plans in a book. I agree otherwise. Perhaps this was an experiment highly influenced by plumbing codes? Or a building code not allowing compost against the wall of a greenhouse? In this state there are so many codes that it is almost impossible to do anything without a licensed plumber, electrician, and forms sent in to the authorities for approval. It was just an experiment, so much was learned in the process.
sok8888 That sounds like a more efficient system: bring yourself to the heat, don't bring the heat to you. The only con I can think of is the smell. All that compost would be quite foul to work in a greenhouse around.
Properly made, hot compost does not smell at all. Just put a layer of dry straw or leaves or other mulch on top. This is how I do my compost toilet, and there is NO smell!
I would run your heat lines directly into your growing medium and heat the medium and roots of plants directly. Also I would consider adding a couple of 1000 watt halides to your green house. They will give a boost in light and act as heaters as well. And you can run a 1000 watt halide for about 25 bucks a month.
very cool. I wonder if having leaks would be beneficial in keeping the pile moist? One would have to fidget with the right watering amount considering the leaks, but it all goes to the same place right? If it's happening outside of the compost pile, you could just look for blooms of green or excessive mosquitos, etc to see if it's before the compost pile making it easier to fix.
I wrote about a few engineering-minded upgrades in "AgSpa: Compost Hot Tubs" In particular, you'll want better water-circulation; large-diameter vertical PVCs with simple siphons between them, to act as a "thermal battery" and to *eliminate cold-shock* from in-coming cold water! It can also be a lot TALLER if you improve aeration; the AgSpa article explains an easy, compostable vent to make. (The over-all construction seems a bit simpler than your delicate coils, too... easier to just wheel-barrow in-between rows of aeration 'Rooves', as the article explains.) Once the pile is tall, you'll be getting higher mass per top surface area, which means more efficiency, more surplus heat you can draw without cold-shocking and stalling-out the compost. Making a *wide* compost heap doesn't really help, after it's twice its own height.
Interesting video, and a concept with a lot of possibilities I believe. Could it be used to connect to a infloor heating system in a house, or wouldn´t it generate enough heat to be significant?
I have a few technical questions on compost heating as I plan to design compost heat into our farm, initially to heat seedling germination tables in a hoop house. 1. Have you tried any other specific lengths of heating coil, other than the 800ft you used. (envisioning a 1/2" NPT thermometer in a T joint at every 100ft coil) ya know, in order to minimize pipe cost/usage 2. looks like the poly pipe you used is rated for 80 Fahrenheit, so how has that held up over the years of usage? Thinking of using PEX pipe as opposed to poly, to maybe avoid plastic toxin leeching 3. What have you used for a pump and is it pumping hot water / rated for hot water, just well water pressure perhaps for your shower, but what about a recirculating heating system. i assume pulling the water from the cold manifold through the system, controlled with a thermostat
I think you leave( out ) the plastic & put gravel on top of the corrugated rubber & ad the black cloth that stop soil to go into the the rubber so air can move better if you clog the holes with wood chips of the corrugated rubber ,and it get fill with water or moisture and rain water. i'm just asking where the water is going to (go ) if the plastic is blocking the exit to the ground ,where or how the air is going to move if your fill with water or saturated ?
Strange... so many people involved, yet no one thought that it'd be good to keep one side of the pile open to get the material in there easer and more efficiently. And also watering it with sprinklers, so that you have the watering problem fixed from the start. It would really be a one-man job if done efficiently.
I'm sorry for just complaining there, but it irks me to see inefficiency. Everything else is good to great! You even thought of taking advantage of the pile for growing mushrooms -- that's a great idea! Overall, it's good design, not sloppy at all. My own design would look a bit more tacky, as I'd make it with the least amount of effort ^^ I guess "lazyness" is my speciality, so I shouldn't be angry if others don't see things as I do. My "lazy" solution is to just make a reinforced/supported compost-wall for the greenhouse I will build this spring. Capturing the additional benefit of Co2 from the compost for the plants. And burying it about half a meter, so you get some extra heating for the soil. So there will definitely be a video of that design and perhaps a time-lapse / stop-motion of its construction. Really, I have no real complaints, just perhaps that you could do a bit better logistics, especially when you have so many people involved. Using their time and energy efficiently, and they will be happy to help even more.
Hi Rick, Great video. Have you been back to the project site? You may not have the answers for these questions maybe Tyler from Burr Oak LLC can pop in and answer them. So it's been nearly 1 year, how is the biomieler doing now? Have you had a good mushroom crop? Has the heat output been consistent over the year? Did you have to dump the heat load in summer? How often do you think you will have to tear down and rebuild the biomieler? Is one air tube enough or with the next build will you add a second at mid layer? Did you keep any records for temperature differences like coldest winter temperature vs greenhouse temperature? Would you do it again to heat other structures on the farm? Cheers, Bill
Great comment and questions. If and how well and how long it worked are questions that need answers. Is it possible to run the hot water pipes through the grow beds putting the heat directly into the root zone and transferring the heat to another mass that doesn't cool as quickly as air?
No air was injected. There were perforated tubes in the pile, but my guess is it still went anaerobic - which does get quite hot. I only help fund the project and recorded its construction. The fellow that would have more information is Drew Carlson and can be contacted through the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence website.
My question is how long will the pipes last exposed to that kind of heat ? Losing 4 gallons of water a day is kinda a big deal and could potentially get bigger . It's always good to test for leaks before burying any water lines . Also what were the results of the heat exchanger system ? What temps were achieved ? What kind of pump was used ? I'm thinking about doing this but plan to route the hot water through a radiator and then use a fan to circulate the air and use a low voltage pump for the water but who knows plans always change . It's good to see ideas like this being used for heating alternatives .If it can heat a green house it could certainly heat a home using the same principles and even be used to generate electricity depending on how hot it gets .
uh how did it end up working??? way to big project even heavy equipment for the ordinary person. can it be scaled down? if so, how much???? to many unanswered questions for the ordinary person
This is a great video and great comments. The idea is good, execution too complicated and not feasible for someone trying to homestead. Use the 80/20 rule to create your own concept using the basic info.
I don't know where you get your straw from... But I don't believe your comment is even close to possible. If what you said was true then everyone would be heating greenhouses w Nat gas.
Just wondering how long this would generate heat for? Maybe i missed it somewhere in the video. Also Rick your videos are some of my favorite!! come on over to MN and ill take ya pike spearing. God Bless.
If done properly, these systems can produce heat all the way through our cold Wisconsin winters. It was pushing out 150 degree water in late January when we realized our piping setup was not well laid out and failed.
Could you just build two greenhouses side by side both with double layer inflated poly sheeting. The air gap between the poly layers is your insulation. You have an active compost pile in one greenhouse and pump the warm CO2 rich air generated by your compost into the other where your plants are growing? Would there be a toxic nitrogen build up in your growing soil or something? Would it be possible to scrub the incoming warm air with peat moss or some other easily sourced media? Anybody?
How long did this pile stay hot. I built three small home style biogas digesters which make biogas out of my food scraps. I'd like to heat the digester with a compost pile. I ran this summer a small gas generator off my biogas pretty cool.
Hey David, Drew here. The pile stayed hot through the following fall. I’ll be honest and we botched the plumbing and it failed late January. Up to that point we were getting 150 degree water out of the pile.
For the record, I was designing solar hot water systems at the time and offered help, but Drew cut me off (probably because I wasn't a Democratic Socialist).
Not sure what your deal is Rick as I have been nothing but kind to you in all of our interactions. Still have no clue why you have decided who I am when you only have ever interacted with me at this workshop.
Not exactly sure but its higher than 131 F. The ingredients and method would dictate the difference - more manure results in more heat but would not last as long as less manure. My recollection is this pile was 10% manure and lasted all winter.
@@RickLarsonPermacultureDesigner all you have to do is start the cold pipe at the lowest point then when it heats up through the pile the heat will rise the pipe coming out of the pile has to go downhill to the greenhouse if it goes back up it will create a heat trap it's like everything has to go on gravity
I have done a lot of composting and think if you did an aerobic pile it would only stink for four days. But those I've done outside, who knows how it would be inside. I'll try one once my greenhouse is up. By the way, I only recorded this construction, I didn't design it.
Way more complicated and difficult than necessary. You can build a solar heater out of wood, cans, black paint, some ducting, and a sheet of acrylic. It'll heat a greenhouse and can be built possibly for free, if you're good at finding free materials.
Adrian Sc Methane gas is produced by anaeroba bacteria, who do not consume air. They do not produce heat. Therefore, in a compost they are not desirable. In a compost one would like to have aeroba bacteria which consume air ( and organic matter) and produce C2O and heat when they work. They also need a certain temperature to start working. Once they start working they can maintain that temperature if their working area is sufficiently insulated.
What a nice idea. Convert $1000 of grass hay into enough heat to keep a greenhouse from freezing in the winter. Oh yes also about another $700 in materials and labor. After the hay rots down who is going to clean up the mess to begin again?
You didn't watch the movie. It wasn't made with hay. The project was free to the owners, material was donated and funding secured as a donation. The heat therefor was free. The humus after the composting was finished was used in their CSA gardens. Please try again.
There is no way your budget was $500 the skid steer alone rents for over $200 per day and eats diesel like crazy...Hay or straw bales run from $5-10 each. A water pump is at least $65 for a cheap Harbor Freight pond pump let alone a quality model. I have no idea how many feet of expensive poly pipe you used but more than $500 worth. You also have 8 -9 people providing free "Hippie" labor, most of us don't have access to free hippies or students. There is nothing environmentally friendly about this either.... Yes your heat supply is naturally composting material...but your running a Skid steer all day, Using a literal ton of Poly piping made with petrochemicals and using electricity to pump water.
Nice. It's great to see a community get together and create. And what a beautiful property too. Thanks for sharing!
Have you considered getting some car radiators from a salvage yard, chaining them together, and running the water through them. You could also use the 12v fans for air circulation. Should give you great heat trasnfer.
Good idea. worth trying I would think thanks.
Good idea
Charles, car radiators for heat exchange is a great idea. Can we use thermal syphon mechanics here to run the system without a pump since the system is closed circuit if you use radiators? It would be a great save in electricity.I suppose radiators should be in a high position to drain cool water down to the compost pile again. Any one's reply contribution is much appreciated.
Wow, so many armchair composters out there! Beautiful system, and thanks for posting this video. I'm about to build a small system adjacent to my (equally small) greenhouse. Am going to circulate air and pray that I get some transfer. Supplementing an air drive geothermal system.
Hi Morgan, good to see you here again and I am recommenting to get your kind attention. It was suggested here (in comments) about adding a car radiator system and making it a closed circuit. Can we use thermal syphon mechanics in here to run the system without a pump since the system is closed circuit if you use radiators? It would be a great save on electricity.I suppose radiators should be in a high position to drain cool water down to the compost pile again.
Copper would pull he much better than aluminum or plastic but also much more costly.
But if you want more heat, run more black piping back and forth and layer it on top of and next to each other. Another idea is to have your plastic tubes drop the heated water into sealed steel collectors which will allow for more heat to transfer much like a large boiling pot with a lid does when boiling potatoes.
Another idea would be to greenhouse the pile of compost and add two large air transfer tubes that travel uphill toward the main greenhouse that way hot air will naturally travel upward toward the colder air in your main greenhouse one pipe will carry the hot air to the greenhouse and the 2nd pipe will act as a vacuum carrying colder air and mixed air back into the compost greenhouse. If you want to keep the hot air from mixing with the greenhouse during the day when it tends to get warmer, then just put a temperature sensitive opener on both air transfer pipes so that they only open when it gets below 77 degrees.
If the hot air doesn't transfer adequately enough on its own just add a small squirrel cage fan to assist the transfer of air.
Very cool! Great setup! just a small correction: It is called a "Bio-Meiler". Meiler is german for charcoal pit/kiln. Sometimes, we also refer to atomic power plants as Atommeiler, however Atomkraftwerk is more commonly used.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the correction!
That is amazing! I have many bundles of hay that need to be in my new compost area, and the enclosed area is perfect for the large scale bin that I need. I hope to make a 12 x 60 area for composting, and I think this is a much better way than most I have seen. I don't plan on using it for a greenhouse, but it's still perfect for organizing the area in a better way than I had planned before. Thank you VERY MUCH!!! Now I can also plan on all the other materials I need to put in it. Woo Hoo!
Gleefully thankful for the nice response!
Rick Larson I'm new here and I need to go into your other videos and catch up. I saw all that great "matter" in your soil in another video, and that is a major goal for me too, so this is just perfect. To me, the soil is what it's all about, so I'm thrilled to finally know how to handle such a large composting area, and to be able to finally get all the manures and materials together to be able to start it. Have a safe, and wonderful New year, Sheila
+Sheila6325 Thank you!
this is amazing!! I will incorporate into a underground greenhouse project I am currently building- zone 5
Awesome!
The system is made more complicated than necessary. Why not build the compose pile around the green house thus providing direct heating and insulation at the same time? You can still run heat exchange water hose inside the compose around the green house as before.
At the time the gentlemen conducting the experiment was not interested in any advice, he was following plans in a book. I agree otherwise. Perhaps this was an experiment highly influenced by plumbing codes? Or a building code not allowing compost against the wall of a greenhouse? In this state there are so many codes that it is almost impossible to do anything without a licensed plumber, electrician, and forms sent in to the authorities for approval. It was just an experiment, so much was learned in the process.
sok8888 That sounds like a more efficient system: bring yourself to the heat, don't bring the heat to you.
The only con I can think of is the smell. All that compost would be quite foul to work in a greenhouse around.
Only for a few days, then is smells more like silage.
Properly made, hot compost does not smell at all. Just put a layer of dry straw or leaves or other mulch on top. This is how I do my compost toilet, and there is NO smell!
sok8888 it would block the light. Also compost cooks better when made in a large pile.
I would run your heat lines directly into your growing medium and heat the medium and roots of plants directly. Also I would consider adding a couple of 1000 watt halides to your green house. They will give a boost in light and act as heaters as well. And you can run a 1000 watt halide for about 25 bucks a month.
very cool. I wonder if having leaks would be beneficial in keeping the pile moist? One would have to fidget with the right watering amount considering the leaks, but it all goes to the same place right? If it's happening outside of the compost pile, you could just look for blooms of green or excessive mosquitos, etc to see if it's before the compost pile making it easier to fix.
I wrote about a few engineering-minded upgrades in "AgSpa: Compost Hot Tubs"
In particular, you'll want better water-circulation; large-diameter vertical PVCs with simple siphons between them, to act as a "thermal battery" and to *eliminate cold-shock* from in-coming cold water! It can also be a lot TALLER if you improve aeration; the AgSpa article explains an easy, compostable vent to make. (The over-all construction seems a bit simpler than your delicate coils, too... easier to just wheel-barrow in-between rows of aeration 'Rooves', as the article explains.) Once the pile is tall, you'll be getting higher mass per top surface area, which means more efficiency, more surplus heat you can draw without cold-shocking and stalling-out the compost. Making a *wide* compost heap doesn't really help, after it's twice its own height.
Excellent comment, thanks for taking the time!
Interesting video, and a concept with a lot of possibilities I believe. Could it be used to connect to a infloor heating system in a house, or wouldn´t it generate enough heat to be significant?
I have a few technical questions on compost heating as I plan to design compost heat into our farm, initially to heat seedling germination tables in a hoop house.
1. Have you tried any other specific lengths of heating coil, other than the 800ft you used. (envisioning a 1/2" NPT thermometer in a T joint at every 100ft coil) ya know, in order to minimize pipe cost/usage
2. looks like the poly pipe you used is rated for 80 Fahrenheit, so how has that held up over the years of usage? Thinking of using PEX pipe as opposed to poly, to maybe avoid plastic toxin leeching
3. What have you used for a pump and is it pumping hot water / rated for hot water, just well water pressure perhaps for your shower, but what about a recirculating heating system. i assume pulling the water from the cold manifold through the system, controlled with a thermostat
I think you leave( out ) the plastic & put gravel on top of the corrugated rubber & ad the black cloth that stop soil to go into the the rubber so air can move better if you clog the holes with wood chips of the corrugated rubber ,and it get fill with water or moisture and rain water. i'm just asking where the water is going to (go ) if the plastic is blocking the exit to the ground ,where or how the air is going to move if your fill with water or saturated ?
always use a transit to build your compost pile, lol
davetileguy that's what I thought. Lol
Amazing job thank you!🖐🎹🎶🎵❤💗📚📖🎸🎷🖖
Thanks for watching!
Strange... so many people involved, yet no one thought that it'd be good to keep one side of the pile open to get the material in there easer and more efficiently.
And also watering it with sprinklers, so that you have the watering problem fixed from the start.
It would really be a one-man job if done efficiently.
You ought to construct one and upload a video to UA-cam!
I'm sorry for just complaining there, but it irks me to see inefficiency.
Everything else is good to great! You even thought of taking advantage of the pile for growing mushrooms -- that's a great idea!
Overall, it's good design, not sloppy at all.
My own design would look a bit more tacky, as I'd make it with the least amount of effort ^^
I guess "lazyness" is my speciality, so I shouldn't be angry if others don't see things as I do.
My "lazy" solution is to just make a reinforced/supported compost-wall for the greenhouse I will build this spring.
Capturing the additional benefit of Co2 from the compost for the plants.
And burying it about half a meter, so you get some extra heating for the soil.
So there will definitely be a video of that design and perhaps a time-lapse / stop-motion of its construction.
Really, I have no real complaints, just perhaps that you could do a bit better logistics, especially when you have so many people involved. Using their time and energy efficiently, and they will be happy to help even more.
Hi Rick,
Great video. Have you been back to the project site? You may not have the answers for these questions maybe Tyler from Burr Oak LLC can pop in and answer them. So it's been nearly 1 year, how is the biomieler doing now? Have you had a good mushroom crop? Has the heat output been consistent over the year? Did you have to dump the heat load in summer? How often do you think you will have to tear down and rebuild the biomieler? Is one air tube enough or with the next build will you add a second at mid layer? Did you keep any records for temperature differences like coldest winter temperature vs greenhouse temperature? Would you do it again to heat other structures on the farm? Cheers,
Bill
No I haven't. Try Drew Carlson at www.wisconsinpermacultureconvergence.com/
Great comment and questions. If and how well and how long it worked are questions that need answers.
Is it possible to run the hot water pipes through the grow beds putting the heat directly into the root zone and transferring the heat to another mass that doesn't cool as quickly as air?
Steve Cross great idea
Hi
I'm thinking if you sealed the container, which would make the compost sweat more, you might get more heat. Never done it myself so who knows.
This make for interesting thinking!
Very nice movie! I wonder how often you inject air in the pile, and if this gives a big temperature rise?
No air was injected. There were perforated tubes in the pile, but my guess is it still went anaerobic - which does get quite hot. I only help fund the project and recorded its construction. The fellow that would have more information is Drew Carlson and can be contacted through the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence website.
cool
My question is how long will the pipes last exposed to that kind of heat ? Losing 4 gallons of water a day is kinda a big deal and could potentially get bigger . It's always good to test for leaks before burying any water lines . Also what were the results of the heat exchanger system ? What temps were achieved ? What kind of pump was used ?
I'm thinking about doing this but plan to route the hot water through a radiator and then use a fan to circulate the air and use a low voltage pump for the water but who knows plans always change .
It's good to see ideas like this being used for heating alternatives .If it can heat a green house it could certainly heat a home using the same principles and even be used to generate electricity depending on how hot it gets .
I was the videographer, you have to contact the originator of the experimenter.
I think you will need to shade the top of the compost if your growing mushrooms.
Maybe!
I thought about this years ago.
uh how did it end up working??? way to big project even heavy equipment for the ordinary person. can it be scaled down? if so, how much???? to many unanswered questions for the ordinary person
good
who was the engineer of this mess
For real, 3-4 gal water loss per day?
This is a great video and great comments. The idea is good, execution too complicated and not feasible for someone trying to homestead. Use the 80/20 rule to create your own concept using the basic info.
for the cost of the straw bails you could heat that green house for 10 years with natural gas
I don't know where you get your straw from... But I don't believe your comment is even close to possible. If what you said was true then everyone would be heating greenhouses w Nat gas.
Just wondering how long this would generate heat for? Maybe i missed it somewhere in the video. Also Rick your videos are some of my favorite!! come on over to MN and ill take ya pike spearing. God Bless.
It was still hot when I visited late winter, so 5-6 months.
I would love to spear northern pike! When can I come?... :-)
cool beans, thanks for the reply. ps. you can come anytime you want to spear :-)
Ill think about that for sure!
If done properly, these systems can produce heat all the way through our cold Wisconsin winters. It was pushing out 150 degree water in late January when we realized our piping setup was not well laid out and failed.
So what was the end result? I am also in Wisconsin and would like to heat water or a green house in this fashion.
You will have to talk to the builder, I was just the videographer.
Could you just build two greenhouses side by side both with double layer inflated poly sheeting. The air gap between the poly layers is your insulation. You have an active compost pile in one greenhouse and pump the warm CO2 rich air generated by your compost into the other where your plants are growing? Would there be a toxic nitrogen build up in your growing soil or something? Would it be possible to scrub the incoming warm air with peat moss or some other easily sourced media? Anybody?
Try it and make a video on your work & findings.
Do you have to replace the compost every year? How do you remove the piping before hauling the manure away?
This was an experiment. I was told a market gardener was going to use the material.
Rick, were straw, woodchips and manure byproducts from the site? Great video as always!
I think they were donated. Thanks!
How long did this pile stay hot. I built three small home style biogas digesters which make biogas out of my food scraps. I'd like to heat the digester with a compost pile. I ran this summer a small gas generator off my biogas pretty cool.
I was only the videographer.
Hey David, Drew here. The pile stayed hot through the following fall. I’ll be honest and we botched the plumbing and it failed late January. Up to that point we were getting 150 degree water out of the pile.
For the record, I was designing solar hot water systems at the time and offered help, but Drew cut me off (probably because I wasn't a Democratic Socialist).
Not sure what your deal is Rick as I have been nothing but kind to you in all of our interactions. Still have no clue why you have decided who I am when you only have ever interacted with me at this workshop.
Put biochar in it next time
Good idea!
What difference in temperature does this heat system provide?
Not exactly sure but its higher than 131 F. The ingredients and method would dictate the difference - more manure results in more heat but would not last as long as less manure. My recollection is this pile was 10% manure and lasted all winter.
you can do with on pump using heat rising
Yes. This was an experiment to find out.
@@RickLarsonPermacultureDesigner all you have to do is start the cold pipe at the lowest point then when it heats up through the pile the heat will rise the pipe coming out of the pile has to go downhill to the greenhouse if it goes back up it will create a heat trap it's like everything has to go on gravity
@@lucasmilner824 Interesting. Heat goes to cold.
Bio +MEIler = organic pile (easy to get those vowels swapped in German)
Ok!
Where in Wisconsin are you?
This was done near Madison. You have to look up Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence and talk to them.
@@RickLarsonPermacultureDesigner ok cool. Not too far from me on border in mn
Hi Katie, feel free to reach out to me with questions.
@@fullcircledesignsllc5408 how?
wouldnt it be better to heat the beds and or floor than the air?
I think you might have the right idea there.
+Rick Larson Its all about using the heat energy efficently so the pile doesn't lose temperature, so id think that would be the way to go.
Even better, build the pile in the building one intends to heat.
+Rick Larson Could Work if there was no manure involved, bc that would stink like crazy.
I have done a lot of composting and think if you did an aerobic pile it would only stink for four days. But those I've done outside, who knows how it would be inside. I'll try one once my greenhouse is up. By the way, I only recorded this construction, I didn't design it.
Try to get méthane gas out of it
Is watering each layer necessary? Just wait for good rain storm?
Yes, this needs a lot of water.
Can sewer water be used instead? It has soap and other chemicals in it, will it ruin the progress?
the whole pile needs to be covered in black plastic. Right now it's loosing heat off the top.
why not just use raised hotbeds with coragated sides and a foot of soil on top no need for water
Why don't you try it and make a report!
awesome...but this is only possible by mining and petroleum products lol (sarcasm)
Noted.
the government don't like these kind of projects, they don't make money off of us?
Thugs do demand the surplus from the land.
Way more complicated and difficult than necessary. You can build a solar heater out of wood, cans, black paint, some ducting, and a sheet of acrylic. It'll heat a greenhouse and can be built possibly for free, if you're good at finding free materials.
Your idea only makes heat w sunshine. Compost pile makes heat 24 7.
Why do people think they have to add any stupid music to a how to do it video??? That crappy noise only detracts from the video...STOP IT!
how about the methane gas? that gas is bio? i don't think so
Ok.
Adrian Sc Methane gas is produced by anaeroba bacteria, who do not consume air. They do not produce heat. Therefore, in a compost they are not desirable. In a compost one would like to have aeroba bacteria which consume air ( and organic matter) and produce C2O and heat when they work. They also need a certain temperature to start working. Once they start working they can maintain that temperature if their working area is sufficiently insulated.
What is with the music! Lol
Can't make everyone happy.
What a nice idea. Convert $1000 of grass hay into enough heat to keep a greenhouse from freezing in the winter. Oh yes also about another $700 in materials and labor. After the hay rots down who is going to clean up the mess to begin again?
You didn't watch the movie. It wasn't made with hay. The project was free to the owners, material was donated and funding secured as a donation. The heat therefor was free. The humus after the composting was finished was used in their CSA gardens. Please try again.
There is no way your budget was $500 the skid steer alone rents for over $200 per day and eats diesel like crazy...Hay or straw bales run from $5-10 each. A water pump is at least $65 for a cheap Harbor Freight pond pump let alone a quality model. I have no idea how many feet of expensive poly pipe you used but more than $500 worth. You also have 8 -9 people providing free "Hippie" labor, most of us don't have access to free hippies or students.
There is nothing environmentally friendly about this either.... Yes your heat supply is naturally composting material...but your running a Skid steer all day, Using a literal ton of Poly piping made with petrochemicals and using electricity to pump water.
Omgosh.... tried SO HARD to make it through this video.... music made me suicidal.... I'm out!
ByeBye!