Another option is to vent your clothes dryer into it. If you don’t want all of the humidity just running 3 or 4” pvc pipe through the greenhouse and taking advantage of the heat exchange and let humidity vent outside.
All very good ideas for creating/retaining heat. If the GAT alone is able to maintain 55 degrees in New England that is fairly amazing. Your greenhouse is also very esthetically pleasing.
Yeah, I'm excited about using the GAHT. But I would like to think that all of the other little things add a few degrees to the overall temperature also.
A suggestion: the air gap which you mentioned in your discussion of the frames covered in plastic can be easily doubled by wrapping the frame rather than covering a single face. I used to make such frames for use in the windows of my home. I made the frame 1/2" thick, wrapped it in plastic, then applied 1/4" on both faces the same width as the 1/2" used in the frame. The 1/4" material kept wind from tearing the plastic. I built these frames to fit snugly within the outside moldings of my windows and held them in place with small wedges. The double air gap made a huge difference in my heating bills.
Thank you. But, can you clarify this line "then applied 1/4" on both faces the same width as the 1/2" used in the frame"? 1/4 of what material to the wrapped frames?
This was actually overwhelming 😵💫just with the geothermal and all the wall insulation, i would have thought that it would be enough! I was just looking for something simple. Now i have more questions than answers 😂
People will need to employ more or less of these methods depending on their longitude. By themselves, each of these methods mean a gain of a few degrees.
Appreciate you taking the time to show the photos and videos of the building project in progress and the finished products. You made it easy to understand by doing that. 🐺🔧
Great tips, thank you , I live in an east west oriented flat in the U.K., I container garden. I try to make as much as I can from the low winter sun. All the best …one day I hope to be able to scale up 😎🌞
Wow! I am SO impressed by your design and work. Well thought-out, well made, and beautifully finished. Thank you for sharing this. I live in California, so the GAT idea is just as helpful for summer cooling as for winter warming. Thanks again!
I think using the underground heat and cooling like a battery is the best bang for your buck. I have seen water storage tanks at a university used for this purpose. Use a thermostat set to your liking parameters. To run a fan similar to one in video maybe a solar powered charger that charges a battery during the day and drains for the nighttime operation. Heating the ground underneath I would fill with course rock or cinder blocks for the thermal mass and air flow during the day. Intake on one side and exhaust on opposite side. My goal would be to keep above 40 degrees at night and knock down the daytime temperatures with automatic roof panels and possibly another solar fan. All in all that’s a hell of a setup you have there but my idea would be to more doable for the average gardener on a lesser budget. ❤
I don't know if you will ever need Styrofoam again. If you do need it you can get free hot tub tops. Once you take the cloth off you have a large thick piece of Styrofoam. It can easily be cut with a serrated knife. We used it to insulate around the skirt part of our cabin. If the hot tub cover is water logged, it will dry out if you let it sit a while.
I used a little paraffin heater, in my green house last year and it worked amazing. I had peppers, cucumbers you name it started in the winter and kept till the spring. But by the very last frost as it heated up so much I turned it down… well I thought I did and I turned it off so the last very mild frost killed everything!
awww shoot! Sounds like me. Every spring I get my water tanks filled up for the garden and then I forget to turn off a hose and I have no water by the end of June when I desperately need it for summer - aarrgh!
Helpful tips! I have one comment about adding the extra plastic foil on the outside of the windows. Obviously this adds tremendously to the insulation of the greenhouse, but it also reduces incoming radiation which you need to collect heat. Even more important, some plants need direct sunlight to grow optimally like peppers tomatoes and so on. So adding more 'transparent' layers like this can limit the growth of certain species you want to grow in your greenhouse. I mean you probably can grow sun loving plants but in greenhouses it's all about optimizing and controlling these factors. This is something you should take in consideration when setting up your greenhouse.
Thank you much. I have a very small greenhouse. So I just heat it up with a Milkhouse heater which is working fine to keep my tropical plants alive. Would also like to hear from you tips on how to cool the greenhouse in summer. My greenhouse always reaches 100+ degrees.
Mine is 10x20 feet with 1000 gals of water in it. I also use just a Milkhouse heater when outside temp drops below the mid-teens. I'm in the Missouri Ozarks. In four years, temp has never dropped below 42 even when negative 8 outside. For cooling, I use a fan high on one wall that kicks on automatically and opens two intakes that are on the opposite wall. I can't cool below outside temperature. If I ever build another one I will use GAT system for both heating and cooling.
Insulation dosn't technically heat anything but good stepps to go over, i like how you inplemented alot of sources in a space efficient way, the geo battery is always a good base for cooling/heating then adding other stuff to make it more efficient.
I actually built the greenhouse with this in mind. I put composting set up (video here: ua-cam.com/video/MAIU3cQICHY/v-deo.html ) right next to the greenhouse for this very reason. I also plumbed pex tubing during construction out to the bin area. However, I never ended up needing anymore temperature boost than what I got from the other methods. So I haven't completed that aspect.
I saw a guy grow strawberries on Chrismas day, all he did was take his 'Poly tunnel' and set up another smaller Poly tunnel inside there was about a 4ft gap between the poly tunnel plastic walls. There was no heating just straw covering the floor inside the inside poly tunnel. By the way, the colour black... radiates more heat than any other color and this is why it feels warm to the touch.
I bet it's the same guy I saw in Utah. His name is Chad Midgley and he grow citrus in Utah which is something I am experimenting with here in Arkansas with few things I have to tweak due to our context.
An IBC tote or even a dump trailer with wood chips. Insulate appropriately, coil of pipe, heat transfer fluid and you have a renewable heat source. I suggest wood chips because they are easier to get out of the container when it's time to change out the biomass.
The siding. Its pallets. Can you tell us how you did that? It looks very tight, as in close together. Does water get behind them? Did you put them up like Shingles? Thanks Nancy.
What you see is what you get. Meaning they look like shingles, because they are cut in roughly the same length/shape as a typical shingle... and installed like a typical shingle. Only difference being that they are not tapered/wedge shaped... but that doesn’t matter. They shed water the same way, by overlapping each other. BUT you must put at least tar paper behind them... So in his configuration, he has plywood behind them, and then presumably a building paper, but probably just tar paper for cost factor... so depending how perfect you want it to be, like say it’s part of your house, then in that case you could put a building paper over the plywood, like Tyvek, then you could put horizontal strapping underneath the shingle where you’d be nailing them, etc... BUT in this kind of construction, which is done with cost and ease in mind, you just put tar paper on the wall and then start shingling row by row, starting from the bottom... and if you want more security from rain, like really wet place, then as you go up to the next row, you place a narrow strip of tar paper between each row... so the part of the row below that is unseen and covered by the row above would also have a strip of tar paper covering it. Example: if pieces of wood are cut to 16”, then you’d typically be coving 8” of shingle by the row of shingles above. So then if you bought a roll of 24” wide tar paper, you’d cut that roll in half to get two 12” rolls... these would become your thin strips that you cover over the top 7” of the shingles, again that are going to be covered by the row above, and hiding any tar paper... that is your bullet proof protection system that is cheap and easy to do... the only other thing, it makes sure the shingles above are offset with the shingles below... at least 1” offset, so the joints don’t line up over each other... (which is the whole point of shingling in the first place... just basic stuff to understand.) It really is a great way to get rid (=use) of short scrap wood like pallet wood. Hope this helped... maybe it’s confusing, but I’m sure there are pictures showing exactly what I’m saying just a couple clicks/google search away.
I have a stone wall, double glass windows and a woodburner for the coldest days. I can heat a lot for the price of what insulation, plastic and water storage heating would cost me.
Water storage heating is theoretically free. Plastic containers are constantly being thrown out-like say the typical 5 gallon style stackable pails (19l)... maybe they need some black paint, but often that too can be found for very few dollars/euros/etc...
@@GMC-qo9xi I paid $8 each for 55 gal drums like the blue one in the video four years ago. Online they are expensive but a recycling center/junk dealer only five miles away had a huge stack of them. One can of black flat spray paint for the side towards the sun does three barrels.
I’ll assume you thought about this idea as well and reasoned against it for expense or difficulty-but it’s a very beneficial one imo. Is to insulate horizontally the ground around the exterior perimeter of the building itself. Butting it up to the footing or bottom of the insulated wall, and sloping it slightly downward to run moisture away and to protect the foam with progressively thicker dirt the further out... 2’ of 3-4” would suffice, but 4’ of 4” would basically bring the 55° right up to the surface and then technically no insulation at all should be used inside, as whenever the temperature is above 55°, the actual heat in the ground it’s able to come up from below and or go down from above... And theoretically you can increase (=store) the temperature of the ground beyond 55° and then take it back out from the surface as needed on cold nights. If interior in long winter stretch barely reaches 55° and/or sun doesn’t come out, then ground will gradually cool as it’s uninsulated, but at least (the otherwise frozen) ground around the exterior perimeter won’t be stealing heat from underneath the greenhouse-as long as it’s well insulated. (And proof of concept can even be found where early snow fall keeps the ground from freezing... like in the years when it falls in November before ground is frozen as long as it stays and is thick enough, you can typically dig it with minimal frost/hardness and vegetation will still be ‘fresh’. And surface will be around freezing point... but then if you had put a piece of insulation there first, then snow on top, it will indeed be relatively warm underneath right up to the surface...)
Yeah, we are on the same page. There wasn't anyway of doing it on the outside of the structure because I literally jack hammered down to bed rock on the north and east sides. The south side is a cliff. Your idea is essentially what I did with the bed on the inside of the structure.
@@WineberryHill ya, concept wise it’s the same engineering idea for slab on grade construction, to prevent frost heave (as well as heat loss, etc.). Ultimately, I think we’d all be following the Chinese model or better yet the basic earth ship concept... where the typical hoop houses don’t really make much sense for us up north.
@@WineberryHill regarding the rock, that’s pretty difficult t9 work around..l the raised bed idea seems perfect though in that scenario. I’ve got a rock face (like cliff) that I’m fantasizing about building up against it... as it’s south facing and relatively flat at the base which backs up to my shop (like 100’ away).
#ILoveThis I live in AZ desert and si ce there's no trees I built a double tarp greenhouse with wood frame and cattle panels. My issue is stopping the wind from flowing through freezing my seedlings. I will look into buying wind barrier, though. You inspired me to maybe install clear plastic for doors to allow sunlight. I'm using what I already have and trying to make it work. #Keepupthegreatwork #Newsubhere
how do you feel about blankets/shutters/curtains for nights, so the inside heat doesnt radiate out? Might be worth it on the coldest nights. I'm reading through "Chinese greenhouses" now.
It's interesting that you brought up the topic of shading, given that your design heavily incorporates wooden beams, which indeed cast a significant amount of shade. As a result, you're inadvertently missing out on a substantial amount of potential light and heat. In the context of greenhouses, the usage of glass is commendable due to its property of minimal light obstruction. However, the framework does impede some of the light. It's worth noting that glass excels in heat retention compared to plastic, although it comes with its own drawbacks, such as weight and cost. Conversely, while plastic can block some light, the relatively wide spacing of the supporting hoops helps mitigate this shading effect. You might consider a double-walled polytunnel with a blower system to further reduce heat loss. I find your ground-to-air heat transfer system intriguing, as I'm in the process of constructing a similar system for my own greenhouse. Incorporating heat storage in water is another effective approach.
Sweet greenhouse. I really like the drop ceiling-- super basic and effective way to conserve heat! Also, the foyer seems like a great idea given how many other heating systems you have going on. Nice work. What do you think the best bang for input energy for shoulder season growing? Geothermal worth it?
I think thermal "banking" is the low hanging fruit. So as many thermal sinks made of things like rock and water reservoirs (and adding black surfaces over them for solar collection).
@@WineberryHill Glad to hear, I was also hoping that is the case. In my design, I only have a couple systems in play...massive thermal bank (small pond+aquaponic system) with a rocket mass heater under the mass.
Like #50! Watching with great interest!….lots of work but mostly FREE and that’s my kind of build! We are in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador Canada and it’s already winter with below 0 temperatures!!!
We have our greenhouse turned a shed.. lol..for patio furniture these days and for the winter. Hoping to build a much bigger hooped greenhouse next year with whatever I can get for FREE or cheaply on the buy and sell sites!
I have concerns about the synthetic materials that you use to absorb the solar heat. They will release VOC over time, especially when they are new. VOCs in a closed environment are likely to get absorbed into your food crops. The 55 gallon food grade drum is probably OK but the 1 gallon containers may leach over time. Perhaps leaving them in the sun outdoors for a season may help. Sunlight does degrade plastics and cause them to give up the VOCs so after a season in direct sunlight you may be left with some very small amount of residual VOC discharge. Have you considered a thermal mass rocket heater?
Thanks for the feedback. Great stuff to consider. I have thought about a rocket heater, but I'm starting to think I wont need to add anything else, since I'm able to keep the soil temp inside the greenhouse at around 62˚F.
I can't share the same concerns. The plastics appear to be common, particularly those black plastic jugs. Such plastic is high density polyethylene, the same stuff used in milk jugs. If HDPE is offgassing any VOC, the level is extremely low, and any migration through the garden space and ultimately into grown food will be of an even lower concentration that what is already thoroughly safe. And the offgassing level may well be zero for all we know.
In spring summer and fall, most greenhouses require a relatively large air exchange... And voc concerns should be dealt with, but generally speaking the time when they are inevitably the worst are the times when outside air is needed to cool. (First winter could be an issue...) Some people however are making relatively sealed greenhouses even for summer using the ground for cooling... making the voc issue a bit more of a concern.
Another way to use that irregular shaped styrofoam would be to grind/break it up and and then fill the voids from top of wall... like say you put vapour barrier up on the inside and then didn’t finish stapling the top foot, then pour you styro beads/small chunks down... you’d be able to see what’s going on and if it’s stuck or whatever and allow you to pat it down and into place. It would make more styrofoam shapes available to use, like appliance packing, etc...
@@WineberryHill imagine starting an enviro business, working with recyclers to take all the styrofoam just that they usually have to send to landfill (and actually get them to collect it-like around here they don’t even want us to put it in recycling). Then turn it into a blown in “green” insulation... probably piss someone off and get lobbied against, but lot of ‘raw’ material out there to find a better home for, then the landfills!
I have a friend that did just that. Apparently, spray in insulation companies bag up a LOT of insulation that gets cut off for sheet rocking, etc. He insulated his entire 2nd floor (2,500+ sq ft) with crushed up foam. He'd sheetrock up one course and then pour it in.
In the winter, the heat is accumulated through a sunny days, and released through the nights (clear nights are especially cold). In some Chinese provinces they rollable straw blankets for the night so to minimize the loss of heat over the most demanding heat-loosing-conditions.
Moving a "main" greenhouse might be a touch impractical so what might be MUCH more practical and providing you more opportunities would be a "cheap o" UNHEATED greenhouse for very hardy crops. That way you still literally get your winter greens in but without the worries of paying a contractor to move it or making sure you can DIY a moving structure.
I guess for me I need to figure out the point where I'm also able to cool the greenhouse in the summer. In that instance it might gain too much heat when I don't want it.
@@WineberryHill Venting roof windows/skylights, since heat rises, it would escape. Manually or electronically operated. Just a thought. P.S. Window shades, and since your windows are on an angle, use an aluminum track system to thread shades to stay in place up against the window. As well as skylight shades, all of these can let light through without the heat. BTH the addition of the foyer is very smart.
I put black weed fabric on the wall of a room with no lights and no windows, it did not collect heat, when the heater was off in the room the balck fabric was the same as air temp, maybe you should say that the balck fabric is a good way to collect heat from the sunshine that hits it.
Thank you for sharing this. In your Geothermal diagram the pump is taking in the blue cold air and sending down into deeper soil, then heated air climbs up and goes back into greenhouse. Is this how it works?
This is amazing and would love to do something Like this someday! I live in Michigan where it gets very cold. I don’t know if I missed you saying it in your video but what state do you live in and how is your weather throughout the year? Also, I saw in comments you don’t do tomatoes or peppers unless it’s summer. what plants do yoh grow in your winter months ?
Connecticut, I am actually going to try rise and shine summer squash this year because of its vertical habit but in the winter months, it’s definitely the brassicas and lettuce and things like that.
There are some thing I do like leaving the doors open and I switch out a couple windows with screens. Here is more on that: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
I have five 55 gallon plastic drums I've been using for rain barrels and I'm wondering since I have black paint would that work instead of having to buy spray paint? Should I rough up the plastic? I know eventually I'll have to repaint but I'm hoping them being inside will help with the longevity Thanks
Yeah, likely needs to be roughed up. There are some paints specifically designed to stick to plastic. What I have done in the past is just put a black plastic bag over the barrel...seems to do the trick.
New England zone 6b. Consistently in Winter, the low to mid 60's (f) at night. Mid 70's (f) during the day. We had a -3˚f morning a month ago and it briefly made it to 49˚f.
I put in a geothermal system in my greenhouse and I am about to add the fans. How do you control the fans so that they turn on when it is hot and when it is cold? It seems like most thermometers only work at one temperature point how do you get it to turn on at a low and a high temperature point?
Here are the links to equipment: The attic and fresh air fans: amzn.to/3eTw60G The inline G.A.H.T. fan: amzn.to/3BkI0YR The air circulation fan: amzn.to/3qFhnsG
Curious where you live to require plans D,E and F😂 I have the same thought you have with the foyer air loss but in my house, not greenhouse In Houston Texas in August just opening a door once is a life death decision, do it enough and your condenser freezes up from overwork. I wish they designed our houses with some air blocks when opening doors
Hey I Wunder where are you located I am on the west coast of Canada and we don't have much sun light in the winter more rain and clouds any ideas for that ?
I use the greenhouse year round. It doesn't over heat like a traditional greenhouse does. here is a video about how it stays cool: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
Question. Inbother thermo green houses. I have noticed many heat thevgeound all summmer. Battery bamk thevsummer heat. Then use the addedbheat from the summmer to bebused slowlybover the winter. Question, are you doing this? Or are you only capturing sun heat from the fall and winter to keep the grreen jouse warm?
If the greenhouse is so airtight, isn't that a problem with the terra cotta heater, for two reasons. 1. you need air to come in for it to work, and, 2. you need some ventilation for the carbon monoxide from the heater to escape?
Paint the entire green house brown or dark brown? Maby camouflage? I'm assuming the dark colors will heat it up quick if you're worried about the summer getting too hot then camouflage since its layered colors of green beige black and brown. Or just paint it brown and ventilate during the summer? Would adding mirror's inside help with heating? Hmm
That's the beauty of a Geothermal/GAHT system. I'm able to take advantage of the warm air in the winter and the same effect in the summer (Ground air is 50˚F year round). Check out this video I made about the 7 ways I cool my greenhouse: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
it will easily burn for a week straight. That said, I seldom need to burn it during the day, and really only need it on the absolutely COLDEST nights because of the geothermal aspects of my greenhouse.
How come you didn't paint itt black outside in ordder to collect all the heat from the sun ? Or even better.... build it in stone....and paint the stones black ?
aesthetically I don’t think I would’ve liked the look of a black structure on my property, and the engineering for the stone structure would have been much more involved.
lol, sounds like you have been talking to my wife! But seriously I think I actually did pretty good. The majority of the materials were recycled. Here is a video I made about the cost: ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html
Surely the black walls is the opposite of what you need for this ? why they are hotter is because they're absorbing more heat and not reflecting or radiating it back into the air of the greenhouse.
Yes but on the walls it's over insulation therefore very little thermal mass in the covering itself. This is why I believe a reflective surface would be better on the walls.@@WineberryHill
Another option is to vent your clothes dryer into it. If you don’t want all of the humidity just running 3 or 4” pvc pipe through the greenhouse and taking advantage of the heat exchange and let humidity vent outside.
Wouldn’t work for me, but such a great idea!
I vent my dryer into the greenhouse also
What do you use to keep the dryer lint from your plants? I had this thought for my chicken coop.
🇺🇸⚔🇬🇪
@@manchu6005 thank you
@@manchu6005 Most dryers have two filters to minimize this already.
All very good ideas for creating/retaining heat. If the GAT alone is able to maintain 55 degrees in New England that is fairly amazing. Your greenhouse is also very esthetically pleasing.
Typo. Meant GAHT.
Yeah, I'm excited about using the GAHT. But I would like to think that all of the other little things add a few degrees to the overall temperature also.
I learned a ton of things about greenhouses today - that's some really good info. Especially that Swedish skirt thing.
Glad you liked it!
A suggestion: the air gap which you mentioned in your discussion of the frames covered in plastic can be easily doubled by wrapping the frame rather than covering a single face. I used to make such frames for use in the windows of my home. I made the frame 1/2" thick, wrapped it in plastic, then applied 1/4" on both faces the same width as the 1/2" used in the frame. The 1/4" material kept wind from tearing the plastic. I built these frames to fit snugly within the outside moldings of my windows and held them in place with small wedges. The double air gap made a huge difference in my heating bills.
Thank you. But, can you clarify this line "then applied 1/4" on both faces the same width as the 1/2" used in the frame"? 1/4 of what material to the wrapped frames?
This was actually overwhelming 😵💫just with the geothermal and all the wall insulation, i would have thought that it would be enough! I was just looking for something simple. Now i have more questions than answers 😂
People will need to employ more or less of these methods depending on their longitude. By themselves, each of these methods mean a gain of a few degrees.
Appreciate you taking the time to show the photos and videos of the building project in progress and the finished products. You made it easy to understand by doing that. 🐺🔧
You bet!
Great tips, thank you , I live in an east west oriented flat in the U.K., I container garden. I try to make as much as I can from the low winter sun. All the best …one day I hope to be able to scale up 😎🌞
Thanks for watching!
Beautiful conservatory, smartly made.
Thank you kindly!
I’ve been researching passive greenhouses and I’m already addicted and starting plans now
Wow! I am SO impressed by your design and work. Well thought-out, well made, and beautifully finished. Thank you for sharing this. I live in California, so the GAT idea is just as helpful for summer cooling as for winter warming. Thanks again!
You are so welcome!
I think using the underground heat and cooling like a battery is the best bang for your buck. I have seen water storage tanks at a university used for this purpose. Use a thermostat set to your liking parameters. To run a fan similar to one in video maybe a solar powered charger that charges a battery during the day and drains for the nighttime operation.
Heating the ground underneath I would fill with course rock or cinder blocks for the thermal mass and air flow during the day. Intake on one side and exhaust on opposite side. My goal would be to keep above 40 degrees at night and knock down the daytime temperatures with automatic roof panels and possibly another solar fan.
All in all that’s a hell of a setup you have there but my idea would be to more doable for the average gardener on a lesser budget. ❤
I don't know if you will ever need Styrofoam again. If you do need it you can get free hot tub tops. Once you take the cloth off you have a large thick piece of Styrofoam. It can easily be cut with a serrated knife. We used it to insulate around the skirt part of our cabin. If the hot tub cover is water logged, it will dry out if you let it sit a while.
I used a little paraffin heater, in my green house last year and it worked amazing. I had peppers, cucumbers you name it started in the winter and kept till the spring. But by the very last frost as it heated up so much I turned it down… well I thought I did and I turned it off so the last very mild frost killed everything!
We learn huh
awww shoot! Sounds like me. Every spring I get my water tanks filled up for the garden and then I forget to turn off a hose and I have no water by the end of June when I desperately need it for summer - aarrgh!
Helpful tips! I have one comment about adding the extra plastic foil on the outside of the windows. Obviously this adds tremendously to the insulation of the greenhouse, but it also reduces incoming radiation which you need to collect heat. Even more important, some plants need direct sunlight to grow optimally like peppers tomatoes and so on. So adding more 'transparent' layers like this can limit the growth of certain species you want to grow in your greenhouse. I mean you probably can grow sun loving plants but in greenhouses it's all about optimizing and controlling these factors. This is something you should take in consideration when setting up your greenhouse.
For the most part peppers and tomatoes or something that I grow in the summer months and therefore I don’t have insulation on the windows.
Holy s**** just wanted a simple greenhouse 😂
Thank you much. I have a very small greenhouse. So I just heat it up with a Milkhouse heater which is working fine to keep my tropical plants alive. Would also like to hear from you tips on how to cool the greenhouse in summer. My greenhouse always reaches 100+ degrees.
So nice of you to say. Here is a link to a video I made about cooling: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
@@WineberryHill wow. You are amazing. Thank you so much for the really prompt reply. 👌👌👍
Mine is 10x20 feet with 1000 gals of water in it. I also use just a Milkhouse heater when outside temp drops below the mid-teens. I'm in the Missouri Ozarks. In four years, temp has never dropped below 42 even when negative 8 outside. For cooling, I use a fan high on one wall that kicks on automatically and opens two intakes that are on the opposite wall. I can't cool below outside temperature. If I ever build another one I will use GAT system for both heating and cooling.
@@loudidier3891 what kind of containers for water?
Wow that’s a serious greenhouse!
nice video, thank you very much! A suggestion, paint the external wood ribs and walls black too. I think it will add-up.
A lot of good information. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
bamboo in moveable galvanized livestock tanks. shade in summer, windbreak in winter. moving allows for pinpoint placement
you can attach clear bubble wrap to the inside windows during the cold months too.
Great tip!
All great ideas. Thank you.
Mad man. Very impressive
Guilty (thanks)!
Insulation dosn't technically heat anything but good stepps to go over, i like how you inplemented alot of sources in a space efficient way, the geo battery is always a good base for cooling/heating then adding other stuff to make it more efficient.
Opps just saw the link to making and applying the shingles. Thanks.
So very helpful. Thanks!
Polystyrene is flammable, so take care. ❤
You can also keep a compost pile inside or next to the green house to add heat.
I actually built the greenhouse with this in mind. I put composting set up (video here: ua-cam.com/video/MAIU3cQICHY/v-deo.html ) right next to the greenhouse for this very reason. I also plumbed pex tubing during construction out to the bin area. However, I never ended up needing anymore temperature boost than what I got from the other methods. So I haven't completed that aspect.
I saw a guy grow strawberries on Chrismas day, all he did was take his 'Poly tunnel' and set up another smaller Poly tunnel inside there was about a 4ft gap between the poly tunnel plastic walls. There was no heating just straw covering the floor inside the inside poly tunnel. By the way, the colour black... radiates more heat than any other color and this is why it feels warm to the touch.
I bet it's the same guy I saw in Utah. His name is Chad Midgley and he grow citrus in Utah which is something I am experimenting with here in Arkansas with few things I have to tweak due to our context.
Brilliant on all levels.
An IBC tote or even a dump trailer with wood chips. Insulate appropriately, coil of pipe, heat transfer fluid and you have a renewable heat source. I suggest wood chips because they are easier to get out of the container when it's time to change out the biomass.
Great idea!
Genius!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
You are so welcome!
Merci from Montreal, Canada.
What a great greenhouse! How do you keep it cool in the summer?
Well thought out plan, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
The siding. Its pallets. Can you tell us how you did that? It looks very tight, as in close together. Does water get behind them? Did you put them up like Shingles? Thanks Nancy.
What you see is what you get. Meaning they look like shingles, because they are cut in roughly the same length/shape as a typical shingle... and installed like a typical shingle. Only difference being that they are not tapered/wedge shaped... but that doesn’t matter. They shed water the same way, by overlapping each other. BUT you must put at least tar paper behind them... So in his configuration, he has plywood behind them, and then presumably a building paper, but probably just tar paper for cost factor... so depending how perfect you want it to be, like say it’s part of your house, then in that case you could put a building paper over the plywood, like Tyvek, then you could put horizontal strapping underneath the shingle where you’d be nailing them, etc... BUT in this kind of construction, which is done with cost and ease in mind, you just put tar paper on the wall and then start shingling row by row, starting from the bottom... and if you want more security from rain, like really wet place, then as you go up to the next row, you place a narrow strip of tar paper between each row... so the part of the row below that is unseen and covered by the row above would also have a strip of tar paper covering it.
Example: if pieces of wood are cut to 16”, then you’d typically be coving 8” of shingle by the row of shingles above. So then if you bought a roll of 24” wide tar paper, you’d cut that roll in half to get two 12” rolls... these would become your thin strips that you cover over the top 7” of the shingles, again that are going to be covered by the row above, and hiding any tar paper... that is your bullet proof protection system that is cheap and easy to do... the only other thing, it makes sure the shingles above are offset with the shingles below... at least 1” offset, so the joints don’t line up over each other... (which is the whole point of shingling in the first place... just basic stuff to understand.)
It really is a great way to get rid (=use) of short scrap wood like pallet wood. Hope this helped... maybe it’s confusing, but I’m sure there are pictures showing exactly what I’m saying just a couple clicks/google search away.
You insulated the Greenhouse so thoroughly that I'm left with the question how do your plants get sunlight ?
Plenty of sunlight, plants are happily growing
Great job chap, very comprehensive - I hope you're reaping the benefit 🍀🥬
I am!
I have a stone wall, double glass windows and a woodburner for the coldest days. I can heat a lot for the price of what insulation, plastic and water storage heating would cost me.
Water storage heating is theoretically free. Plastic containers are constantly being thrown out-like say the typical 5 gallon style stackable pails (19l)... maybe they need some black paint, but often that too can be found for very few dollars/euros/etc...
@@GMC-qo9xi I paid $8 each for 55 gal drums like the blue one in the video four years ago. Online they are expensive but a recycling center/junk dealer only five miles away had a huge stack of them. One can of black flat spray paint for the side towards the sun does three barrels.
I’ll assume you thought about this idea as well and reasoned against it for expense or difficulty-but it’s a very beneficial one imo. Is to insulate horizontally the ground around the exterior perimeter of the building itself. Butting it up to the footing or bottom of the insulated wall, and sloping it slightly downward to run moisture away and to protect the foam with progressively thicker dirt the further out... 2’ of 3-4” would suffice, but 4’ of 4” would basically bring the 55° right up to the surface and then technically no insulation at all should be used inside, as whenever the temperature is above 55°, the actual heat in the ground it’s able to come up from below and or go down from above... And theoretically you can increase (=store) the temperature of the ground beyond 55° and then take it back out from the surface as needed on cold nights.
If interior in long winter stretch barely reaches 55° and/or sun doesn’t come out, then ground will gradually cool as it’s uninsulated, but at least (the otherwise frozen) ground around the exterior perimeter won’t be stealing heat from underneath the greenhouse-as long as it’s well insulated. (And proof of concept can even be found where early snow fall keeps the ground from freezing... like in the years when it falls in November before ground is frozen as long as it stays and is thick enough, you can typically dig it with minimal frost/hardness and vegetation will still be ‘fresh’. And surface will be around freezing point... but then if you had put a piece of insulation there first, then snow on top, it will indeed be relatively warm underneath right up to the surface...)
Yeah, we are on the same page. There wasn't anyway of doing it on the outside of the structure because I literally jack hammered down to bed rock on the north and east sides. The south side is a cliff. Your idea is essentially what I did with the bed on the inside of the structure.
@@WineberryHill ya, concept wise it’s the same engineering idea for slab on grade construction, to prevent frost heave (as well as heat loss, etc.).
Ultimately, I think we’d all be following the Chinese model or better yet the basic earth ship concept... where the typical hoop houses don’t really make much sense for us up north.
@@WineberryHill regarding the rock, that’s pretty difficult t9 work around..l the raised bed idea seems perfect though in that scenario.
I’ve got a rock face (like cliff) that I’m fantasizing about building up against it... as it’s south facing and relatively flat at the base which backs up to my shop (like 100’ away).
Yeah, rock can be your friend in that instance.
@@WineberryHill It would likely rob more heat than it holds. Might have to cover a massive area.
#ILoveThis I live in AZ desert and si ce there's no trees I built a double tarp greenhouse with wood frame and cattle panels. My issue is stopping the wind from flowing through freezing my seedlings. I will look into buying wind barrier, though. You inspired me to maybe install clear plastic for doors to allow sunlight. I'm using what I already have and trying to make it work. #Keepupthegreatwork #Newsubhere
Thanks for sharing!
how do you feel about blankets/shutters/curtains for nights, so the inside heat doesnt radiate out? Might be worth it on the coldest nights. I'm reading through "Chinese greenhouses" now.
Yep that's also a good idea. I don't need it on mine since it's able to a considerable amount of heat.
It's interesting that you brought up the topic of shading, given that your design heavily incorporates wooden beams, which indeed cast a significant amount of shade. As a result, you're inadvertently missing out on a substantial amount of potential light and heat. In the context of greenhouses, the usage of glass is commendable due to its property of minimal light obstruction. However, the framework does impede some of the light.
It's worth noting that glass excels in heat retention compared to plastic, although it comes with its own drawbacks, such as weight and cost. Conversely, while plastic can block some light, the relatively wide spacing of the supporting hoops helps mitigate this shading effect. You might consider a double-walled polytunnel with a blower system to further reduce heat loss.
I find your ground-to-air heat transfer system intriguing, as I'm in the process of constructing a similar system for my own greenhouse. Incorporating heat storage in water is another effective approach.
This was a great video!
Sweet greenhouse. I really like the drop ceiling-- super basic and effective way to conserve heat! Also, the foyer seems like a great idea given how many other heating systems you have going on. Nice work.
What do you think the best bang for input energy for shoulder season growing? Geothermal worth it?
I think thermal "banking" is the low hanging fruit. So as many thermal sinks made of things like rock and water reservoirs (and adding black surfaces over them for solar collection).
@@WineberryHill Glad to hear, I was also hoping that is the case.
In my design, I only have a couple systems in play...massive thermal bank (small pond+aquaponic system) with a rocket mass heater under the mass.
Like #50! Watching with great interest!….lots of work but mostly FREE and that’s my kind of build! We are in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador Canada and it’s already winter with below 0 temperatures!!!
yeah, winter is basically here also, upper 20’s to lower 30’s at night now.
We have our greenhouse turned a shed.. lol..for patio furniture these days and for the winter. Hoping to build a much bigger hooped greenhouse next year with whatever I can get for FREE or cheaply on the buy and sell sites!
Lots of great information. Thank you for sharing. One question: why not paint the exterior shingles on the house black also?
Maybe if we were in zone 2 or 3, but the summer in 6b is pretty hot and the greenhouse would be an oven. It’s tricky finding a good balance.
An insulating roll down curtain for nighttime would help too
This sounds expensive.
I have concerns about the synthetic materials that you use to absorb the solar heat. They will release VOC over time, especially when they are new. VOCs in a closed environment are likely to get absorbed into your food crops. The 55 gallon food grade drum is probably OK but the 1 gallon containers may leach over time. Perhaps leaving them in the sun outdoors for a season may help. Sunlight does degrade plastics and cause them to give up the VOCs so after a season in direct sunlight you may be left with some very small amount of residual VOC discharge. Have you considered a thermal mass rocket heater?
Thanks for the feedback. Great stuff to consider. I have thought about a rocket heater, but I'm starting to think I wont need to add anything else, since I'm able to keep the soil temp inside the greenhouse at around 62˚F.
I can't share the same concerns. The plastics appear to be common, particularly those black plastic jugs. Such plastic is high density polyethylene, the same stuff used in milk jugs. If HDPE is offgassing any VOC, the level is extremely low, and any migration through the garden space and ultimately into grown food will be of an even lower concentration that what is already thoroughly safe. And the offgassing level may well be zero for all we know.
In spring summer and fall, most greenhouses require a relatively large air exchange... And voc concerns should be dealt with, but generally speaking the time when they are inevitably the worst are the times when outside air is needed to cool. (First winter could be an issue...) Some people however are making relatively sealed greenhouses even for summer using the ground for cooling... making the voc issue a bit more of a concern.
Absolutely I asked a plastic expert and he whispered. Use glass. 💙💜💚
Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain
Hi, Nice to have you visit!
@@WineberryHill Keep up the good work
Another way to use that irregular shaped styrofoam would be to grind/break it up and and then fill the voids from top of wall... like say you put vapour barrier up on the inside and then didn’t finish stapling the top foot, then pour you styro beads/small chunks down... you’d be able to see what’s going on and if it’s stuck or whatever and allow you to pat it down and into place. It would make more styrofoam shapes available to use, like appliance packing, etc...
Totally right!
@@WineberryHill imagine starting an enviro business, working with recyclers to take all the styrofoam just that they usually have to send to landfill (and actually get them to collect it-like around here they don’t even want us to put it in recycling). Then turn it into a blown in “green” insulation... probably piss someone off and get lobbied against, but lot of ‘raw’ material out there to find a better home for, then the landfills!
I have a friend that did just that. Apparently, spray in insulation companies bag up a LOT of insulation that gets cut off for sheet rocking, etc. He insulated his entire 2nd floor (2,500+ sq ft) with crushed up foam. He'd sheetrock up one course and then pour it in.
@@WineberryHill excellent. Another great use/source of otherwise garbage.
Good information. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
In the winter, the heat is accumulated through a sunny days, and released through the nights (clear nights are especially cold). In some Chinese provinces they rollable straw blankets for the night so to minimize the loss of heat over the most demanding heat-loosing-conditions.
A sand battery might help to get the chill off at night when you don’t want a fire going without supervision.
Moving a "main" greenhouse might be a touch impractical so what might be MUCH more practical and providing you more opportunities would be a "cheap o" UNHEATED greenhouse for very hardy crops. That way you still literally get your winter greens in but without the worries of paying a contractor to move it or making sure you can DIY a moving structure.
Right, I was talking about the planning phase.
I would paint/stain the exterior a slate (charcoal grey) color, for the same reason that you have the black landscape cloth inside.
I guess for me I need to figure out the point where I'm also able to cool the greenhouse in the summer. In that instance it might gain too much heat when I don't want it.
@@WineberryHill Venting roof windows/skylights, since heat rises, it would escape. Manually or electronically operated. Just a thought.
P.S. Window shades, and since your windows are on an angle, use an aluminum track system to thread shades to stay in place up against the window. As well as skylight shades, all of these can let light through without the heat. BTH the addition of the foyer is very smart.
I put black weed fabric on the wall of a room with no lights and no windows, it did not collect heat, when the heater was off in the room the balck fabric was the same as air temp, maybe you should say that the balck fabric is a good way to collect heat from the sunshine that hits it.
Yep, it collects solar energy from the sun.
Thank you for sharing this. In your Geothermal diagram the pump is taking in the blue cold air and sending down into deeper soil, then heated air climbs up and goes back into greenhouse. Is this how it works?
yep, that’s how it works
This is amazing and would love to do something Like this someday! I live in Michigan where it gets very cold. I don’t know if I missed you saying it in your video but what state do you live in and how is your weather throughout the year? Also, I saw in comments you don’t do tomatoes or peppers unless it’s summer. what plants do yoh grow in your winter months ?
Connecticut, I am actually going to try rise and shine summer squash this year because of its vertical habit but in the winter months, it’s definitely the brassicas and lettuce and things like that.
Nice greenhouse! What’s the square footage? How big is the raised bed n how much did it cost?
Thanks! Footprint is 16'x20', and the bed is 12'x12'. Here's a video about cost: ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html
anyone has seen same kind of video but for zone 3, general concept still good, but their will be difference for sure
Great for heating in winter, bug with all that thermal mass, how hot does it get over summer?
Watch this: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
How do you cool it in the summer?
Here’s a video about that: 7 Ways to COOL a Greenhouse
ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
How about putting the heater on bricks? I am going to try that.
@Wineberry Hill What are you doing for Co2 with the structure sealed up that tight?
So it’s actually not sealed that tightly there’s plenty of air movement in the structure that said the plants would love any extra CO2
You mention zones 6-9. I am in zone 4. Any thoughts on that? Thank you. Good video .
most of these ideas should apply. try to steal as much solar energy as possible!
How do you keep it cool in the summer?
Watch the video: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
Do you need to change anything when summer comes around so the green house won't be too hot?
There are some thing I do like leaving the doors open and I switch out a couple windows with screens. Here is more on that: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
I have five 55 gallon plastic drums I've been using for rain barrels and I'm wondering since I have black paint would that work instead of having to buy spray paint?
Should I rough up the plastic?
I know eventually I'll have to repaint but I'm hoping them being inside will help with the longevity
Thanks
Yeah, likely needs to be roughed up. There are some paints specifically designed to stick to plastic. What I have done in the past is just put a black plastic bag over the barrel...seems to do the trick.
How do you keep the backfill from crushing the perforated pipes?
Those are designed for burial.
What temperature are you able to maintain through winter? What zone are you in?
New England zone 6b. Consistently in Winter, the low to mid 60's (f) at night. Mid 70's (f) during the day. We had a -3˚f morning a month ago and it briefly made it to 49˚f.
I put in a geothermal system in my greenhouse and I am about to add the fans. How do you control the fans so that they turn on when it is hot and when it is cold? It seems like most thermometers only work at one temperature point how do you get it to turn on at a low and a high temperature point?
Here are the links to equipment:
The attic and fresh air fans: amzn.to/3eTw60G
The inline G.A.H.T. fan: amzn.to/3BkI0YR
The air circulation fan: amzn.to/3qFhnsG
Curious where you live to require plans D,E and F😂
I have the same thought you have with the foyer air loss but in my house, not greenhouse
In Houston Texas in August just opening a door once is a life death decision, do it enough and your condenser freezes up from overwork.
I wish they designed our houses with some air blocks when opening doors
New England
Добрый день ,😊ваш утеплитель -пенополистерол очень любят грызть мыши, очень чудесная тепличка, что в ней вырастили?
брокколи, салат, капуста, клубника, перец, фасоль.
Hey I Wunder where are you located I am on the west coast of Canada and we don't have much sun light in the winter more rain and clouds any ideas for that ?
I'm in the north east. Not all 15 of the things I do will work everywhere, but some of them inevitably will.
Do you use it in the summer? If so does it get way too hot? Thanks
I use the greenhouse year round. It doesn't over heat like a traditional greenhouse does. here is a video about how it stays cool: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
Results? Temperatur during Winternight inside greenhouse?
Between 30° and 50° f higher than outside temperatures. The lower range is on a cloudy day, and the higher range is when the sun is shining.
Question. Inbother thermo green houses. I have noticed many heat thevgeound all summmer. Battery bamk thevsummer heat. Then use the addedbheat from the summmer to bebused slowlybover the winter. Question, are you doing this? Or are you only capturing sun heat from the fall and winter to keep the grreen jouse warm?
yes, essentially an earth battery
If the greenhouse is so airtight, isn't that a problem with the terra cotta heater, for two reasons. 1. you need air to come in for it to work, and, 2. you need some ventilation for the carbon monoxide from the heater to escape?
It isn't vacuum tight. There is a fresh air intake, and an attic vent. That said, the plants would easily absorb any harmful gases.
@@WineberryHill Excellent point. CO2 is the main product from the heater and elevated levels of CO2 are great for better plant growth.
Very informative and nice video, great points, thanks for sharing, Have just also subscribed to your channel 👍😊🌵🌱🌺💚
Thanks for the sub!
Did you do a video on how to keep your greenhouse cool and well ventilated in summer? Peace
Yep, here ya go: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
Paint the entire green house brown or dark brown? Maby camouflage? I'm assuming the dark colors will heat it up quick if you're worried about the summer getting too hot then camouflage since its layered colors of green beige black and brown.
Or just paint it brown and ventilate during the summer?
Would adding mirror's inside help with heating?
Hmm
Great tips!
Q: how do you counter the heat capture in the summer time?
That's the beauty of a Geothermal/GAHT system. I'm able to take advantage of the warm air in the winter and the same effect in the summer (Ground air is 50˚F year round). Check out this video I made about the 7 ways I cool my greenhouse: ua-cam.com/video/w7uCrnZn7-8/v-deo.html
My next greenhouse will have a thermal blanket to put down at night like they use in Chinese greenhouses.
your terracotta heater, how many hours does the can of Crisco last?
it will easily burn for a week straight. That said, I seldom need to burn it during the day, and really only need it on the absolutely COLDEST nights because of the geothermal aspects of my greenhouse.
@@WineberryHill excellent, tx!
You should create blueprints and sell them as kits.
Stay tuned!
How long does your crisco candle/terra cotta heater last? Do you run it 24/7?
I tend to only use it at night on the coldest of nights. But they can burn for a week or more continuously. Thanks for watching!
bro got that gyat
How to address photosynthesis efficiency?
I'm experiment with reflective foil on the walls.
Try making solar heaters
How come you didn't paint itt black outside in ordder to collect all the heat from the sun ? Or even better.... build it in stone....and paint the stones black ?
aesthetically I don’t think I would’ve liked the look of a black structure on my property, and the engineering for the stone structure would have been much more involved.
Whats the floor plans
For the greenhouse? My greenhouse is so specific to my site and my geographic area...I'm not sure plans would help other people very much...
How Long Does The Crisco Last An Is It Messy
Depends on the details of your setup, air flow right, size etc. But a week and a half to two weeks.
Can't imagine how much this cost? Most ppl could not afford it.
Here is the answer: ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html
Did you build your greenhouse.? Do you have the plans to share?
I didn’t build it. I am working on making the plans available very soon, so stay tuned!
How long for burning clay pot?
Easily a week if not more. But I usually only use it in the COLDEST nights.
How much did this thing cost?
Here is a video about that: ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html
You could call it "The Million Dollar Greenhouse" .
lol, sounds like you have been talking to my wife! But seriously I think I actually did pretty good. The majority of the materials were recycled. Here is a video I made about the cost: ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html
@@WineberryHill He-he. If the power goes out in the winter at least you won't freeze 🙂
Surely the black walls is the opposite of what you need for this ? why they are hotter is because they're absorbing more heat and not reflecting or radiating it back into the air of the greenhouse.
Thermal mass is the name of the game, that heat has to go somewhere…
Yes but on the walls it's over insulation therefore very little thermal mass in the covering itself. This is why I believe a reflective surface would be better on the walls.@@WineberryHill
I’m not against the idea of adding reflective surfaces especially in the winter time. Stay tuned maybe that’s some thing. I’ll add.
Bro spent $100k on a greenhouse instead of buying a brand new bmw, i love it!!!!!
100K! Check out this video I made about the cost: What's a "Free" Greenhouse ACTUALLY Cost?
ua-cam.com/video/0vA8Hx8F7Sk/v-deo.html