How To Heat A Green House Naturally
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- čas přidán 24. 07. 2024
- Just because it's winter doesn't mean you can't plant seeds! In this video, we discuss how you can heat your green house naturally in order to plant seeds during the winter.
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For those considering building a greenhouse, search / research geothermal green houses.... Those are the best options. Bury tubes under the frost line and use fans to pull warm air out of the earth.
or store the summer heat. air will always be about 55F
That is how the 'Citrus in the Snow' greenhouse is heated. Yes, it's a sunken greenhouse, but they guy uses tubes run deep in the soil to pull warmer air (using a fan) into the greenhouse.
Also look into a sunken greenhouse or wallipinis
I read it causes sink holes
It is called a GAHT system.
Surprised he missed using a compost pile. Its a great way to keep a greenhouse a bit warmer through winter as it can actually generate some heat.
Yes, a hot bed type thing, too, like dirtpatchheaven does. My concern is knowing how to manage these well, to avoid exposure to dangerous gasses, which ARE a real, and very dangerous concern with an active pile in an enclosure. Many a dairy farmer has died from silo gas, which would be similar, my own brother narrowly escaped once. For me, I think I'd rather just do a 3 season hoop house with the water barrels, geothermal when I can get to that, and frost-protective coverings inside as needed. Then, have a sunroom on my house for things like lime trees etc. over the winter. Sunrooms are supposed to be the best way to have an attached greenhouse without humidity issues or whatever damaging your siding or etc. , & I definitely want one, anyways. W enough room for a reading chair or lil dining table :).
PS : I just realized maybe u meant a compost pile OUTside the greenhouse, where layer coiled pipe through it and then thru the greenhouse. I have heard from those who'd know, who've been into all this stuff for many years, that those aren't generally advisable. That they only heat for a couple months and then they're a huge pain to disassemble again, with the plastic all coiled up in it.
However, I would consider doing one outside, along the whole north side of a greenhouse, with no coils etc., and esp. if my north wall were painted metal (and preferably a vertical wall too). Basically a greenhouse built like the one Shawn of Edible Acres toured a few months ago, of his neighbor. Either that or hay-bales or bags of leaves stacked all along that side. Then, still have the water barrels/thermal mass of some kind, on the inside of that wall.
I'm gonna try the compost method and run tubes from inside the compost pile into the green house
That's what I was thinking too. That's a med range goal for me.
Drawbacks: additional land and a lot of money for materials and supplies plus equipment for excavation.
If you got a well built, large enough compost pile, you can use the gas to power the heater.
The closed dump on Staten Island has been tapped for its methane which is sold for fuel.
We are using geothermal to heat our greenhouse this winter. It is 90% off grid. We buried a 55 gallon barrel and circulate the water threw a car radiator with a 12v fan blowing across the radiator. It blows air at 55 degrees. We use a solar panel and wind turbine to charge the batteries that run the system.
Where did you get your solar system from. I'm super interested in doing something with solar but want a decent system.
@@brittanyragon6033 we purchased two marine batteries from my local Walmart. Got the solar panel from Harbor freight and the wind turbine from Amazon. The invertor and controller came with the solar panel. The wind turbine is better at generating electricity in the winter because we usually have a breeze. You will also need a temperature controller. We got a cheap one online. It comes on when temp gets 32. The only problem is we need a couple more batteries because if we have lots of cold days in a row the solar panel and turbine can't keep up charging system. Which is why I said 90% off grid. Those days my heater will kick in. But overall we are happy with how it works.
@@kimrodgers5895 thank you for the information very helpful 🙂
@@kimrodgers5895 pretty much what I’m aiming at. Great ideas! No way would I put compost in my GH-pew. Love the off grid! We did that with the shack to power lights and TV😂. Simple solar parts. It’s those batteries that cost so much.
How deep did you bury the barrel?
I really appreciate that this man speaks in a normal voice instead of that obnoxious journalism voice that so many youtubers try to use.
Im in central texas. I have a 55 gallon barrel in my 10 x 10 ft greenhouse. I have dropped a large aquarium heater down into the water and I dont have a problem keeping greenhouse warm.
Cool! That's what I was planning on doing (except using a 33 gallon trash can). Glad to see it works:)
Mine is 10x10 also. How do you have room for an55
Gallon barrel?
I use the same concept, except with a hot pot.
Take a hot pot, fill it up with water, set it on low uncovered, and let do its thing.
Oh wow, these comments are pure GOLD. You guys rock!
Geothermal is awesome. A guy in Nebraska grows citrus using a 3-sided greenhouse and geothermal energy and fans. And he sells those greenhouses one of the first gardening videos I saw. He was a farmer. If you search Nebraska citrus greenhouse and maybe geothermal it will come up. It came up but it's in the snow. The first 4 words will get it. You want the oldest video, it's the original. I looked at a house that had geothermal to heat and cool it. You have almost no bill. You don't have to dig straight down for 15 or 30 feet, just a trench 3 feet down or so and coil your pipe. You can do it in town that way.
i believe he was a mailman, not a farmer. at least not until he retired. fyi.
@@donfarley6107 Yes, Russ is a retired mailman.
Ok your tips are great but the COMMENTS are pure gold. Like between you and people in this comment, this whole thing is a found of knowledge
I'm using C9 Christmas lights to heat my outdoor grow tent and hoop house. I had to install sensors and exhaust fan. When it gets too hot the heat mats and Xmas lights turn off and the exhaust fan pumps the hot air out and pulls in cool air. It's awesome. Works perfectly
The old houses in downtown Boise are heated by geothermal hot springs. Wish I was on that line. Maybe they'll extend it to my place someday. That'd keep a greenhouse nice and toasty.
We used 55 gallon steel drums full of water. The tops made convenient spots for starting seeds.
That's exactly what we're planning, too!! Has it been effective for you?
Dang Luke! You've done your homework! I'm so impressed w/you! Thank you, so much, for sharing! You brought a well needed uplift to my spirits today! (Confined to the couch 😪). So happy w/the success of your new business & watching your family grow.
For the home gardener it’s best to keep the greenhouse small. We were given parts from a friend’s blown over GH and fabricated a small lean to on garden shed. I have a wood floor. Couple weeks ago I purchased a temperature monitor (non Wi-Fi) to monitor temps. It can measure 4 locations. I only had a basic thermometer before and this one has an alarm. I never heated the GH until last spring when bare root plants shipped too soon. I used a small ceramic heater and it was fine.
With the monitor I can now gauge the temp swings and get an idea how long a heater needs to run. It has been a surprising learning experience as it reaches 90*F in 30-40*F daytime outdoor temps. I can watch how fast it drops as well. It also has an alarm. We are thrilled with it as we can use a monitor for are chicks soon.
As a home gardener who preserves the small greenhouse has been a great tool and about to get greater. Plans to replace polycarbonate panels and enlarge Just a couple of feet to accommodate few items and install heat sink in floor with a pea gravel topper. A simple solar powered fan to pipe hot daytime heat to sink below and if we wanted later to run heater off solar. Keep in mind I basically use the GH to get some seedlings shoved out of house so I’m heating mainly pre spring. I grow lettuce inside in coldest part of winter. I have refrigerated building panels to incorporate into the base of walls into the ground and north wall of garden shed-overkill, but they were reasonable used. I’ve thought of maybe doing some brick or stone on north wall, but not sure if it’s needed, but would look nice.😊
To cool we use 50% shade cloth draped over outside and with new side vents should be perfect. In the fall I set up a cattle panel and dry my onions in GH. With no plants in there now in winter the humidity is extremely low sometimes 14%.
If the changes greatly improve, which I’m sure they will, I will probably use it to actually start seeds in GH instead of inside. Experimenting more with winter sowing in containers again this year as it is the greatest-except this extremely warm weather right now is delaying that project.
I have Plenty enough room in small GH to not only supply us with seedlings, but others as well. Happy gardening!
Thank you, for sharing your knowledge and experience, and for running your store.
I've been watching your channel for almost three years, just placed my first order from your seed stock! We have installed a wooden bookcase type shelf in our backyard, from repurposesd commercial garden shelving. I plan to fill trays with seed starting mix, wet the mixture, plant the seeds, then place the trays on the shelving unit and wrap the whole shelving unit in plastic wrap, to make a mini greenhouse. I will poke a few hole for ventilation. Trial and error, hoping for the best. Hopefully by the time we can actually plant in the ground the starts will be thriving.
For small greenhouses apply bubble wrap on inside of wall at (5 cents a ft) Or use Reflectix on bottom ft of wall to retain heat.
Now we are going to need information on how to keep your greenhouse cool in summer.
also geothermal
They usually have screen doors and windows... Let heat escape at night, close tight to hold cool in. Open windows/doors when it starts to get too warm, just like a house with no ac.
@@evec268 Yes, i already do all that, plus 2 big fans and a shade cloth that I can pull over it. and my greenhouse will get well over 100 on an 80 degree day. I live in the Pacific Northwest. I had no idea I would have to worry about the greenhouse being too warm!
Shade cloth
shade cloth, vents, fans
The in ground greenhouse is even more powerful than one might think. I've read stories of people using them to grow citrus in the Dakotas. (Not sure if supplemental heat is needed in that winter tundra land.) I've also read that in the 18th and 19th centuries, people would line the interior walls of greenhouses with piles of leaves, straw or hay and let the heat from the decomposition keep things warmer. If you have the material for free (leaves are available almost everywhere in the fall), you might as well. You also get the benefit of the broken down leaves as compost in the spring.
Useful information, but I'd check the math on using water tanks as heat sinks. If the recommendation is 5 gallons per square foot and your greenhouse is 1,000 square feet, you'd need 5,000 gallons of water! (i.e. you need to multiply the square footage by 5, whereas you appear to have divided by 5 to get 200 gallons). I don't have any direct experience, but Google suggests 2.5 gals per square foot, which would equate to 2,500 gallons for your greenhouse. That's a lot of water, and if you try it you might want to consider setting up a "warm zone" near the tanks. I'm hoping to build a ~100 square foot greenhouse, so a 500 gallon water tank might be practical.
Ok yeah I did the math on an 8x10 and I was so confused that I needed more than his 1000sf greenhouse lol so had to come to the comments to see if anyone else caught this
Ok, but are they better than nothing, is my Q... ? If all I can do is get free barrels ( free from dairy farms, I wash em out good in their Milhouse 1st), painted or covered in black plastic, filled w water and put all along north wall... are they collecting heat during day and releasing as it cools in there, or not ? I would also had a vertical north wall, preferably metal clad and on the outside, have either an earthen berm or a wall of hay bales or bags of leaves or something. Using frost blankets as needed inside, I also would not try to overwinter anything tender in there, as I'm in zone 4a/4b-ish in Wisconsin, and want an attached sunroom on my house for those things, and to enjoy seeing the plants & sunshine as I go about life in my house.
PS : IDK if I'll be able to, but I'd live to have a grate-covered pit in any greenhouse, even a sunroom, as a cold sink.
@@ajb.822 I did not intend to dis the use of water heat sinks, which I think can be very useful, but wanted to point out that a much larger volume of water would be required than Luke calculated for his large greenhouse. I am planning a 8' X 12' greenhouse and will install a 500 gallon tank to help moderate temperature (which I will also use to store rainwater for irrigation during the dry season). I'm in Zone 8b and growing citrus is marginal, so I have 50 gallon drums of water next to my citrus trees to moderate temperature when I cover them during cold snaps (and also use incandescent Christmas lights during real cold spells).
I would end up with a mess I’m sure as the containers would probably freeze and yes, too much room used by them.
@@ajb.822 I’m in WI, but I’m not sure what you mean by a cold sink. I will be reworking my small lean to GH with a heat sink in floor to retain heat. Love our small lean to we created as it’s easy to maintain and heat when needed.
Nice job, we also installed 50 percent shade cloth which helps to cool in summer so it doesn't get over 80 degrees
We are I'm Southern indiana and this winter has been so warm the whole time. The 4 warmest winters on record have been since I moved here from Florida just 8 years ago. I have zone 10 plants coming back every year next to the house. It's awesome. It's less awesome for the fruit trees though.
This has been the warmest January and February I can ever remember in WI.
I already have cold-weather vegetables sprouting in my dome here in central Indiana. It's three layers of clear plastic draped over PVC hoops in a raised bed, next to the concrete porch.
Congratulations again to your family and your new addition.
Ha! Who knew?!! So much great info (as always Luke!). I really learned a lot!!
I have two small walk in greenhouses and this has been on my mind a lot lately. Thank you for the ideas.
Same here ...I'm wondering if this will work for us as well being on a smaller scale
@@tinabloomfield7228 I’m going to try it maybe with several five gallon buckets painted black.
@@JohnWood-tk1ge they sell black 5 gallon buckets🤔🤔🤔
Your greenhouse is a dream I’d love to have.
Happy Thursday, Luke and all the crew.
We did a sunken greenhouse. The floor in it is 4 1/2 feet below the ground outside around it. Then we have 2" insulation on the north wall and the corner of the north an east wall's. We are putting a propane heater in it the end of the month. Also the more stuff that's in it helps to hold heat. Also with ours being down in the ground - low profile against the weather - winds, snow and cold. Thanks for sharing. God bless.
Question for you we are moving south and I am wondering if snakes and things like that that barrel through the soil are a problem in greenhouses?
@@MFaith777 I live in NC and see snakes from Spring through the summer. Black snakes are welcome, unless they come in my
Living room & my barn, and both has happened.
I love my snakes!
Something I want to do :) ! I also want the north wall to be vertical and metal clad on exterior, and stack hay-bales up to roofline for the winter, if I can still find cheap, old square bales by then. Otherwise, maybe bags of leaves, they stack ok. Or maybe just a permanent earthen berm. Also, have a cold-sink pit going even deeper, in a few places, esp. if my growing beds are on/low to the ground anyways.
how do you keep it dry so it doesnt flood or turn muddy when it rains?
I have 4 wicking beds, 2 of them made with scoria in bases, the other 2 made with "waterup" cells. Use polystyrene boxes in other areas, over turned to insulate & raise up pots with temp sensitive plants. 2 layers Styrene boxes make good storage for pots & starter trays while trapping warm air. Effective for overniggt frosts up to -3C (26F). I throw over large shade cloth at night if forecast -2 C. Our greenhouse has a wooden board around its middle. Lower half has UV stabilised plastic permanently attached. Upper half we staple on UV plastic in winter, & summer staple on 50% shade cloth. Extreme heat days need extra shade cloth. Thanks for other ideas.
Excellent information, thank you so much😀🥰
Great information And editing!👍
Blessings!💚
Many years ago when my husband and I moved to our house we discovered 5 lengths of clay sewer pipe tucked under a shed. We have a 24x24 greenhouse and are going to use those pipes, granite stone from our property, and some block to create a passive solar thermal mass heater in it.
Thanks for sharing. Very helpful.
I would possibly add a few energy efficient, solar powered ceiling fans to push the warm air that rises, back down to the lower part of the greenhouse. Keeping all the plants nice and cozy. Also helps with air circulation without having to let in cold air. Therefore, also helping with too much moisture and mold 🙂 I also read somewhere that laying black runners in your pathways helps trap the heat from that gravel and keeps the ground warm for longer.
I have been able to run up to 100 watts in my simple solar system but 150 causes voltage drops. My cheap Lasko uses 60 watts on medium or low and 80 watts on high. I have not tested the oscillating one yet. I am using mine for cooling. I have a cabin and ceiling fans tend to use a LOT of energy. Probably only worth it for cooling.
Good idea. Obvious once someone points it out.
9o900😢
this was so informative. thank you
One way you didn't talk about, is putting rabbit cages in the green house. It not only will give off radiate heat, but will make it nicer for the rabbits in the winter. You can always move those rabbit hutches out in the spring.
interesting.
Not to overlook...fertilizer handy...bigger plants...sprouts???
My small lean to can get in the 90s on a winter day especially during this warm spell Z5a. I think I would cook the rabbits if there was no auto vents.
Bubble wrap makes great insulators
Sounds like a good idea.
You can use a much, much larger water reservoir for the thermal mass, which adds in more options - aquaculture, water filtration, even a few live fish if you like. That kind looks more like a pool than a tank.
Have you tried a leaf compost bin along the entire north side of your greenhouse and then place the water barrels up against that? My theory is that the composting pile of leaves will warm the barrels as well as the sun warming the barrels. This would provide warmth of the greenhouse for longer. Then, in the spring, you could transfer those leaves to a proper compost pile.
You theory is likely right. The pilgrims used cold frames with compost piles underneath that kept the plant boxes above so warm, that they could sprout summer crops like squash in Feb! It makes sense, a hot compost pile puts off enormous heat….it would be like a heating pad.
Thanks for your great information 👍 😀
Perfect timing!! We were gifted a 25'x25' greenhouse and we've been talking about how we're going to heat it. We decided using rainwater barrels would be efficient and effective!!
Could you explain how plz? 😁
@@jackielambert7980 The barrels are filled with water and will absorb the heat from the sun during the day. Then at night, will release the heat, thus warming the space. We're considering mulching and creating a composting warming effect around the barrels for added insulation, but we're concerned that may damper the barrels' ability to absorb the heat from the sun.
@@earthzeroapothecary thank you. Im learning a lot here.
I do not have enough acreage to waste on all those barrels for a lousy 3 degrees.
Another great video, great topic.
Sound is good now. 👍🏽
I have heard of people putting compost bins in the greenhouse and using the heat from the decomposing matter. Also heard of digging down underground with pipes and letting the air flow in.
I have a green house built on railroad ties. And on the floor of wooden planks is fine mesh wire and cattle panel underneath it. I cover the floor with a tarp and up the sides. I have a couple heat mats, and grow lights. I have a small electric heater that I used one year before I got everything done. I sat that on the floor but with the heater on a terra cotta pot. I put my potted flowers in there, just to see what would survive. And I covered everything with some straw, keeping it away from the heater. I had a Gerber daisy and it bloomed, I had it sitting on the floor just to see how much meat would radiate down. I kept a container of water with straw for a little humidity and everything even the tropical plants lived.
Montana. Wheaton labs has a totally passively heated n cooled greenhouse.
I am getting a 10x20 greenhouse. Gonna divide half with a wire fence. Putting plants on one side, chickens on the other, for the winter. I'll have big black garbage cans for chicken and plant water. Pavers will be added. Plus lots of free fertilizer.
The hay and chickens should warm it ALOT.
I think that should work wonderfully for winter greens and happy chickens.
Depending where your at as the chickens could be too warm and too humid during winter. Make sure to ventilate.
**Luke,, there is a guy who uses hay bales stacked up on the outside of one end of his green house. He cuts a small square and inserts pipes, like fireplace heat exchange pipes that blow hot air once the fire heats them up... he makes the hay into a 'hot' compost situation covers it with a tarp and it heats the pipes and blows in the hot air into the greenhouse.. It was the best idea i've seen ... Also, a lady lined up hay bales in hers and poured beer in them so they would hot compost. it helped heat it up but I can't imagine as well as the guy that used the hot pipes.
I have a Rubbermaid garbage can filled with water and use an aquarium heater to heat my 6’ x 10’ greenhouse.
The first best thing you can do is start with a more efficient Greenhouse design that only has half of the green house covered with clear material that faces south, and has the north half of the greenhouse very well insulated. This alone will almost cut in half your heat losses.
THOUSAND THUMBS UP TO YOU! Exactly, love our little lean to GH. No need for smelly compost or freezing barrels of water.
Our family had flower business, but remember they had double walled plastic. I like the polycarbonate panels.
Thanks. Good tip
Very cool info thanks
Thanks for this
FYI: compost pile, 55gal drum, 200ft 1/2in homedepot garden irrigation pipe and a pond pump you can have heat all year no problem and your fuel source is free. After seeing most post i literaly see a how to video on how to build such a system. cheers also the double film with the air layer between helps alot aswell
Thank you for the Info
Another way to heat a greenhouse, is composting. Little like geothermal, take a large round bail of straw next to the greenhouse with pipes in/under the bail and leading to the greenhouse, as the straw decomposes over the winter the heat from the process helps to heat the greenhouse. One can also do a hot composing pile within the greenhouse.
I use an Inkbird 308 wifi temperature controller. It monitors and logs the temperature on a wifi app but also has a temperature set-point with two plugs - one for heating and one for cooling. If it goes above the range I set, the greenhouse exhaust fan turns on to cool; if below, a small 1000 watt space heater (it's not a big greenhouse). An app and device alarm goes off it it exceeds emergency set-points. About $50, no subscription.
I also have one on a chest freezer that I automatically set to run as a fridge for storing hundreds of apples in the fall, one in the garage for monitoring my dormant potted plants on insulated shelves and turning on a heater, one on our actual food chest freezer for storing garden produce in the winter, not to control the freezer but just as a cheap temperature alarm if it exceeds a set point, and one for my grow shelves in the spring for rooting figs and starting vegetable seeds on heat mats.
Dreaming of a green house, maybe someday.
i am considering someday placing my little greenhouse over the septic tanks. That area has been the first to thaw all season, and there's power there. Not glamorous, but might as well use that bio-energy for good.
Don’t gas yourself or the plants. Better yet, don’t flick a bic! BOOM!
With the high cost of vegetables in the market, can't wait to start my gardening to save money. Wish I have greenhouse 🤔🤔🤔🤣. Bc I am from Toronto.
I'm in the U.P., geo-thermal really doesn't work for us, our frostline is about 7 ft. down. but the rest of your ideas will be really helpful. My GH is small, 6x8, but I put in brick floor, and will be putting in a black water barrel soon, a temp. control elec. heater will still be needed some nights till June here.
So just dig deeper.
Hi, I am thinking of moving to the UP next year to homestead. If you don’t mind, can I ask you a couple questions about the seasons? When does the winter switch to spring? I expect spring to be chilly, but not deep snow and below zero temps. And are the summers actually warm? Where I currently live it never gets warm until August, and some year (like this past year) not even then. Lastly, how difficult is it to ripen Mediterranean veggies like tomatoes, peppers and melons in the summer (where I currently live it’s very tricky to ripen these) ?
I hope you don’t mind the questions, I will take any information you are willing to share 😊 even area recommendations.
@@searose6192 sure, first, where are you going to? Weather varies dramatically across the up. n,S, E, W, central, near the lakes, are different weather.
@@Deb-wp9bp We don’t mind really, we haven’t settled on a specific town yet. Of course, the warmest parts would be best for gardening, so any recommendations are welcome, and thank you for taking the time to respond 🙂. I have looked at Newberry, Menominee and Iron Mountain so far, and out of those, am I right in believing Menominee is the warmest? Truly though we are in the researching phase, so very open to suggestions. E will be homesteading, so anywhere with decently priced acerage would be fine.
Hi Luke, This is Sabrina from the Campbell’s freedom farm. We are probably going to move our farm to another location and rent this one. But when we do my daughter and I would love to talk to you about my greenhouse you think we should do. Great video Sabrina❤
i have seen a couple of places where they built a long 3' high compost bin running down the center of the greenhouse. they put growing flats on top of a cover and the heat from decomposition the warmed up both the plant container bottoms and also the greenhouse overall. to me here in southern california i would be wondering about how to handle the summer heat if those compositor bins were permanent... or even hard to move. as usual, thanx for xlnt info well presented.
I saw that you were it was a greenhouse with 3 feet of wooden wall at the base. They didn’t put a plastic barrier along the outside of the wooden base. Did they did all the composting outside and heat transferred into the wood.
If you're in SoCal, I would just not worry about it, myself. Having one I tried to keep all that warm. If you're warm enough growing zone for things like citrus to grow in the ground and survive the winter. I would just focus on eating seasonally and on growing hardy greens etc. over the worst of winter in a greenhouse, if u even need that and not just a frost blanket out in the garden. Again, if you're that warm, u can probably keep tomatoes etc. growing in the greenhouse all winter, and between it's walls and an extra blanket when necessary, be fine... ? The barrels of water can be extra insurance. The compost bins being inside also bring risk of toxic gasses ( can actually kill u b4 u know what hit you) for those of us not very knowledgeable on that stuff and how to prevent or be careful of it, etc. . As for cooling, you'd probably want to have your vents in your roof, I plan on using the automatic, non-electric, wax-arm ones. Plus a shade cloth or summer trees or vines which shade it mostly in the hottest months.. ?
to stabilize temperature in mine, i use dodge caravan radiators. they are connected with 4000 L of water in tank and 600 feet of tube underground with valve to choose the water flow. the radiator collect the heat during the day and store it in the water and the ground. in the night the fan spread it in the air. Really cheap and effective. In my solar-passive greenhouse, I can keep windows close on the 21st of june even if it's a full sunny day at noon. the wind even lower hte chance of mushroom infestation.
Luke if you had a double layer of plastic and then air between the two plastic layers. Move the air between the layers. See Curtis 2020 in Kelowna BC, Canada.
A hot compost pile in one corner can do wonders too if you have the room. I know there are ways of doing the pile outside & piping the warm air into the greenhouse but that seems overly complicated to me.
I have a 7'x16' plastic greenhouse. Growing cold hardy Veges but I also put another smaller greenhouse inside so I can put potted, less cold tolerant, plants in at night.
Yes, by cutting down size or a cold frame inside a GH are excellent ideas.
I collected used plastic milk cartons, filled them with water and put them in a large black plastic planter (approx 5 ft by 3 ft). Also experimented with a large black plastic planter (same 5 ft x 3 ft), filling it with horse manure that had already started composting, thinking it would give off heat. It got so cold, that it did stop composting so no real heat was given off. Just the mass might have helped some, as did the water in milk cartons. Also had five 30 gal black garbage cans filled with water, but as winter went on,, I had to use the water for the plants.
I would think that installing some compost bins in the greenhouse would help heat it. The composting process itself generates heat. What do you think,?
I was honestly surprised he didn't cover that.
Very interesting
Two ply plastic with air barrier, direction (south), Frost is different you can check with your local building department to ask. Moist soil is a conductor, black plastic or landscape cloth for winter, remove or cover for summer.
that man youre talking about with the geothermal greenhouse citrus farm is in the western part of nebraska.
Alliance, NE. He set the 1st one up 20+ years ago. I believe they heat their house with it, too.
This is a technicality, but it is water’s INSULATION of heat that causes it to be such a great “thermal mass” as he puts it. That is the opposite property of conduction.
Relevant equation:
Q = mc(dT)
Q: thermal energy (heat)
m: mass
c: heat capacity (constant at standard conditions)
dT: change in temperature.
Rearranging and setting a standard mass at 1 kilogram and standard temperature differential at 1°C, we have:
c = Q/mdT
This equation will give the standard heat capacity in Joules per kilogram degree Celsius (J/kg°C), which is the amount of energy required to heat one kilogram of any substance one degree Celsius.
Thus, a substance with a high specific heat capacity is a good INSULATOR of heat, because it must release or absorb a lot of energy to change one unit of temperature.
Here are some examples:
Solid rock
1.8-3.0 MJ/kg°C
= 1.8-3.0 x10^6 J/kg°C
Unsolidated ground
1.3-2.8 MJ/kg°C
= 1.3-2.8 x10^6 J/kg°C
Water
4.184 kJ/kg°C
= 4.184 x10^3 J/kg°C
Copper metal
0.385 J/kg°C
= 3.85 x10^(-1) J/kg°C
We can see that copper which is a great CONDUCTOR of heat has a very low specific heat capacity, about 10,000 less than water and about 10,000,000 less than soil or stone. In other words, a material’s thermal insulation is directly proportional to heat capacity, and the material’s thermal conduction is inverse.
Some of you may be asking whether surface area impacts heat capacity. No, the specific heat capacity is independent of surface area, but the rate of energy transfer is faster with greater surface area, so while a sphere of boiling water and a large, thin sheet of boiling water may have the same temperature and heat capacity, the energy transfers from the large sheet of water at a faster rate, causing it to cool faster.
This is SO us too! 🤣 I'm the offender though... It just took a car with a non-functioning gas gauge to get over the worst part (that was reeeaally bad for a while!! 😅) but I've still ended up periodically walking or calling for rescue since 😜 My partner is the one who won't let it drop under 3/4 of a tank... I try my best to fill it when I know he'll be using it - its not automatic for me, but I love him and don't want him stressed 🥰
Will you please share the link to the video for the guy you were speaking of that grow citrus? I have quite a few citrus, and this sounds like it might be some useful information.
Iḿ a science teacher, love the mini science lesson. Try to tell students all the time science is allover life
Yep, science is useful everyday, algebra is not. 😂 Too bad they spend so much time focusing on nonsense in school (I don’t mean algebra), rather than letting kids learn through experience like building a mini green house and trying to heat it naturally.
Hello! We bought a house that has a greenhouse in the Keweenaw bay area. do you have any videos you recommend of yours on when to get started and how you would run a Greenhouse. I know we are in Zone4 but this is our first year in the northern part of Michigan. Im originally from the south Michigan border and have only ever done outdoor gardens. We have a wood stove and propane heaters but currently no wood and no propane in the tank so in theory we could start now but dont want to invest the money if we end up killing all of our plants overnight because it gets to cold.
Making a solar collector with black irrigation tubing to heat up the water in the water tanks would help. I've made one for na outdoor shower. Coil the tubing in a large swirl and have a small pump circulate the water.
Can you provide more information or pictures?
Our frost line here in Hammond, LA is a horrible 4 inches...
Would double layering a greenhouse be best? Would the buffer keep it temperate?
I was expecting you to suggest reactant heat like composting, i.e. french hot beds. Basically having a hot compost pile under your raised beds. You'd probably want an exhaust pipe from the compost portion directly to the outside of the grow tunnel, so you dont smell it _inside_. Composting with horse manure is about as hot as it gets.
My compost never smelled bad. When I first put on food scraps it did but I cover it up with browns and never had a bad smell.
If you carefully place it so you control the focal point so it stays in the water you can use a fresnel lens to heat water for your thermal mass.
Well that is a new idea! And a great one!
Fresh manure and compost will also create heat, but I’m not sure about containing the smell and gases if the moisture level is raised.
You didn't mention compost. A greenhouse that big could definitely hold one or two composting bays with easy acces. Keep turning and adding to it during winter, and it should give a lot of warmth, don't you think?
We do indeed have heat sinks in our greenhouse. Water barrel plus we place boxes of dirt on top of boxes of water. Every morning my husband takes the temp of the water. Despite nighttime lows in the teens this winter and lots of cloudy days the water has barely started getting any ice. Only when the temperature drops to single digits do we touch on extra heat at night.
Another problem I have in the greenhouse is that during the day it gets TOO warm for winter plants. I fear if the winter starts are exposed to warm temps for too long they will bolt too soon. So we run out in the mid-morning to open up windows. I start to freak out if the temperature hits 60.
That is a problem isn’t it. I mean we want to pipe the heat to our floor heat sink, but we also need to keep temps from roasting our plants. I wondered also how to do this with auto open vents.
@@dustyflats3832 We don't have auto vents but we manually open up the greenhouse windows in the morning and close back up in the evening. We also use fans on the floor, by the open floor windows, to try sucking in cooler air since we can't rely on steady breezes. Our temp monitor has to be in our wi fi line of sight from the house otherwise we don't get readings. That means the monitor sits openly where the sun will hit it in the greenhouse, not hidden in the shade next to the north wall or behind one of the growing boxes. So we often get readings that seem high. Despite the problems though the greenhouse has a very pleasant feel with lots of diffuse light. My plants always look incredibly perky in there.
Besides all the tips provided, never forget that you need sunshine rays to heat your greenhouse and slowly store energy. To heat a one For instance most Michigan cities get six ou sept days of full sunshine in March and about 13-14 of full of partial sunshine. It leave you cold for half of the month. A back up (electric, fossil fuels) is a must in most of the northeast. Even to warm up your water barrels, you will need about 44 kw to get 1 C degree (1,5 Farentheith) to a one cubic meter of water (264 gallons of water). That much energy for 1,5 Farentheit !
Russ Finch of Greenhouse in they Snow has already been mentioned in the comments on this video. His greenhouses are heated with geothermal heat on the high plains of Nebraska. I also recommend reading up on walipini greenhouses. Much of the brilliant science of earth ships can be used to make a walipini greenhouse more efficient & more effective.
@@patrickhenry5216 The overall gain or loss of walipini needs to be debated. The area under ground do not get any sunshine rays and in northern longitude that might keep in the dark most of the walipini floor. And whatever inground or not, your polyethline top will let the heat irradiate overnight.
Thank you for your helpful videos! I suppose greenhouses might offer protection from nuclear fallout, but hopefully that won't affect too many people.
Many might know this already, but I discovered today that May 1 (aka "May Day") is traditionally celebrated all over the world as a holiday for laborers and the working classes (it is International Workers' Day).
I read the following on Wikipedia:
"May Day has been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups since the Second International. May Day is one of the most important holidays in Communist countries such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union countries. May Day celebrations in these countries typically feature elaborate workforce parades, including displays of military hardware and soldiers. ...
"... The biggest celebration of 1 May usually occurred in the capital of a particular socialist country and usually included a military display and the presence of the president and the secretary general of the party. During the Cold War, May Day became the occasion for large military parades in Red Square by the Soviet Union and attended by the top leaders of the Kremlin, especially the Politburo, atop Lenin's Mausoleum. It became an enduring symbol of that period."
Best regards.
Ok. It isn't just me. I am also getting no sound when playing it on my phone. I will try on smart TV. Must . . . get . . . daily . . . garden information fix! 😅 Strange. I have sound on my smart TV. Not on my phone.
beautiful edit 😃😃
Compost is excellent for heating growing spaces in the winter. The pilgrims used to heat a version of cold frames built with a compost bin beneath. It was so toasty warm that they could start seeds with these set ups in the winter, for the next summer’s crops. Compost gets so hot it is like a heater on its own.
what type of compost? I'm thinking of attracting critters with it.
@@purpledoreen just standard kitchen scrap compost, turned and maintained so it gets hot.
What do you mean “attracting critters”? Do you mean you are concerned about your compost attracting vermin like rats? Or do you want to use it to attract some sort of animal?
I live in a small iron box, so you're wrong about my house being huge. Just kidding, thanks again for the great information. I just finished a full greenhouse build and needed a way to keep things warm for a few days!
I live in a 5th wheel so it's either hot or cold. LOL 😂 😆 🤣
Water absorbs heat faster than most things but it also releases heat very rapidly. That’s why it’s used in radiators. Masonry (bricks, rock, sand etc.) collect heat slowly during the day then take all night to release it. This way you get the benefit of the warmth all night not for just two or three hours. Stack used bricks on the north side of your green house and put in brick walkways. Two layers of plastic with a two inch air gap between them will also do wonders. Better than this is a geothermal system but very costly and needs electricity to work. The insulated sand batteries in Scandinavia release stored heat for three months in the cold winter.
Black rubber mats. 8' x 12' probably cost about 150$-200$. Easy to clean with a water hose or broom, good heat absorption, and decent heat retention. Can help cut down on insect pests as well. I have seen it used alongside a single brick wall greenhouse. The bricks were painted black.
How thick? Ive been debating what to use.
You completely forgot about composting inside the greenhouse, as compost creates heat that can heat your greenhouse. You can also raise rabbits in cages and place the cages over the compost piles. The rabbits continue to feed the compost and keep it creating heat, plus they’ll fertilize the compost with their droppings, making amazing compost for your gardens year round.
Yes, I see Dirtpatchheaven doing that. I know some have covered this, I don't recall if she has ( and I haven't yet watched her recent vlogs on their re-modeled green/hoop house), but others have ( I don't recall who ..) covered the very, very serious risk of gasses building up in any enclosure in which something is composting. I grew up on a dairy farm and silo gas is similar, and from what I recall, by the time u realize it's there, you may have only a second b4 passing out. Farmers die from this ! Most take precautions such as if they have any way to ventilate it for a bit b4 going in ( you have to in to set up the electric silo unloader again, after filling silo, plus my Dad would pitch down bunch of haylage as needed, between rounds of still filling more that week, as we had our reasons to have to do it that way). 2 of my little brothers had a close call once, and my Dad's respiratory system may have been gotten a lasting injury or issue from exposure to too much fermenting corn gasses once. So, plz research how to avoid these risks in having active compost in any enclosure !
Question. How about in between the rows with black gravel or weed barrier.
I just bought a house specifically for growing vegetables inside a greenhouse that completely covers the house. At the very end of your video you mentioned using a wall of a house be attached to your greenhouse for a heating source. This house is only 996 square feet in size and I will be adding an area that surrounds the house an extra 20 feet on three sides and only 5 feet on the last side due to setback regulations. My goal is to be able to walk around the entire outside of thehouse no matter what the weather is. The only concren I have is, will the house be too hot to live in during the summer months. My guess is it will be unless I install a fan that can pull out the excess heat during the day. My fiance' is from the Philippines so no doubt she won't have a problem with the heat like I do. I whine and cry about the heat every time I go there to see her family. 😂 Anyway, thanks for the video. The information helped me a lot.
You can install roll-up green house panels that can be lifted in the summer to give a great cross breeze and release a lot of the heat.
What is the wifi temp stick brand you are using?
Nebraska is the man you are talking about
Do you have a link or information where I might purchase a greenhouse like yours?
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing 👍🏼 You gave me an idea. For a small greenhouse one could put some bricks in the fire outside and leave it inside the greenhouse overnight 😉😂
Question. You said 5 gallons of water per 1 sq foot of greenhouse, so yours should be 5000 gallons for a 1000 sq foot greenhouse, no?
Yep. I am dumb. 😅
my mind is spinning and want to do all of this
I had sound the whole time, and no ads.
My sound is good too