FYI on the barrels, to folks out there: If u have any dairy farms near u, u can probably score a lot for free. The pipeline detergents ( not eco friendly probably, but u can wash them out on there milk-house floor at least - for those who don't know, that's a wet room w floor drain) & teat-dips ( a post-milking iodine dip ) come in those size or smaller barrels, depending on what the farm uses. Oftentimes, these are just something to be gotten rid of, when empty, for the farmer, though many of the suppliers will take them back when delivering more, the farmer can give them away, without losing any $, too. Also ask them for references to their mineral & supplement/protein mix supplier, if they have one - my dad's supplier uses mollasses in some mixes, so he has empty barrels from that.
Grow mushrooms inside the greenhouse for CO2. Just separate mushroom chamber with plastic so you can control humidity and vent into chamber where plants are
I'm so excited to see you do this! I legit had the wall idea a year ago! It's exciting to see that it works! Synchronicity is interesting eh? Great job 👍
Dig a pit. In the bottom of the pit place the end of flexible pex line. Cover that round with some compost: lay another round of the pex and cover that with some compost. Continue to layer rounds of pex with compost material. The end of the pex which is nearer the top of the compost mount it to enter your greenhouse about 2 feet from the bottom. The end of the pex which enters all the way to the bottom should be placed on the lowest part of the floor of your greenhouse. Compost heats the pex, hot air rises, ad hot air rises it sucks in the cold air.
Removing the compost from the setup afterwards also needs to be considered, in which case having it on the slab is beneficial. It can be a real pain trying to pull pex lines out of a pile of soil.
Shawn - Did you try having the barrels half in the wall of the greenhouse - instead of just touching the outside? Build the greenhouse end down to the top of the barrels and foam insulate between them? Or coiling a tube inside the barrel and running it under the bed - Like a radiant heater for flooring? Then you could put the barrel in the middle of the pile and hose the heated water anywhere. Did you try a black stain for a concrete pad to measure heat capture when compost is not present? I'd really love to hear about more of your trials and results. This video has My gears running now. THANK YOU.
@@notillgrowers Oh well. I don't have account s there. RUclips is as close to social media as I care to get. Those other options are tooo Big Brother for Me. Thank you anyway.
Set up a boiler and a manure digestion system to use the methane as a heating fuel for the boiler that runs hot water threw your lines set up on a thermostat hooked to the water pump.
Would like to see the system in action with the compost present. What does the compost consist of? Can and does he use food scraps in the compost? Piled up compost can look unsightly. Would be interested in seeing how his compost against the barrels look like 😊
This was fascinating, thank you. I could do something but it would be on a smaller scale, it will be interesting to see if a smaller pile still has any effect.
You might even be able to hook up a water to air system if you can manage to fill those barrels with an antifreeze instead of water, hook a line in and a line out of the greenhouse and hook those up to a radiator inside the greenhouse. You would probably need a pretty big rad tho.
We've been working on a design for compost heating our half-hoop lean-to greenhouse - this project has leaped far past my puny ideas - I love the comprehensive discussion and attention to numbers; payback, good practices. I didn't understand how the CO2 could be mined from the off gasses without the methane and noxious gases... and that of course makes you think about harnessing the methane as well instead of letting it just waft into our overheated planet's air. Warmest regards Jennie
Why not place the barrels on the inside of the greenhouse....? Just have them put right up against the plastic, to actually support the weight of the compost, but then allowing better heat transfer?
Is your manure you compost with organic? I'd personally like to go organic but wouldn't mind starting with non. As it would be so much easier to obtain where I am and if I'm just starting my nodig grow.
cool idea but a natural geothermal system would be way easier to install and cheaper since all you need is 100mm PVC pipe and a trench. You can even go as far as to dig the pipes under the greenhouse and have high pipes one end for heat exhaust and low pipes at the other end for cool air and set up a recirculation of air on top of the pipes coming in to add fresher air
Seems crude to rely on convection through plastic. I wonder if pumping water/glycol through tubing covered with compost would be more effective..with the ability to transfer the heat through the whole greenhouse
Why not inside? Compost will generate CO2, which the plants or whatever will suck. In Green house might not have enough CO2? Instead of plastic water barrel, real metal barrel?
I always thought the same, the maximum heat transfer would be to have the compost inside the greenhouse. He did mention there are other gases that the compost emits that were more toxic than co2. But how much?
Found this. “ Composting produces gases- carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide.” In what proportions I haven’t found that info.
Just use some sheets of metal on the wall with 2 holes in the bottom, run some metal tubing out of the greenhouse on the ground in a zigzag and put the other end back in the greenhouse making a loop. Then you hook a exhaust fan to one end in a pull configuration. Then build a mesh pit perimeter outside the greenhouse and bury the metal tubing with compost. Now that fan will pull cold air from the greenhouse through the tubing collecting heat, then pump that heat into the greenhouse. You could also make a solar heater with those barrels, an antifreeze, some black tubing coils inside of a wooden box painted black with some glass over the top! Your coolant will leave the barrels (Thermal mass) inside your greenhouse get pumped into the heater box and the warm antifreeze will return back inside nice and warm to your thermal mass.
Very inefficient. We run a steel matrix through the top of manure to draw heat into IBCs which is then run out to the greenhouse. Height is more important than depth.
Andy Raeburn Would you expand on this please? I’m educating myself before buying my first greenhouse and boy, there’s a lot of technical info to learn.
I appreciate the inclusion of the science and figures behind the methods. This allows others to figure out what might work for their area/setup.
FYI on the barrels, to folks out there: If u have any dairy farms near u, u can probably score a lot for free. The pipeline detergents ( not eco friendly probably, but u can wash them out on there milk-house floor at least - for those who don't know, that's a wet room w floor drain) & teat-dips ( a post-milking iodine dip ) come in those size or smaller barrels, depending on what the farm uses. Oftentimes, these are just something to be gotten rid of, when empty, for the farmer, though many of the suppliers will take them back when delivering more, the farmer can give them away, without losing any $, too. Also ask them for references to their mineral & supplement/protein mix supplier, if they have one - my dad's supplier uses mollasses in some mixes, so he has empty barrels from that.
Grow mushrooms inside the greenhouse for CO2. Just separate mushroom chamber with plastic so you can control humidity and vent into chamber where plants are
Woah!! Brilliant. I did not know mushrooms are a source of CO2, thank You.
I'm so excited to see you do this! I legit had the wall idea a year ago! It's exciting to see that it works! Synchronicity is interesting eh? Great job 👍
Thank you awesome video! Would love to see what the compost looks like against the barrels.
So much information here. I dream of having a huge greenhouse one day. This gives me hope :)
Dig a pit. In the bottom of the pit place the end of flexible pex line. Cover that round with some compost: lay another round of the pex and cover that with some compost. Continue to layer rounds of pex with compost material. The end of the pex which is nearer the top of the compost mount it to enter your greenhouse about 2 feet from the bottom. The end of the pex which enters all the way to the bottom should be placed on the lowest part of the floor of your greenhouse. Compost heats the pex, hot air rises, ad hot air rises it sucks in the cold air.
Removing the compost from the setup afterwards also needs to be considered, in which case having it on the slab is beneficial. It can be a real pain trying to pull pex lines out of a pile of soil.
Shawn - Did you try having the barrels half in the wall of the greenhouse - instead of just touching the outside? Build the greenhouse end down to the top of the barrels and foam insulate between them?
Or coiling a tube inside the barrel and running it under the bed - Like a radiant heater for flooring? Then you could put the barrel in the middle of the pile and hose the heated water anywhere.
Did you try a black stain for a concrete pad to measure heat capture when compost is not present?
I'd really love to hear about more of your trials and results.
This video has My gears running now. THANK YOU.
Hit up wild hope farm on Instagram or facebook. They are always down to answer some questions!
@@notillgrowers Oh well. I don't have account s there.
RUclips is as close to social media as I care to get. Those other options are tooo Big Brother for Me. Thank you anyway.
I had exactly the same questions! Glad I read the comments first.
wow a wealth of information here. Thanks!
Simple is how i garden and can say i think like this dude
I wonder if he went to Clemson
Eric Dee 🤣🤣🤣
Awesome system.
Set up a boiler and a manure digestion system to use the methane as a heating fuel for the boiler that runs hot water threw your lines set up on a thermostat hooked to the water pump.
Fascinating. A diagram would be useful. Bright guy. Thanks for another great video. Food for thought.
nice set up man
Are the barrels painted black on the GH side so as to radiate better?
Would like to see the system in action with the compost present. What does the compost consist of? Can and does he use food scraps in the compost? Piled up compost can look unsightly. Would be interested in seeing how his compost against the barrels look like 😊
Ben didn’t hear it. How does it look all piled up? Did he mention how hot the compost pile gets and the temperatures of the heated greenhouse? 😊
Hit up wild hope farm on Instagram or facebook. They are always down to answer some questions!
Nice, scaling up a hotbed. Good idea.
Does he have a picture of the t posts, tennis balls wire and e.g. lowest number?
This was fascinating, thank you. I could do something but it would be on a smaller scale, it will be interesting to see if a smaller pile still has any effect.
This discussion reminds me deeply of cannibis consumption. Merry Christmas.
Does air drawing from 5 ft down in sandy loam contain more co2 than above ground air?
Frigging informative. Wow. Wonder how effective this would be in a zone 3 or 4.
Good questions. Probably still be helpful but keeping piles warm over winter can be tough.
Seems like it would at least extend your season more.
This and earth battery ❤
You might even be able to hook up a water to air system if you can manage to fill those barrels with an antifreeze instead of water, hook a line in and a line out of the greenhouse and hook those up to a radiator inside the greenhouse. You would probably need a pretty big rad tho.
used antifreeze is available from car mechanics.
Domed green house allow for up right gardening and are stronger with the snow.
We've been working on a design for compost heating our half-hoop lean-to greenhouse - this project has leaped far past my puny ideas - I love the comprehensive discussion and attention to numbers; payback, good practices. I didn't understand how the CO2 could be mined from the off gasses without the methane and noxious gases... and that of course makes you think about harnessing the methane as well instead of letting it just waft into our overheated planet's air.
Warmest regards
Jennie
thank for sharing this, new subbie here!
Why not place the barrels on the inside of the greenhouse....? Just have them put right up against the plastic, to actually support the weight of the compost, but then allowing better heat transfer?
Burn your gases off your compost digest system with a burner in the boiler then send the burnt air into the green house will get much better effects
Is your manure you compost with organic? I'd personally like to go organic but wouldn't mind starting with non. As it would be so much easier to obtain where I am and if I'm just starting my nodig grow.
cool idea but a natural geothermal system would be way easier to install and cheaper since all you need is 100mm PVC pipe and a trench.
You can even go as far as to dig the pipes under the greenhouse and have high pipes one end for heat exhaust and low pipes at the other end for cool air and set up a recirculation of air on top of the pipes coming in to add fresher air
I loved this!
I shared it at my Facebook page with the same name I have here.
Thanks, Stan!
Bury hot water lines zig zagging threw the dirt and recycle hot water threw the lines then you can heat from the ground up summer time all winter...
Anyone know the manufacturer or plans for that gothic arch greenhouse? TY in advance.
Farmers Friend
How do the barrels of unfinished compost keep aerated?
Good question. Hit up wild hope farm on Instagram or facebook. They are always down to help
He said he puts water in the barrels and compost around them.
Seems crude to rely on convection through plastic. I wonder if pumping water/glycol through tubing covered with compost would be more effective..with the ability to transfer the heat through the whole greenhouse
10 or $15 a barrel! Those barrels in Maui, Hawaii are $70 each. I'll take a hundred of them.
Folks cannot get rid of all of them here. Tractor trailer loads. $10-$15 per barrel.
🤔 How is aluminum approved for organic growth while in contact with the soil??? Aluminum in our foods is tragic 😥
Why not inside? Compost will generate CO2, which the plants or whatever will suck. In Green house might not have enough CO2? Instead of plastic water barrel, real metal barrel?
I always thought the same, the maximum heat transfer would be to have the compost inside the greenhouse. He did mention there are other gases that the compost emits that were more toxic than co2. But how much?
Found this. “ Composting produces gases- carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide.” In what proportions I haven’t found that info.
Just use some sheets of metal on the wall with 2 holes in the bottom, run some metal tubing out of the greenhouse on the ground in a zigzag and put the other end back in the greenhouse making a loop. Then you hook a exhaust fan to one end in a pull configuration. Then build a mesh pit perimeter outside the greenhouse and bury the metal tubing with compost. Now that fan will pull cold air from the greenhouse through the tubing collecting heat, then pump that heat into the greenhouse. You could also make a solar heater with those barrels, an antifreeze, some black tubing coils inside of a wooden box painted black with some glass over the top! Your coolant will leave the barrels (Thermal mass) inside your greenhouse get pumped into the heater box and the warm antifreeze will return back inside nice and warm to your thermal mass.
Very inefficient. We run a steel matrix through the top of manure to draw heat into IBCs which is then run out to the greenhouse. Height is more important than depth.
Andy Raeburn Would you expand on this please? I’m educating myself before buying my first greenhouse and boy, there’s a lot of technical info to learn.
Horse manure is a bad idea for compost unless they have organic practices.
Thanks men for video ist beautifoul