We are here in northern MN where we regularly see negative temperatures, my amish neighbors put up their greenhouse in February and by April are harvesting tomatoes! The secret for them is they heat with a wood stove. That is our next step for our greenhouse.
Love the video. You can get some 4x8 plywood. Build a "room" inside the greenhouse. 8x8, 8x12, whatever size. The room has a ceiling and access door. It's also just to be put together in the coldest few months. Then get a radiant heater. They are pretty inexpensive to use. It'll protect your young cool weather veggies in Winter and can be turned up warmer when its time for the tomatoes, peppers, etc later.
I read about this many years ago. Place a large, insulated, water storage tank with an outlet at the top and bottom on an elevated platform. Below the tank set up a solar collector, like one of your glass doors over a 4" insulated plywood box. At the back of the box is a metal sheet with 1/2" vertical copper tubes a couple inches apart attached to the sheet. The tubes connect to a horizontal tube at top and bottom. The top of the horizontal tube goes out of the box and connects to the top of the storage tank. The bottom horizantal tube goes out of the bottom of the box and connects to the bottom of the storage tank. The exposed tubes between the collector and the tank must be insulated and the metal components painted black. Cold water settles and flows down from the storage tank into the bottom of the collector, gets heated by the sun, and rises up, out of the box, and into the top of the storage tank. When the sun goes behind a cloud, it just stops circulating. By 9am, when it's 30 degrees outside, the water in the storage tank should be almost boiling. Anti-freeze will prevent the water in the system from freezing. Now, place a 1/2" copper coil into the storage tank. The water from the barrels in the green house would circulate through the coil in the storage tank in like manner. No electricity. That's how to heat the water in the barrels for free (except construction), but I don't know if they would maintain the temp all night long. You could probably find a schematic on google for the box and the heat exchanger. I experimented with a one gallon paint bucket for a storage tank, a crappy little coil off a fridge, and 1/4" aquarium tubing that wasn't even insulated. It was like magic.
I saw where a man used large PVC tubing, buried 8 feet below ground level. He had several of these buried about 10 feet long. All the tubing was open on both ends. The openings into the greenhouse merged into one large opening with a fan blowing into the greenhouse. It kept the greenhouse temperature above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
for a non-passive but pretty cheap solution that is very user friendly once it's built, you might look into a small Rocket Mass heater. you can make it yourself, often times with scrap material. it radiates heat for a very long time and is easy to use. another option is to use the heat from a compost pile. it's passive and cheap as well. look up compost hot water heater for ideas. good luck...and stay warm.
Hi, Kevin and Sarah! I have been enjoying your videos which I discovered 2 months ago. I raised my 4 children on a small 4 acre farm in Oregon in the 80's and 90's. I designed my 12 x 32 foot passive solar greenhouse, after a year of researching (without internet). I used 50 gallon barrels painted black and filled with water, and 4 live rabbits which I moved into the greenhouse in the winter, to heat it. Their bodies and manure produced an amazing amount of heat! I controlled the urine odor with lime and aged sawdust which I would sprinkle over the manure. My greenhouse never got below 40 at night without any other source of heat. I placed the barrels I got for free on the north side of the greenhouse (the water absorbs heat from the greenhouse during the day, and released it at night), and made wooden slats on top to place plants, and place the rabbits below my benches on the south side of the greenhouse. Since you already have rabbits, it might be worth a try!
I was gonna suggest that too. There are a Number of the Homesteading YTers that would probably really benefit from a Walipini style greenhouse. Even If you can't afford the kit that he ( *Edit: by he I meant Russ Finch* ) sells, there are a few videos I've seen where people are making their own DIY version using cinder blocks and stuff. Love that video too, So Fascinating! :)
Hot beds like Dirtpatchheaven uses might help. Idaho is likely a cooler climate and she gets good results with hers. Might have to look into their older videos about that though as currently they are renting an apartment and looking for a homestead closer to the husband/father's work.
@@heavenboundhomestead126he 12 volt water pump would only consume about 35 watts. Maybe 25 cents a day. It's a very sound idea. Compost can reach 160 degrees F.
The water barrel solar battery method is by far the best passive way to retain heat in your greenhouse. Make sure to paint the barrels black so they'll absorb more heat and keep them at least 6 inches off the ground because the ground will suck heat out from the bottom of the barrels without adding any benefit to your greenhouse. For one the size you have there I would recommend 3-4 of the plastic food grade barrels you can pick up at your local feed and farm store.
My husband and I made a 2 feet hole by about 4 feet square in the garden one year and over filled it with chicken compost and fall leaves to be 1 foot higher then ground level. So the total wet but not soggy compost was 3 feet deep × 4 feet square. Leveled it and added 6-12 inches of good planting soil on top. We put a cold frame over the mount we built. The temperature inside the cold frame was 10°C higher in the frame then outside on a cloudy morning. The frame we used was about 3 feet high covered with greenhouse plastic on the sides and on top with 2 patio doors so we could take one door off if needed on a sunny day. I grew lettuce, spinach and snap peas for salads in there in February here in zone 5b. A good channel to watch is; OYR Frugal +Sustainable Organic Gardening. He also grows greens and harvests right now in zone 5b in an unheated greenhouse
our greenhouse is a glass panel, that we bought second hand, my dad attached it to our house, so that the basement door opens into it, it's heated with a gasification wood stove that heats a boiler and runs hot water throughout the house and in pipes under the ground in the greenhouse. we live in PA and are able to have leafy greens, and cold weather plants through out the winter even with considerably lower temps then you guys experience.
I know that might not help with your current problem, but you are already burning wood to heat your home, while that's quite an expensive upgrade to boiler and gasification stove long term that could be something to consider.
Love the quail!! Looks so cold there. We hit 79° yesterday and were going down to about 35° tonight here in Florida. The weather gets so crazy this time of year. We also had a huge thunderstorm with 60 mph wind gusts this morning. I've been chasing my potted plants all over the place😄
I’ve seen several green houses warmed by a wood fueled rocket mass heater. With a large mass you should be able to stay warm through the night and use the mass as a table top.
underground rocket stove heating system! Or even just a mass heater in the center. Well designed and made out of recycled materials, these can run off a handful of wood and stay warm all night. If you run the ducting in the beds the roots of veggies will be nice and cozy all winter.
I left a message on your facebook page showing how i keep my plants warm in the spring. It's the same idea that you have with your hotbox, but it covers my entire 40" by 30' table.
Try popping down ypur local warehouse/distribution centre. I work in 1 myself and we usually have a lot of bubble wrap which gets used and or thrown out. You might be able to talk them into giving you some to line your greentunnel with.
Dirtpatchheaven has a whole list of vlogs on hotbeds she's used in two states atleast..she made on in her greenhouse pretty frugally and grew lots of greens..
The thing about Missouri weather some years there's a few days with temperatures below zero, some years with temperatures below the twenties for a week+, some years with cloud cover for weeks. There's the ~January thaw. Some years spring tries to start in late February, sometimes late March. There can still be frosts till mid May. There's a saying to plant the corn when the oak leaves are as big as squirrel's ears, because that can mean the soil temperature is above 50 degrees. The walnuts are the last to leaf out, generally, (they "know" something). Looking at the bed behind you: what about putting a cover over just the bed? If you go with water heat mass, what about using a rocket stove to create a hot water heater to warm the water mass? Saw a neat video... A tank piping from bottom and top, coil a copper pipe a few times around a rocket stove exhaust pipe, the water heats so hot it creates steam which drives it like a pump or percolator till you get the temp wanted, then switch to the next tank... Raising the beds closer to the roof will be warmer than closer to the floor... Dirt patch heaven did some videos where she made a frame~4x8 lined it with cardboard, loaded it with branches, leaves, etc. covered that with a bit of potting soil or boxes of planted seeds, "primed" it with rabbit manure tea and it heated up and took off, covered it with an arch and plastic, grew just fine! Heat from the bottom, without the sprawl or turning of a compost pile. ? The book four season gardening said something about every layer of plastic moves the garden about 500 miles south, and that the plants should be pretty well grown, cause with the colder temps they'd pretty well stop growing, yet if they didn't get too cold they would keep ok. What about making a low rocket mass heater out of board or metal sides a pipe down the middle and fill with gravel, run the heat/ exhaust through the pipe(s) and out the chimney. Though the rabbits are bigger, the quail can be denser per square foot and also have a higher body temperature and are more active...moving the quail would they be ok with that? And would it be enough to make enough difference? Bales of straw around the outside would insulate the ground so it was putting more heat into the greenhouse Putting up a tarp for a wind beak or a wall of bales, could help create a microclimate... Or even a tarp over it at night might help a bit... Saw a pool heater using a barbecue gas grill: coil a copper pipe a lot to fill inside a a grill then run the heated water into a heat sink/ pool/barrel/gravel... Put the barbecue grill inside the greenhouse for a short term, if it can keep up... Those soda can solar heaters to heat water to raise the temp of water barrels. If you took a bale of straw and drilled some fat holes(1/2"+) into it then primed it with rabbit manure tea and kept it somewhere warm for a few days to get the bacteria critters kicked into high gear and maybe added a little molasses water as an after-burner ; )... When it was going high speed/temp put it in the greenhouse...? If it was on the bottom of a rack system like a storage shelf?... Then saranwrapped all the way around up to and over the top...? Kind of like a warmer oven...? Put seedlings on the shelves above the bale/ heat source. Another sort of nice thing about all the bacterial action in the bales is it produces Carbon dioxide which the plants need. Some of those green house systems come with pipe benders... What if you could build another greenhouse right over that one or one inside that one? Or both : )! Or some how attach bubble wrap to the inside of he greenhouse walls and or make low tunnel out of it. an outdoor wood furnace would be easy , sometimes people are upgrading to a better one, and might let the old one go easy... Use it to heat the water mass, heat sink/radiator. What if one could put a series of cornerposts(rebar?) with connecting bars at the top corners. Then get one of those really big or a bunch of little things of Saran type wrap wrap the roof first then the sides,... Door? Then another set up inside that one. Might could do that several times... It could really slow down how quickly heat would exchange... Like house wrap in construction... Or the window clear plastic insulting layer- one year went overboard on inner and outer layers on the Windows... Turned out the inside house walls were cooler than the windows! All the insulation is just to slow down the equalization of temperatures, there needs to be a heat source inside that can keep ahead of the speed of that drain of heat... If the floor is too cold could insulate it with? Straw/hay/ wood chips...
Something my wife and I have always done is to save the feed sacks and line the various cages and coop structures with them. Especially the paper sacks. My darling bride had the idea to stuff sacks with sacks to create dead air space. The birds and beasties didn’t complain! An idea for the greenhouse is to build smaller spaces inside to contain your plants. Like mini greenhouses inside bigger ones. I’ve used kerosene hurricane lamps inside the spaces in really cold spells. We also discovered that 55 gallon steel drums full of water, painted black, supplied thermal mass that also acted as shelves for the plants. I hope y’all can get something! The double wall on the greenhouse will be quite a bit of work and electricity to install. That’s why I did a really basic framing job and built small spaces within. You get more insulation from the dead air and you don’t have to run a fan. Barrels inside spaces inside the greenhouse with the possibility of mini kerosene heaters during especially bad spells opens up a few options. One more option is to put some small animals in there. Blessings y’all!
If you're okay with losing some light you could insulate the northern wall (or part of it). Options could be the reflective silver stuff, or even second hand blankets from goodwill. Any insulating you can do, even if it's just the first few feet where you've got straight walls before the arches start, would make a significant difference.
I have heard about using water barrels inside as thermal mass to keep it warmer at night. Also creating a compost pile or keeping your bunnies in there to add warmth (or a combination of the two) will help (see DirtpatchHeaven homestead). One suggestion I have not heard mentioned here is to use a caterpillar tunnel inside your high tunnel. A man in Kingston OK (Leon Sloan) has been doing it that way for years with no supplemental heating. He is a commercial grower. He is in a little warmer climate but not by much. He is germinating the delicate stuff like you mentioned in late January or early February. His rule is for each greenhouse you gain about 8 degrees at night when it gets cold. So by putting a caterpillar tunnel inside a greenhouse you should gain about 16 degrees inside the caterpillar tunnel. I see Mike Dickson at Farm Fit doing this with his high tunnel/green house also.
Hi Kevin and Sarah. My wife and I have a 16' x 48' hoophouse in zone 7a(not too dissimilar to you- guessing 6b for you). We have learned in the last couple years that it really has little to do with ambient temps in the hoophouse. Monitor your ground temp and I bet you will see that you can keep it over 35-40 degrees fairly easily in your area. We are guessing you get more sun during the winter than we do...it makes a big difference over-all. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we have to put a row cover on our plants. We grow Spinach, Lettuce , and Kale mostly but also grow root crops easily as well. Hope this helps. Steve and Paula
I like your channel - thanks for taking the time to video everything. Well done! On my farm I have a pair of 100 watt solar panels feeding a pair of 12 volt deep cycle batteries in series to give me 24 volts. This is controlled with a charge controller and that drives a pump to keep the water cycling in our duck pond and through a series of four 50 gallon barrels to filter the water. In the winter the batteries usually run out of juice in the early evening and start back up in the morning but for 3 seasons it runs 24/7. You might consider using a similar setup for driving a pump to move warm water through tubing buried in your beds in the greenhouse. Passive solar *may* be able to capture heat during the day and radiate it back out when the sun goes down. Black tubing filled with water, bricks, black containers of water, etc. might all work. I also like the idea of strategically placing compost piles in the hoop house to warm the water a bit - the moving water isn't likely to freeze in the tubing overnight and the batteries *may* drive the pump all night, particularly if it doesn't have to lift it much. Just a thought. Without a heat source the water's going to be cold (probably mid to high 30's) so having a means to heat it a bit (my compost bins stay warm in the winter as long as they have sufficient mass) such as a compost pile or a straw/horse manure mix would be ideal. Keep up the great work!
Hope the arctic cold that we are expecting in St. Louis area doesn't go as far west as southern Missouri where you guys live this next few weeks. The biggest problem I have had where I live is the sun took an extended hiatus for the last month. Hopefully once we get through the next blast of cold weather we can find Spring.
I can't remember where I seen it but I remember watching a video where they put a composting box looking thing in the middle of the green house. helped keep it warm. You would have to look into to that. Because I can't find it in my youtube video's that I have saved. I might not have saved it. :(
Maybe a small woodburner in your greenhouse to keep it warm overnight on those chilly nights? Hi! My name is Dorine. I live just an hour or so away, Northwest, from Appleton, WI. This morning we have temps of 18 degrees. Enjoy your warmer Winter!
Mine will be heated with a small wood stove. Rocks are amazing at sacking up heat and slowly releasing , I don't know what the water barrel system is but it sounds much the same as rocks . I also intend to heat with rabbits and or ducks. Raised bed . Then your fertilizer is right there too
Instead of changing plastic I’ve noticed some are just adding a layer or two of bubble wrap. It can be found at the home store and comes in big rolls. They add it onto the existing structure and tie it down to stop the wind from catching it. Then in the summer it’s removed & stored. Have you considered a thermal mass heater? Not a big one but a scaled down version that could be lit at night, run on a few logs? When I get a greenhouse I’m considering it. I’ve seen other videos that Black barrels with water and it worked really well.
I know you thought about it…forced air wood heat….I know easy to say but hard to do. Cheapest to do in your area…..Dry air will have to be replaced with a moisture humidifier. Barrel heat, I haven’t heard about it in my area, but word is slow because we are so remote…. You are so lucky to have the internet…all the time. If you have greens etc.; organic out of season in your area; Walmart would buy everything you could produce… if not Farmers market!
I've got my barrels and the kits to build my double barrel stove for my greenhouse. I can't wait for spring. I want my warm weather and my garden to play in.
Composting straw bales will keep you above freezing, just have to start one and then another. There's also thermal, which would cost a little to do but nothing else afterwards
Howdy Kevin, got to get more of those quail feeders and waters built, there working great. Same here with the rabbits, it’s been crazy weather everywhere. Y’all keep the videos coming, I’m learning a lot.
Passive solar! 1. Put sidewalk pavers on the floor - they will absorb heat during the day & throw it off at night. 2. The water barrels are a great idea. Make sure you paint them black. Also, you don't need to put water in - fill with dirt, sand, any such that will accept heat. I would use metal barrels, but if you found blue plastic barrels, you can paint them black. My dad used to build log houses, and the 4x6's he used were a great heat sink. Also, check out passive solar on houses - river rock is a great heat sink on the floor or under your barrels. You could even have a control, if the water in the barrel got to a certain temp, it would flow thru a closed circuit in the floor, under stone, to distribute heat, but that may be more complicated than you were thinking... You could also use this to circulate cool water in the summer, tho. Just some thoughts.
Sure can understand the cold temps and winds - here in northeast texas, this morning went down to 21...auto dog water froze up, rabbit water bottles froze, ponds had a pretty thick ice top on them...horses will paw the edges of the ponds and bust the ice to get water...our winds with this last storm, we lost power for 6 hours due to a tree falling on the lines down the street...brrrr this is a cold winter for sure!
'Dead Air' is the only TRUE insulator. Your money is best spent on the second layer of plastic. Now, granted, we don't have 'chit' for 'winter' here in Central Commiefornia but, I can grow year 'round with double layer plastic on high and low tunnels here. I'm taking those same concepts with me into N/W AZ next year.
Aww Kevin, you need hinged posts on the lids of the rabbit hutches instead of doing it all one handed. Some fish keepers keep big black tubs full of water in their greenhouses and the water warms up during the day and keeps it warmer during the night. Try bubble wrap instead of running a fan. Dustins fishtanks has a greenhouse in Kentucky and he manages to keep it warm during winter, you may get some ideas from some of his early videos. Thanks guy's.
Did you try the bubble wrap method? Just taping up sheets of bubble wrap to insulate more but still allow light to pass through. Also, maybe add rocks to the floor as a ground cover. Rocks will retain heat and be able to keep things warm inside the greenhouse as well as less humid some. Maybe throw into the greenhouse the old manure-filled hay to create heat while it composts within the greenhouse. Like either in piles around the corners so that it will generate enough heat to warm the greenhouse. Like a hot box method.
If you look into the greenhouse heating with barrels, black metal works better than plastic! I have been researching this for quite a while, in preparation for getting out land, this spring or summer.
Hey Kevin, It might be time for more nerdy math. One chicken = 5.6 btu's One rabbit = 8.0 btu's How many chickens and rabbits would you need to over winter in the greenhouse to keep the temp above 40° or 50°?
Also sorry for so many comments but also if you put tubes for smoke to run through to stack out of house put under beds and will heat dirt and dirt will hold heat longer
Finding the low point of your green house and adding a cold air sink, or drain will help. It would seem like it would let cold air in, but as long as there is warmer air in the green house, which there should be from the water barrels, the warm air pushes the pooling cold air out.
I’m planning to put up a greenhouse soon and also live in SWMO. I’m planning to use some water barrels and considering a small compost pile. I will hopefully be using a “bubble” method as well with the two layers of plastic and a bubble blower fan. I will be putting metal around the lower “wall” portion of the greenhouse and will eventually add a layer of foam board insulation. I’m just getting started getting the spot ready. I’m fortunate that my family previously owed a small greenhouse operation where I worked for 10 years. I get to glean lots of good information from my stepdad. Best of luck to you all.
From what I have seen, black water jugs, black water filled pipes, and large rocks/boulders/pavers all hold heat well. Good luck! Can't wait to see what you decide and how it works!
I’m a new subscriber to your channel & you guys amaze me! I’m not a homesteader, I live in the suburbs, but you’ve really got me thinking this is something I would love to do. Getting back to the traditional way of living seems so satisfying. I plan to raise a small raised bed garden in my back yard this year, so this is my first step. Thanks for sharing your amazing life with all of us! Blessings to all of you!
Morning from Mn.... Great video guys we are getting 45 mph winds with wind chill of -35 its cold. We ended up using heated dog bowls for our animals they were cheap and work well. From my wife and I to your family Stay warm and God bless .
Compost pile gives off heat and running a hose in a coil through your compost will draw in cool air from the bottom heat the air as it passes through the hose and release warmer air at the top.
Seeing that you are using many traditional means, you might want to check into compost heating. A small composting pile would not only supply heat but also supply nutrient-rich soil for your plants. A two-for you might say. There are many videos on here that show and explain the size you would need.
Have you considered a rocket mass heater? Fire it up in the late afternoon. Takes about an hour & 1/2 of attention every 20 minutes to bring it up to temperature & puts out heat slowly all night rain or shine. It sounds like you're looking for more of a passive, low maintenance system, & the water barrels are a great option, but if you have a few cold, cloudy days in a row they wont be much help. Maybe incorporate barrels and a RMH. Just a thought. Someone below mentioned solar. You already have a solar set up for your guest house. I'm sure it's not used that much this time of the year. Maybe you could use that to heat your tunnel. Love you guys.
Going with a greenhouse next year. Had a few things in mine. Yes, I'm going with the double plastic. Fan running 24/7 power by solar, electric for only backup. Use rocks that hold heat the longest. I heard soap stones are the best. I was going to build with soap stone tiles as my 1/4 wall around the greenhouse. Was also thinking about a very small wood stove. And use something that burns the longest and holds heat. Also have rocks near the wood stove and move those rocks around that absorb heat around the greenhouse to distribute the heat equally if necessary. Even thinking about running copper thin pipes. While using heat source either by solar or wood stove. To heat water and the steam pipes hold some heat. Was planning using a carport framing as my greenhouse kit. Carport with no roof, just the frame.
Have you considered a greenhouse compost hot bed for some heat? Should get up to 140 if you keep well maintained, if you have room there for a 3x3 pile.
Other than James Foster's solution offer below, I can tell you that the Chinese greenhouse 3 sided with the north wall as a thermal storage works well. Another very effective way of storing the thermal energy is digging 6 to 8 feet of hole and running black corrugated drain throughout this while you backfill with gravel. This creates a good thermal storage as you run the fan during the day to heat the gravel. At night you reverse the flow and it pumps out warm air all night long. I'd move my greenhouse in the summer and install this. You could then produce things like strawberries all winter long. Hey, I like your channel and regard you (both) very highly. I'm wondering what you are doing with the milk everyday.
You can use low tunnels inside the greenhouse. It will add at least another 10° difference and then with the water barrels you would have a total of 25° difference.
Look on youtube for heating a green house with a rocket stove. Covered with mud it absorbs heat and releases it over hours. The rocket stove does not use firewood it uses sticks twigs and branches. Things you would normally just burn up to get rid of. There are a few videos on youtube about heating green houses with this. The barrels of water do best if they are set on a pallet or just wood boards to keep them from contacting ground. (they will lose the heat to ground) Aligne them along the walls to absorb heat durring the day and release over time at night. Using both of these can raise the green house temp quite a bit with zero imput of electric or propane :) Also think about keeping rabbits in cages inside the green house. Body heat from them keeps the green house warmer plus droppings add to heat. Keeps garden fertiliser handy and will keep water bowls from freezing. Might work well for the quail also.
Glad you were able to get a video uploaded. Kevin the thermostat to keep a eye on the green house temp I bought one at Walmart for $14.00 works great. I have a greenhouse not as big as yours mine is only 8x16 but to keep ours warm at night my husband has a half metal barrel sitting in the middle and we use the hot coals from the wood stove to help keep it from getting below freezing. I feel y’all hauling water out to the animals we are doing the same thing twice a day. Blessings to your family.
Last Christmas my wonderful hubby built me a hoop greenhouse. It's only 12x16 but works great for me right now. (I see expansion in the future! ) I have the indoor/ outdoor thermometer with temp memory so I can see in the house what the temp is. We live in southern Tennessee so our temperatures are really close to yours. Last year I used a heat lamp at night only hanging from the middle beam of ceiling on the coldest nights. I have a small ceramic heater with a fan, thermostat, and high low setting also. That's all I've used so far this year. I know you said electricity is out but just sharing what I do. I don't notice any difference on our electric bill. I start all my seeds in there and grow lettuce, kale, beets, cabbage, carrots, and peas all fall and winter. One thing I found out is you have to have some kind of circulation. So I keep a box fan in there. I also have a window that I prop open in the warmer periods. I know your gh is much larger but when you add more vegetation and soil it will also hold more heat and moisture. So if you don't have circulation it can cause problems. If mine was bigger I would go with the water barrel system to heat. I've heard good things about it.
@Sara Mcneal - We live in southern TN, too (near Monteagle). I've been following Ava, MO, temps (and others) for a few months -- looking toward a future move. Their temps are *very* much like ours up here on the Cumberland Plateau. We have caterpillars and don't heat cold weather crops... if we get them established early enough in the late fall. During Persephone (here: Thanksgiving to mid January) they don't really grown anyway. I start seeds in an enclosed area in one end of Dear Hub's shop, and with the fluorescent lights, it gets mighty warm in there. Then I harden off in the caterpillars. Kevin and Sarah -- I think the water barrels and compost heating (or a combination of those two) may be a best bet. I look forward to seeing how your solution works... so I can "appropriate" the idea! ~ Kir in Tennessee
I just put up my greenhouse. Used double layer plastic with it's plastic and geothermal heat .I will also put some water barrels inside and a heat sink with a homemade solar collector with waterbottles and a 12 v fan to transfer heat to the heat sink. That May be a good cheap option for you. Thanks for your videos . God bless.
Use the water barrel system and drape a tarp over the greenhouse before sundown. It will help hold the heat in. Here is a link to a BTU needed calculator for greenhouses.
Get a bunch of poly vinyl tubing and make a manifold setup. Put the tubing in an insulated box or boxes with glass over the top. Run the hot tub water through the solar heater during the day and switch it off at night or you can run the water through a coiled tube sitting over a wood fire.
Use a large active compost pile at each end of your greenhouse, and near your seedling box. The compost must have fresh hot/wet ingredients as well as the cool/dry ingredients (can be hay) for it to be warm enough to make a difference...that means fresh manure usually. The compost will be smelly, but warm (up to 120F inside the pile). Keep turning and adding to the piles regularly. Add more piles if more heat is needed. Then use the compost for spring planting. This method not only uses farm waste and keeps the place warm, but also provides rich soil for planting next year's goodies...a permaculture technique that really works. Usable compost is the cooled stuff at the bottom of the pile, which should be removed and stored away from the active piles. A simple 3 stage composting bin can be built with scrap wood, or purchased. It makes managing a compost pile a lot easier.
On most days my greenhouses will keep 10 above outside temps unless it is windy. I have 220 heaters in one and a giant propane heater hanging from the ceiling in another and a walmart utility heater in the little one. I use these now to just keep them above 40. I am in the process of installing wood heaters in them now, but I have tried many of the systems including the double plastic with the blowers. Most of them do some good but not enough to warrant the expense and labor. I know it will be a lot of work but wood heat is what I have come to as the solution. Instead of a lot of work for very little results the wood will definitely heat them and I can keep one really nice if I want to. It gives you the protection and the option to go warmer if you want to. I have over 100 tomatoes plants 5+ feet high right now, green beans, peppers, eggplants, and tons of other warm weather plants still going in January
Hi Kevin and Sara. just a note to say that I also watch Swedish Homestead, they have some good ideas on keeping things warm and they are very good at what they do too.
HI KEVIN.. i grow lots of my own seedlings and i always had the same problem every year with keeping them warm..im in Massachusetts and my wife finally told me if your going to do this every year just invest in some heat mats!!!! well i did and all my problems went away..anyway good luck ...HEAT MATS KEVIN>>
I use heat mats (huge ones) for my seedlings as well, and am having to use thermostat-controlled ones for both germinating and growing because it gets too cold for the little seedlings in my growing room. However they do use electricity, and Kevin was saying electricity wasn't an option for their greenhouse. I wonder though if any out there are battery-powered, or if a battery system could be rigged up for the mats to plug into...
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We are here in northern MN where we regularly see negative temperatures, my amish neighbors put up their greenhouse in February and by April are harvesting tomatoes! The secret for them is they heat with a wood stove. That is our next step for our greenhouse.
Love the video. You can get some 4x8 plywood. Build a "room" inside the greenhouse. 8x8, 8x12, whatever size. The room has a ceiling and access door. It's also just to be put together in the coldest few months. Then get a radiant heater. They are pretty inexpensive to use. It'll protect your young cool weather veggies in Winter and can be turned up warmer when its time for the tomatoes, peppers, etc later.
I love when the ducks coming waddling out so happily 💕✌️
I read about this many years ago. Place a large, insulated, water storage tank with an outlet at the top and bottom on an elevated platform. Below the tank set up a solar collector, like one of your glass doors over a 4" insulated plywood box. At the back of the box is a metal sheet with 1/2" vertical copper tubes a couple inches apart attached to the sheet. The tubes connect to a horizontal tube at top and bottom. The top of the horizontal tube goes out of the box and connects to the top of the storage tank. The bottom horizantal tube goes out of the bottom of the box and connects to the bottom of the storage tank. The exposed tubes between the collector and the tank must be insulated and the metal components painted black. Cold water settles and flows down from the storage tank into the bottom of the collector, gets heated by the sun, and rises up, out of the box, and into the top of the storage tank. When the sun goes behind a cloud, it just stops circulating. By 9am, when it's 30 degrees outside, the water in the storage tank should be almost boiling. Anti-freeze will prevent the water in the system from freezing. Now, place a 1/2" copper coil into the storage tank. The water from the barrels in the green house would circulate through the coil in the storage tank in like manner. No electricity. That's how to heat the water in the barrels for free (except construction), but I don't know if they would maintain the temp all night long. You could probably find a schematic on google for the box and the heat exchanger. I experimented with a one gallon paint bucket for a storage tank, a crappy little coil off a fridge, and 1/4" aquarium tubing that wasn't even insulated. It was like magic.
Maybe put bales of hay around outer perimeter to add to heat retention for whatever other method you use?
Dark colored plastic barrels filled with water and a "hotbed" compost pile in your greenhouse would make a huge difference.
Stay warm and healthy!
Glad you are back, we enjoy your videos.
I saw where a man used large PVC tubing, buried 8 feet below ground level. He had several of these buried about 10 feet long. All the tubing was open on both ends. The openings into the greenhouse merged into one large opening with a fan blowing into the greenhouse. It kept the greenhouse temperature above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can't wait to build our own greenhouse.
for a non-passive but pretty cheap solution that is very user friendly once it's built, you might look into a small Rocket Mass heater. you can make it yourself, often times with scrap material. it radiates heat for a very long time and is easy to use. another option is to use the heat from a compost pile. it's passive and cheap as well. look up compost hot water heater for ideas. good luck...and stay warm.
Hi, Kevin and Sarah! I have been enjoying your videos which I discovered 2 months ago.
I raised my 4 children on a small 4 acre farm in Oregon in the 80's and 90's. I designed my 12 x 32 foot passive solar greenhouse, after a year of researching (without internet). I used 50 gallon barrels painted black and filled with water, and 4 live rabbits which I moved into the greenhouse in the winter, to heat it. Their bodies and manure produced an amazing amount of heat! I controlled the urine odor with lime and aged sawdust which I would sprinkle over the manure. My greenhouse never got below 40 at night without any other source of heat. I placed the barrels I got for free on the north side of the greenhouse (the water absorbs heat from the greenhouse during the day, and released it at night), and made wooden slats on top to place plants, and place the rabbits below my benches on the south side of the greenhouse. Since you already have rabbits, it might be worth a try!
Geothermal heat is something you should look in to. Look up the video "Nebraska retiree uses earths's heat to grow oranges in snow"
I was gonna suggest that too. There are a Number of the Homesteading YTers that would probably really benefit from a Walipini style greenhouse. Even If you can't afford the kit that he ( *Edit: by he I meant Russ Finch* ) sells, there are a few videos I've seen where people are making their own DIY version using cinder blocks and stuff. Love that video too, So Fascinating! :)
I watched that video it’s amazing oranges and lemons and grapefruit where they do not normally grow ever outside!!!
Hot beds like Dirtpatchheaven uses might help. Idaho is likely a cooler climate and she gets good results with hers. Might have to look into their older videos about that though as currently they are renting an apartment and looking for a homestead closer to the husband/father's work.
Having a hot compost pile in the greenhouse works too!
Compost pile at the end of your green house, put a coil of water line under the pile! 12 volt circlutating pump to your water barrel! Wellaa
I've seen this. Super suggestion as not many people know how effective this is.
Water can get over 100° depends on your compost
But then you're using electricity or battery right? If you was going to use a battery why not just get the heater and solar?
That's an awesome idea thanks!
@@heavenboundhomestead126he 12 volt water pump would only consume about 35 watts. Maybe 25 cents a day. It's a very sound idea. Compost can reach 160 degrees F.
The water barrel solar battery method is by far the best passive way to retain heat in your greenhouse. Make sure to paint the barrels black so they'll absorb more heat and keep them at least 6 inches off the ground because the ground will suck heat out from the bottom of the barrels without adding any benefit to your greenhouse. For one the size you have there I would recommend 3-4 of the plastic food grade barrels you can pick up at your local feed and farm store.
My husband and I made a 2 feet hole by about 4 feet square in the garden one year and over filled it with chicken compost and fall leaves to be 1 foot higher then ground level. So the total wet but not soggy compost was 3 feet deep × 4 feet square. Leveled it and added 6-12 inches of good planting soil on top. We put a cold frame over the mount we built. The temperature inside the cold frame was 10°C higher in the frame then outside on a cloudy morning. The frame we used was about 3 feet high covered with greenhouse plastic on the sides and on top with 2 patio doors so we could take one door off if needed on a sunny day. I grew lettuce, spinach and snap peas for salads in there in February here in zone 5b. A good channel to watch is; OYR Frugal +Sustainable Organic Gardening. He also grows greens and harvests right now in zone 5b in an unheated greenhouse
our greenhouse is a glass panel, that we bought second hand, my dad attached it to our house, so that the basement door opens into it, it's heated with a gasification wood stove that heats a boiler and runs hot water throughout the house and in pipes under the ground in the greenhouse. we live in PA and are able to have leafy greens, and cold weather plants through out the winter even with considerably lower temps then you guys experience.
I know that might not help with your current problem, but you are already burning wood to heat your home, while that's quite an expensive upgrade to boiler and gasification stove long term that could be something to consider.
that greenhouse would be awesome to own If I had a place to put It
Love the quail!! Looks so cold there. We hit 79° yesterday and were going down to about 35° tonight here in Florida. The weather gets so crazy this time of year. We also had a huge thunderstorm with 60 mph wind gusts this morning. I've been chasing my potted plants all over the place😄
Great job with the wiggle wire. Garden answer uses that on her high tunnel. Swears by it!
I’ve seen several green houses warmed by a wood fueled rocket mass heater. With a large mass you should be able to stay warm through the night and use the mass as a table top.
underground rocket stove heating system! Or even just a mass heater in the center. Well designed and made out of recycled materials, these can run off a handful of wood and stay warm all night. If you run the ducting in the beds the roots of veggies will be nice and cozy all winter.
We use our coals from our wood stove in metal buckets at night to keep the heat in our greenhouse.
Ooh, that's a good idea :)
GREAT IDEA !
That is a good idea......
I have seen that done.
Tracy Urquhart . How has that worked for you? What’s early morning temp?
I left a message on your facebook page showing how i keep my plants warm in the spring. It's the same idea that you have with your hotbox, but it covers my entire 40" by 30' table.
Try popping down ypur local warehouse/distribution centre. I work in 1 myself and we usually have a lot of bubble wrap which gets used and or thrown out. You might be able to talk them into giving you some to line your greentunnel with.
Dirtpatchheaven has a whole list of vlogs on hotbeds she's used in two states atleast..she made on in her greenhouse pretty frugally and grew lots of greens..
The thing about Missouri weather some years there's a few days with temperatures below zero, some years with temperatures below the twenties for a week+, some years with cloud cover for weeks. There's the ~January thaw. Some years spring tries to start in late February, sometimes late March. There can still be frosts till mid May. There's a saying to plant the corn when the oak leaves are as big as squirrel's ears, because that can mean the soil temperature is above 50 degrees. The walnuts are the last to leaf out, generally, (they "know" something).
Looking at the bed behind you: what about putting a cover over just the bed?
If you go with water heat mass, what about using a rocket stove to create a hot water heater to warm the water mass? Saw a neat video...
A tank piping from bottom and top, coil a copper pipe a few times around a rocket stove exhaust pipe, the water heats so hot it creates steam which drives it like a pump or percolator till you get the temp wanted, then switch to the next tank...
Raising the beds closer to the roof will be warmer than closer to the floor...
Dirt patch heaven did some videos where she made a frame~4x8 lined it with cardboard, loaded it with branches, leaves, etc. covered that with a bit of potting soil or boxes of planted seeds, "primed" it with rabbit manure tea and it heated up and took off, covered it with an arch and plastic, grew just fine! Heat from the bottom, without the sprawl or turning of a compost pile.
? The book four season gardening said something about every layer of plastic moves the garden about 500 miles south, and that the plants should be pretty well grown, cause with the colder temps they'd pretty well stop growing, yet if they didn't get too cold they would keep ok.
What about making a low rocket mass heater out of board or metal sides a pipe down the middle and fill with gravel, run the heat/ exhaust through the pipe(s) and out the chimney.
Though the rabbits are bigger, the quail can be denser per square foot and also have a higher body temperature and are more active...moving the quail would they be ok with that? And would it be enough to make enough difference?
Bales of straw around the outside would insulate the ground so it was putting more heat into the greenhouse
Putting up a tarp for a wind beak or a wall of bales, could help create a microclimate...
Or even a tarp over it at night might help a bit...
Saw a pool heater using a barbecue gas grill: coil a copper pipe a lot to fill inside a a grill then run the heated water into a heat sink/ pool/barrel/gravel...
Put the barbecue grill inside the greenhouse for a short term, if it can keep up...
Those soda can solar heaters to heat water to raise the temp of water barrels.
If you took a bale of straw and drilled some fat holes(1/2"+) into it then primed it with rabbit manure tea and kept it somewhere warm for a few days to get the bacteria critters kicked into high gear and maybe added a little molasses water as an after-burner ; )... When it was going high speed/temp put it in the greenhouse...? If it was on the bottom of a rack system like a storage shelf?... Then saranwrapped all the way around up to and over the top...? Kind of like a warmer oven...? Put seedlings on the shelves above the bale/ heat source. Another sort of nice thing about all the bacterial action in the bales is it produces Carbon dioxide which the plants need.
Some of those green house systems come with pipe benders... What if you could build another greenhouse right over that one or one inside that one? Or both : )!
Or some how attach bubble wrap to the inside of he greenhouse walls and or make low tunnel out of it.
an outdoor wood furnace would be easy , sometimes people are upgrading to a better one, and might let the old one go easy... Use it to heat the water mass, heat sink/radiator.
What if one could put a series of cornerposts(rebar?) with connecting bars at the top corners. Then get one of those really big or a bunch of little things of Saran type wrap wrap the roof first then the sides,... Door? Then another set up inside that one. Might could do that several times...
It could really slow down how quickly heat would exchange... Like house wrap in construction... Or the window clear plastic insulting layer- one year went overboard on inner and outer layers on the Windows... Turned out the inside house walls were cooler than the windows!
All the insulation is just to slow down the equalization of temperatures, there needs to be a heat source inside that can keep ahead of the speed of that drain of heat...
If the floor is too cold could insulate it with? Straw/hay/ wood chips...
Hello Kevin and Sarah i love watching your shows keep up the good work you have my garden interests heightened
you can create a double wall system by putting a frost fabric over your plants each night... tuck them in so to speak... on the really cold nights...
Something my wife and I have always done is to save the feed sacks and line the various cages and coop structures with them. Especially the paper sacks. My darling bride had the idea to stuff sacks with sacks to create dead air space. The birds and beasties didn’t complain! An idea for the greenhouse is to build smaller spaces inside to contain your plants. Like mini greenhouses inside bigger ones. I’ve used kerosene hurricane lamps inside the spaces in really cold spells. We also discovered that 55 gallon steel drums full of water, painted black, supplied thermal mass that also acted as shelves for the plants. I hope y’all can get something! The double wall on the greenhouse will be quite a bit of work and electricity to install. That’s why I did a really basic framing job and built small spaces within. You get more insulation from the dead air and you don’t have to run a fan. Barrels inside spaces inside the greenhouse with the possibility of mini kerosene heaters during especially bad spells opens up a few options. One more option is to put some small animals in there. Blessings y’all!
If you're okay with losing some light you could insulate the northern wall (or part of it). Options could be the reflective silver stuff, or even second hand blankets from goodwill. Any insulating you can do, even if it's just the first few feet where you've got straight walls before the arches start, would make a significant difference.
I've seen some take 55 gallon drums fill them with water and paint them black
I have heard about using water barrels inside as thermal mass to keep it warmer at night. Also creating a compost pile or keeping your bunnies in there to add warmth (or a combination of the two) will help (see DirtpatchHeaven homestead). One suggestion I have not heard mentioned here is to use a caterpillar tunnel inside your high tunnel. A man in Kingston OK (Leon Sloan) has been doing it that way for years with no supplemental heating. He is a commercial grower. He is in a little warmer climate but not by much. He is germinating the delicate stuff like you mentioned in late January or early February. His rule is for each greenhouse you gain about 8 degrees at night when it gets cold. So by putting a caterpillar tunnel inside a greenhouse you should gain about 16 degrees inside the caterpillar tunnel. I see Mike Dickson at Farm Fit doing this with his high tunnel/green house also.
Thank you for putting Missouri on the map and for all the hard work that you share!
Hi Kevin and Sarah. My wife and I have a 16' x 48' hoophouse in zone 7a(not too dissimilar to you- guessing 6b for you). We have learned in the last couple years that it really has little to do with ambient temps in the hoophouse. Monitor your ground temp and I bet you will see that you can keep it over 35-40 degrees fairly easily in your area. We are guessing you get more sun during the winter than we do...it makes a big difference over-all. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we have to put a row cover on our plants. We grow Spinach, Lettuce , and Kale mostly but also grow root crops easily as well. Hope this helps. Steve and Paula
I like your channel - thanks for taking the time to video everything. Well done!
On my farm I have a pair of 100 watt solar panels feeding a pair of 12 volt deep cycle batteries in series to give me 24 volts. This is controlled with a charge controller and that drives a pump to keep the water cycling in our duck pond and through a series of four 50 gallon barrels to filter the water. In the winter the batteries usually run out of juice in the early evening and start back up in the morning but for 3 seasons it runs 24/7.
You might consider using a similar setup for driving a pump to move warm water through tubing buried in your beds in the greenhouse. Passive solar *may* be able to capture heat during the day and radiate it back out when the sun goes down. Black tubing filled with water, bricks, black containers of water, etc. might all work.
I also like the idea of strategically placing compost piles in the hoop house to warm the water a bit - the moving water isn't likely to freeze in the tubing overnight and the batteries *may* drive the pump all night, particularly if it doesn't have to lift it much. Just a thought. Without a heat source the water's going to be cold (probably mid to high 30's) so having a means to heat it a bit (my compost bins stay warm in the winter as long as they have sufficient mass) such as a compost pile or a straw/horse manure mix would be ideal.
Keep up the great work!
Hope the arctic cold that we are expecting in St. Louis area doesn't go as far west as southern Missouri where you guys live this next few weeks. The biggest problem I have had where I live is the sun took an extended hiatus for the last month. Hopefully once we get through the next blast of cold weather we can find Spring.
A smaller greenhouse inside the greenhouse! And or black water containers
Missed you all yesterday. I want a greenhouse but heat is an issue with me so I will be watching to see what you come up with. God Bless.
I can't remember where I seen it but I remember watching a video where they put a composting box looking thing in the middle of the green house. helped keep it warm. You would have to look into to that. Because I can't find it in my youtube video's that I have saved. I might not have saved it. :(
Maybe a small woodburner in your greenhouse to keep it warm overnight on those chilly nights? Hi! My name is Dorine. I live just an hour or so away, Northwest, from Appleton, WI. This morning we have temps of 18 degrees. Enjoy your warmer Winter!
Mine will be heated with a small wood stove. Rocks are amazing at sacking up heat and slowly releasing , I don't know what the water barrel system is but it sounds much the same as rocks . I also intend to heat with rabbits and or ducks. Raised bed . Then your fertilizer is right there too
Just keep thinking spring🤗☉
Mild winter heck, northern Missouri has been freezing, snowy, did I mention cold and snow.
Look up a rocket mass heater. It is fairly cheap and a great diy that will definitely get the job done.
That is a heatwave for us in MONTANA. We have 9 feet of snow in some places on our ranch. Our high today will be 25.
love your vids, not only for your advice, but also to learn from everyone who comments. What a great way to share ideas.
Instead of changing plastic I’ve noticed some are just adding a layer or two of bubble wrap. It can be found at the home store and comes in big rolls. They add it onto the existing structure and tie it down to stop the wind from catching it. Then in the summer it’s removed & stored.
Have you considered a thermal mass heater? Not a big one but a scaled down version that could be lit at night, run on a few logs? When I get a greenhouse I’m considering it.
I’ve seen other videos that Black barrels with water and it worked really well.
I know you thought about it…forced air wood heat….I know
easy to say but hard to do. Cheapest to do in your area…..Dry air will have to
be replaced with a moisture humidifier. Barrel heat, I haven’t heard about it
in my area, but word is slow because we are so remote…. You are so lucky to
have the internet…all the time.
If you have greens etc.; organic out of season in your area; Walmart would buy everything you could produce… if not Farmers market!
I've got my barrels and the kits to build my double barrel stove for my greenhouse. I can't wait for spring. I want my warm weather and my garden to play in.
Composting straw bales will keep you above freezing, just have to start one and then another. There's also thermal, which would cost a little to do but nothing else afterwards
Howdy Kevin, got to get more of those quail feeders and waters built, there working great. Same here with the rabbits, it’s been crazy weather everywhere. Y’all keep the videos coming, I’m learning a lot.
Passive solar!
1. Put sidewalk pavers on the floor - they will absorb heat during the day & throw it off at night.
2. The water barrels are a great idea. Make sure you paint them black. Also, you don't need to put water in - fill with dirt, sand, any such that will accept heat. I would use metal barrels, but if you found blue plastic barrels, you can paint them black.
My dad used to build log houses, and the 4x6's he used were a great heat sink.
Also, check out passive solar on houses - river rock is a great heat sink on the floor or under your barrels. You could even have a control, if the water in the barrel got to a certain temp, it would flow thru a closed circuit in the floor, under stone, to distribute heat, but that may be more complicated than you were thinking... You could also use this to circulate cool water in the summer, tho.
Just some thoughts.
How about a hot bed? They are cold frames with a thick layer of raw menure under it and you put soil in top of that.
Sure can understand the cold temps and winds - here in northeast texas, this morning went down to 21...auto dog water froze up, rabbit water bottles froze, ponds had a pretty thick ice top on them...horses will paw the edges of the ponds and bust the ice to get water...our winds with this last storm, we lost power for 6 hours due to a tree falling on the lines down the street...brrrr this is a cold winter for sure!
'Dead Air' is the only TRUE insulator. Your money is best spent on the second layer of plastic. Now, granted, we don't have 'chit' for 'winter' here in Central Commiefornia but, I can grow year 'round with double layer plastic on high and low tunnels here. I'm taking those same concepts with me into N/W AZ next year.
Stay warm!❤
Aww Kevin, you need hinged posts on the lids of the rabbit hutches instead of doing it all one handed.
Some fish keepers keep big black tubs full of water in their greenhouses and the water warms up during the day and keeps it warmer during the night. Try bubble wrap instead of running a fan. Dustins fishtanks has a greenhouse in Kentucky and he manages to keep it warm during winter, you may get some ideas from some of his early videos.
Thanks guy's.
Just finishing our greenhouse and also concerned about keeping it warm enough. Best of luck.
Did you try the bubble wrap method? Just taping up sheets of bubble wrap to insulate more but still allow light to pass through. Also, maybe add rocks to the floor as a ground cover. Rocks will retain heat and be able to keep things warm inside the greenhouse as well as less humid some. Maybe throw into the greenhouse the old manure-filled hay to create heat while it composts within the greenhouse. Like either in piles around the corners so that it will generate enough heat to warm the greenhouse. Like a hot box method.
If you look into the greenhouse heating with barrels, black metal works better than plastic! I have been researching this for quite a while, in preparation for getting out land, this spring or summer.
Hey Kevin,
It might be time for more nerdy math.
One chicken = 5.6 btu's
One rabbit = 8.0 btu's
How many chickens and rabbits would you need to over winter in the greenhouse to keep the temp above 40° or 50°?
Hehehe! Totally cool logic. 😊
I love that, keeping rabbit manure right where it's needed.
I was thinking this, too. Put some animals to bed in there, or start a hot compost in the greenhouse.
About 1000 hot rabbits.
I have all the Mother Earth News mags from way back. They ran an article about keeping rabbits in a greenhouse for the heat factor.
Love all the ideas in the comments! Hope you are healing well Kevin
Also sorry for so many comments but also if you put tubes for smoke to run through to stack out of house put under beds and will heat dirt and dirt will hold heat longer
Love watching your videos before my shift starts. Brings me great peace and serenity.Thank you for the great videos.
Finding the low point of your green house and adding a cold air sink, or drain will help. It would seem like it would let cold air in, but as long as there is warmer air in the green house, which there should be from the water barrels, the warm air pushes the pooling cold air out.
I’m planning to put up a greenhouse soon and also live in SWMO. I’m planning to use some water barrels and considering a small compost pile. I will hopefully be using a “bubble” method as well with the two layers of plastic and a bubble blower fan. I will be putting metal around the lower “wall” portion of the greenhouse and will eventually add a layer of foam board insulation. I’m just getting started getting the spot ready. I’m fortunate that my family previously owed a small greenhouse operation where I worked for 10 years. I get to glean lots of good information from my stepdad. Best of luck to you all.
From what I have seen, black water jugs, black water filled pipes, and large rocks/boulders/pavers all hold heat well. Good luck! Can't wait to see what you decide and how it works!
Oh wow what a bunch of work you do !
I have heard that composting in the greenhouse will help keep it warmer.
I’m a new subscriber to your channel & you guys amaze me! I’m not a homesteader, I live in the suburbs, but you’ve really got me thinking this is something I would love to do. Getting back to the traditional way of living seems so satisfying. I plan to raise a small raised bed garden in my back yard this year, so this is my first step. Thanks for sharing your amazing life with all of us! Blessings to all of you!
Morning from Mn.... Great video guys we are getting 45 mph winds with wind chill of -35 its cold. We ended up using heated dog bowls for our animals they were cheap and work well. From my wife and I to your family Stay warm and God bless .
if you do the double wall, put bubble wrap insulation in between the walls instead of running the fan.
Compost pile gives off heat and running a hose in a coil through your compost will draw in cool air from the bottom heat the air as it passes through the hose and release warmer air at the top.
From a non farmer snow balling, passive systems to work towards, solar and wind for electric .
Seeing that you are using many traditional means, you might want to check into compost heating. A small composting pile would not only supply heat but also supply nutrient-rich soil for your plants. A two-for you might say. There are many videos on here that show and explain the size you would need.
Loved your video!! Prayers for you and your family!!!
Have you considered a rocket mass heater? Fire it up in the late afternoon. Takes about an hour & 1/2 of attention every 20 minutes to bring it up to temperature & puts out heat slowly all night rain or shine. It sounds like you're looking for more of a passive, low maintenance system, & the water barrels are a great option, but if you have a few cold, cloudy days in a row they wont be much help. Maybe incorporate barrels and a RMH. Just a thought. Someone below mentioned solar. You already have a solar set up for your guest house. I'm sure it's not used that much this time of the year. Maybe you could use that to heat your tunnel. Love you guys.
Going with a greenhouse next year. Had a few things in mine. Yes, I'm going with the double plastic. Fan running 24/7 power by solar, electric for only backup. Use rocks that hold heat the longest. I heard soap stones are the best. I was going to build with soap stone tiles as my 1/4 wall around the greenhouse. Was also thinking about a very small wood stove. And use something that burns the longest and holds heat. Also have rocks near the wood stove and move those rocks around that absorb heat around the greenhouse to distribute the heat equally if necessary. Even thinking about running copper thin pipes. While using heat source either by solar or wood stove. To heat water and the steam pipes hold some heat. Was planning using a carport framing as my greenhouse kit. Carport with no roof, just the frame.
Check out Eliot Coleman's book Four-Season Harvest. Wonderful book for cool weather gardening.
Have you considered a greenhouse compost hot bed for some heat? Should get up to 140 if you keep well maintained, if you have room there for a 3x3 pile.
Double layer on the greenhouse is a must.
I was gonna suggest geothermal heating from water,in buckets. Sounds similar. Hope you get a great start to the year,God bless!
Yay! I saw some bunnies!
Other than James Foster's solution offer below, I can tell you that the Chinese greenhouse 3 sided with the north wall as a thermal storage works well. Another very effective way of storing the thermal energy is digging 6 to 8 feet of hole and running black corrugated drain throughout this while you backfill with gravel. This creates a good thermal storage as you run the fan during the day to heat the gravel. At night you reverse the flow and it pumps out warm air all night long. I'd move my greenhouse in the summer and install this. You could then produce things like strawberries all winter long. Hey, I like your channel and regard you (both) very highly. I'm wondering what you are doing with the milk everyday.
Very good also, depending on your location for depth on pipe! You need long runs for air to warm
You can use low tunnels inside the greenhouse. It will add at least another 10° difference and then with the water barrels you would have a total of 25° difference.
Smaller hoop houses over the starts make another micro climit
Look on youtube for heating a green house with a rocket stove. Covered with mud it absorbs heat and releases it over hours. The rocket stove does not use firewood it uses sticks twigs and branches. Things you would normally just burn up to get rid of. There are a few videos on youtube about heating green houses with this. The barrels of water do best if they are set on a pallet or just wood boards to keep them from contacting ground. (they will lose the heat to ground) Aligne them along the walls to absorb heat durring the day and release over time at night. Using both of these can raise the green house temp quite a bit with zero imput of electric or propane :) Also think about keeping rabbits in cages inside the green house. Body heat from them keeps the green house warmer plus droppings add to heat. Keeps garden fertiliser handy and will keep water bowls from freezing. Might work well for the quail also.
Glad you were able to get a video uploaded. Kevin the thermostat to keep a eye on the green house temp I bought one at Walmart for $14.00 works great. I have a greenhouse not as big as yours mine is only 8x16 but to keep ours warm at night my husband has a half metal barrel sitting in the middle and we use the hot coals from the wood stove to help keep it from getting below freezing. I feel y’all hauling water out to the animals we are doing the same thing twice a day. Blessings to your family.
Last Christmas my wonderful hubby built me a hoop greenhouse. It's only 12x16 but works great for me right now. (I see expansion in the future! ) I have the indoor/ outdoor thermometer with temp memory so I can see in the house what the temp is. We live in southern Tennessee so our temperatures are really close to yours. Last year I used a heat lamp at night only hanging from the middle beam of ceiling on the coldest nights. I have a small ceramic heater with a fan, thermostat, and high low setting also. That's all I've used so far this year. I know you said electricity is out but just sharing what I do. I don't notice any difference on our electric bill. I start all my seeds in there and grow lettuce, kale, beets, cabbage, carrots, and peas all fall and winter. One thing I found out is you have to have some kind of circulation. So I keep a box fan in there. I also have a window that I prop open in the warmer periods. I know your gh is much larger but when you add more vegetation and soil it will also hold more heat and moisture. So if you don't have circulation it can cause problems. If mine was bigger I would go with the water barrel system to heat. I've heard good things about it.
@Sara Mcneal - We live in southern TN, too (near Monteagle). I've been following Ava, MO, temps (and others) for a few months -- looking toward a future move. Their temps are *very* much like ours up here on the Cumberland Plateau. We have caterpillars and don't heat cold weather crops... if we get them established early enough in the late fall. During Persephone (here: Thanksgiving to mid January) they don't really grown anyway. I start seeds in an enclosed area in one end of Dear Hub's shop, and with the fluorescent lights, it gets mighty warm in there. Then I harden off in the caterpillars.
Kevin and Sarah -- I think the water barrels and compost heating (or a combination of those two) may be a best bet. I look forward to seeing how your solution works... so I can "appropriate" the idea! ~ Kir in Tennessee
I just put up my greenhouse. Used double layer plastic with it's plastic and geothermal heat .I will also put some water barrels inside and a heat sink with a homemade solar collector with waterbottles and a 12 v fan to transfer heat to the heat sink. That May be a good cheap option for you. Thanks for your videos . God bless.
Use the water barrel system and drape a tarp over the greenhouse before sundown. It will help hold the heat in. Here is a link to a BTU needed calculator for greenhouses.
Get a bunch of poly vinyl tubing and make a manifold setup. Put the tubing in an insulated box or boxes with glass over the top. Run the hot tub water through the solar heater during the day and switch it off at night or you can run the water through a coiled tube sitting over a wood fire.
Use a large active compost pile at each end of your greenhouse, and near your seedling box. The compost must have fresh hot/wet ingredients as well as the cool/dry ingredients (can be hay) for it to be warm enough to make a difference...that means fresh manure usually. The compost will be smelly, but warm (up to 120F inside the pile). Keep turning and adding to the piles regularly. Add more piles if more heat is needed. Then use the compost for spring planting. This method not only uses farm waste and keeps the place warm, but also provides rich soil for planting next year's goodies...a permaculture technique that really works. Usable compost is the cooled stuff at the bottom of the pile, which should be removed and stored away from the active piles. A simple 3 stage composting bin can be built with scrap wood, or purchased. It makes managing a compost pile a lot easier.
On most days my greenhouses will keep 10 above outside temps unless it is windy. I have 220 heaters in one and a giant propane heater hanging from the ceiling in another and a walmart utility heater in the little one. I use these now to just keep them above 40. I am in the process of installing wood heaters in them now, but I have tried many of the systems including the double plastic with the blowers. Most of them do some good but not enough to warrant the expense and labor. I know it will be a lot of work but wood heat is what I have come to as the solution. Instead of a lot of work for very little results the wood will definitely heat them and I can keep one really nice if I want to. It gives you the protection and the option to go warmer if you want to. I have over 100 tomatoes plants 5+ feet high right now, green beans, peppers, eggplants, and tons of other warm weather plants still going in January
we are wanting a green house just like yours when we find our forever home in Strafford, MO area. thank you for sharing
Hi Kevin and Sara. just a note to say that I also watch Swedish Homestead, they have some good ideas on keeping things warm and they are very good at what they do too.
HI KEVIN.. i grow lots of my own seedlings and i always had the same problem every year with keeping them warm..im in Massachusetts and my wife finally told me if your going to do this every year just invest in some heat mats!!!! well i did and all my problems went away..anyway good luck ...HEAT MATS KEVIN>>
I use heat mats (huge ones) for my seedlings as well, and am having to use thermostat-controlled ones for both germinating and growing because it gets too cold for the little seedlings in my growing room. However they do use electricity, and Kevin was saying electricity wasn't an option for their greenhouse. I wonder though if any out there are battery-powered, or if a battery system could be rigged up for the mats to plug into...