?? Diverting Home Water Heater For Radiant Heat To Greenhouse ??

[ChaosCatalunya]

I was hoping I could close the dampers and get a few hours of warmth from it. It really doesn't get very cold here... but the green house isn't insulated and it leaks like a sieve. One thing I don't want to do is wake up every hour to feed the stove. The temperature can drop into the low 20's F here but that's rare. It often reaches low thirties in January for a few nights though. Since I can't afford a pricey solution I may need to accept the fact I'll lose a lot of sleep for a couple months out of the year.

I guess when I add the CMH lights I won't have to worry about heat until those switch off. That'll help some, I suppose, but that doesn't help in the wee hours of the night.

Maybe adding an electric heater set very low will suffice for when the stove burns out. I'd really like to avoid pricey electric bills though, especially since my supply of wood is free.

Well, it is easy to rig the electric heater to a thermostat, so it only comes on when you need it.

Reading others speaking about stoves with thermostatic controls not working so well, it seems the best path is just learning your stove, and the supply of wood. Most people quickly manage to get them set right to go all night, circulation fans probably a good idea as well, to keep it all even

 

[brown_thumb]

Is a regular 1500 watt space heater not powerful enough?

According to my calculations it would take about 7 minutes to heat up 3000 ft3 of air 10F, not accounting for heat loss through the walls.

It would be enough if I divide my greenhouse in half. It's currently 2x7.5 meters with a sloping roof that's 2.5 meters at the low side and 3.2 meters at the high side. If I cut that in half the heated side will be approximately 21 cubic meters. In an average sealed insulated room a tiny space heater is all that's needed for a space that size but this greenhouse is very leaky and isn't insulated.

Well, it is easy to rig the electric heater to a thermostat, so it only comes on when you need it.

Reading others speaking about stoves with thermostatic controls not working so well, it seems the best path is just learning your stove, and the supply of wood. Most people quickly manage to get them set right to go all night, circulation fans probably a good idea as well, to keep it all even

I guess that's probably my best option. There are 110 volt thermostats that I can just plug a space heater into. The little wood stove would supply heat for awhile and when it burns out the electric heater can take over.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Simple way is to put some black painted 55 gal drums of water in there, they will hold on to the heat they absorb during the day.

 

[brown_thumb]

Simple way is to put some black painted 55 gal drums of water in there, they will hold on to the heat they absorb during the day.

Yes, that could help a lot but I keep putting more stuff in there and soon it will be getting pretty crowded. Also, they'll block more light so I'd probably need to raise the 5 gallon buckets off the ground. Even so, it might still be a good solution.

 

[brown_thumb]

Has anyone tried clear bubble wrap (packing material) inside their greenhouse to improve insulation? Would the regular cheap stuff work?

 

[Drop That Sound]

Adding an extra layer would definitely help. The dead air zone in between the sheets, if you can keep them apart, would insulate well. You'll save more energy that is for sure when running a heater.

Around here a dehumidifier works good to dry and warm the air, you can essentially seal the greenhouse off at night. I like to run exhaust from indoor garden out to greenhouse at night, its a win win that way

 

[TreehouseJ]

Simple way is to put some black painted 55 gal drums of water in there, they will hold on to the heat they absorb during the day.

This. Or something like this. I put a big pot of covered water to "boil" over a 1 lb propane burner in my tent, and it absorbs and retains nearly all of the heat. Waters ability to absorb and retain is, after all, the only reason our planet isn't a frozen lifeless rock.

If throwing drums of warm water isn't enough, a propane burner might be the quickest fix.

Liquid cool a propane burner during the day for co2, and allow the liquid to cool in the gh overnight for warmth.

 

[Slipnot]

With the price of oil being down oil furnaces is a great option used in our Green houses for over 40 years