You can see how effective passive heating is in this video where I track daily temperatures during a cold snap: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
In the late 1970s, I took a tour of a community in Davis, CA (west of the University). The entire community used a variety of techniques to heat and cool these houses. One house had an entire wall that (if my memory is correct) was built using aluminum and held water similar to the blue barrels in your video. In the summer, this water was inline to the circuit used to water the yard and shrubs. What this did was put cold ground water into the wall to help cool. The wall was only hit by the sun during the winter months. There were a massive number of unique techniques as each house was different.
I use hotbed method inside my greenhouse. A thick layer of manure and organic material topped off with compost. It works awesome and when it's done heating I just take out the old stuff which now has composted itself. I recharge the bottom with fresh manure and toss that old compost back on top and amend as necessary, it's sustainable and works well for me. I can't speak for everyone else. I know what works for me cause I live with no electricity at all none nada no electricity. Improvise is my first name. It helped to grow up around Amish communities when I was a young person. I heat my water with the same method as well. Water barrels work good but here they would freeze solid in winter. I also added another layer of plastic to the inside of my greenhouse and brought my grow zone up another zone. I believe for each layer you add to it the more the zones jump up. Basically all your doing the way I do it sheet composting in a deep raised bed. I also added logs to the bottom similar to a hügel bed. That includes all sizes of branches logs and rotting wood. It's great for water retention and slow release of nutrients into my soil. I'm no expert but I pay attention to the know people in sustainable permaculture and Scott is one of those who knows. Biomass, mulch, compost, and I have no doubt Scott is gonna rock this greenhouse and pump out the maximum potential and capacity it's capable of producing. Until next time enjoy gardening ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Thanks Scott Zone 4 Black Hills mountains near Custer South Dakota waving at you neighbor 👋🏻
I also find a hotbed in the GH helps along with some water barrels, and bubble wrap in winter. With the hotbed you can at least grow stuff in the top of it at the same time :). Lived without electricity for 15 years in OR and grew most all of our food during that time back in the 7-80's. (I don't think bubble wrap had been invented yet but it wasn't 'that' cold in southern OR then either ;). )
I have a 170 gallon stock tank with goldfish in my cattle panel greenhouse. Im planning to put a stock tank heater in soon and maybe adding a second tank. Its also pleasant to watch the fish as i have my morning coffee!
In my polytunnel, I use black dustbins full of water to hold heat on sunny winter days and then use the water on winter veg plants so they don’t have cold water shock
We have a similar style green house. Our green house is 8x16 and we live in Atlantic Canada with cold and snowy weather from around Late November to around late March. We use a large heavy duty transparent plastic cover which we put over the green house during the late fall and winter months. This plastic cover also protect the green house panels from harsh winter winds and snow loads. The plastic comes in a large role and we cut the plastic to fit the desired space required. The main floor is a mixture of patio stones and gravel and our main planting area are in large black bins which sit on the gravel floor with its soil contents. We get around a 6 to 8 degree temperature deference (warmer) using this method and we are able to keep below freezing until sunset. The front face and back face of the green house is not covered. It seems that this method helps keep the warm air in longer without compromising any of my interior space.
I use galvanized cattle water trough painted black put it on sheet of foam insulation and paint it black. I heat the water with a drain back vacuum solar collector powered by solar panel. 👨🏻🎨❤️
Thanks for this video. This was my first winter with a greenhouse, and I knew to put lots of water in it, so I built an aquaponics system in it. Plenty of water, but it still got too cold at night without a heater, and too hot during the day (lots of sun in my high elevation southwest US location). Now that it’s warmer outside, I had to put a tarp with “windows” cut in it over the greenhouse, and a large canopy of shade-cloth over both that and the chicken coop, so that it stays cool enough during the day. I also run fans inside. Before next winter, I will put insulation on the north wall.
I have been using milk jugs painted black in my hoop houses for three years but I need to add more insulation of some kind because they do not hold the heat at night and it gets down to 12 C here at night even in summer in Victoria, BC, My hoop houses are just curved 10 foot long 3/4 inch PVC piles held in place and cover with plastic sheeting
Wow! This is the video I’ve been waiting for! Thank you so much and I’m glad you have done the math on water storage. I’ve been tossing around getting a greenhouse and this video has moved the decision forward by leaps and bounds. Looking forward to see what and when you plant in it, especially this Fall. Thank you, Gardener Scott😊🌺👍🌹
I am in the process of building a 20x12 ft green house. Because we are in a cold area i calculated that it would take me 960 gallons. (I used 4 because we can start with frosts in April/May and go through to Nov/Dec some years)
I’m in the Midwest near Lake Michigan and it gets cold here, I’m growing simple vegetables that can handle the cold , however , I have a layer of bubble wrap & an emergency blanket on my north wall, along with a compost bin and some water jugs painted black. It got pretty cold the other night and the day wasn’t much warmer it snowed. The green house was pretty warm because I forgot a jug of water that was on the floor and it wasn’t frozen . It’s a very small greenhouse, 2 1/2 ft by 4ft & 6 1/2 ft tall. It works for small & simple plants that I want to grown in the winter months. I have no electricity out by my greenhouse. Wasn’t sure about how to go about this, I have a few ideas to try & build a thermo heat sink infusing a solar powered heater. Just going to try an idea & see if it works with the water heating & releasing heat at night.
This was exactly what I needed to watch! My husband and I just assemble our greenhouse and much to my dismay, I was shocked to see the temperature is fluctuating as much as it is from day to night. You’ve given me so many ideas on how to better control the temperature so I can hopefully get planting my seeds soon. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us ☺️🙏
I'm the same. Well, I've had mine for several decades but never found a satisfactory (an affordable!) method to keep winter chill at bay. I had already started moving in the hot water mass direction this has encouraged me a lot! How is yours going?
@@TerryMcGearyScotland Hi Terry! Well, I finally figured out that I would need to store so much water in my greenhouse that it would leave little room for anything else. 😂 (I'm in zone 5). What I did find helpful however is having thermometers (one at ground level, another on the shelf and then one at the top ). It helped me learn that the ground was staying much warmer at night than the rest of my greenhouse. So, I put my geraniums, dahlias, etc on the ground and I covered them with a frost blanket in the evening. They did quite well! And when it started to stay warmer in the evenings, I was able to get my seeds started using a heating pad. It was all much more difficult to figure out than I thought it would be, but next year should now be easier. Don't hesitate to share any words of wisdom you might have discovered on your journey! ☺
6:38 This black paint will also make the plastic last a lot longer! I'm on year 3 of using clear plastic jugs in my greenhouse, and they're all brittle and breaking from UV exposure.
It's not just the amount of water, but the surface area of the containers. 55 1 gallon jugs stacked on racks would absorb and release more heat than a single 55 gallon drum, for instance - just from having all that air moving around it and having a large surface area to transfer the heat. Painting them black to absorb light would help as well if they're in sunlight, but mine rarely are in direct sunlight. I use plain re-used water jugs on racks for my greenhouse - often putting plants on the top shelf of a rack and then loading the bottom two racks with water jugs, but also placing jugs wherever I find unused space - often all around the base of larger plants, in corners, between pots, etc. Every little bit helps, and I often use the water to water the plants anyway.
Yes, however, mass in motion stays in motion. Therefore the larger MASS of the drum should hold heat longer. This is why 55 gallon jugs of ice will thaw significantly faster than the same quantity in a single container. Takes longer to heat but will retain it longer during a longer cold period. Use the smaller gallon jugs around critical areas such as near plants that are growing or similar areas.
@@soonerfrac4611 I've re-read your comment several times to parse it, and I think you misunderstand the physics. There's no mass in motion (except the water molecules which we measure as heat, but if they're all the same temperature, then there's no difference between a 55 gallons of water and 55 separate containers of 1 gallon of water. The drum and the separate containers hold the exact same amount of water, so their mass is the same. The only difference is the materials of the containers and their negligible mass and the surface area. The reason the drum takes longer to cool and heat is the surface area exposed to the heat source and/or air is smaller than that of separate containers. There's no magic going on here, just physics. 55 gallons of water holds a certain amount of heat, and given a temperature gradient, time, and a specific surface area for that gradient to move, the water will give up that heat. Larger surface area means the water will transmit or receive that heat faster. If the goal is to stabilize the temperature in a greenhouse, you want more surface area on the water to maximize the heat transfer. A large drum holding on to heat because it has low surface area doesn't help if the plants freeze because the drum was too slow in dissipating heat. About the only time when you'd want a large vessel with low surface area for heat storage would be if it were heated, possibly pressurized water - like a boiler or a hot water heater. You wouldn't want to heat up the plants to boiling temps, so a slower transfer of heat would be acceptable in that situation, but not for essentially room temp water.
Subscribed Scott! You're talking my kind of language. A friend recommened this video when I discussed my idea of hanging up solar showers bags of water to keep my greenhouse above freezing in our bitter Scottish winter. I can see I've underestimated the volume I'll need even using a couple of 5 gallon plastic bottle and having concrete slabs for a base! He has encouraged me in my project by gifting me a thermometer that beams the greenhouse temperature into my living room. This means I won't upset readings by even opening the door! As for cooling the greenhouse, My small one heats up to fairly dangerous levels very quickly when the sun comes out. How about a solar powered fan to blow the hot air from the loftier parts down to the base of your water containers?
It took me a few views of the video to take in the details. I have 48 sq ft of floor 😊 Must admit, I’m really surprised at the difference being 10 degrees. I absolutely wasn’t expecting it to be that much. I’m guessing it works better or rather heats the water more when you have direct sun rather than cloudy. Lots to think about. Thank you for a really interesting one
I’ve tried gallon jugs painted black. They can help, but the jugs will heat up and cool off faster then larger barrels. Like you said, they take up a lot of room. They can also freeze with several days of no sun. I had thought about attaching a cold frame to the south side lined with jugs. Then heat regulation could be easier with a flap. Ours GH is pretty easy to heat as we designed a lean-to against south wall of garden shed. I only use it for seedlings, but would like to increase how early I can do that. Plan to enlarge it a bit when we replace polycarbonate panels as size was dictated by free materials at hand when we built it. It’s probably 6’x8’ now and need just 2-3 more feet to the south. For heat we are installing 4” tubing that will draw the heat during the day to heat sink in the ground under the floor. We have reclaimed refrigerator building panels to surround the perimeter that are very thick. I believe setting one inlet high and another low will help air to cycle and thought of a solar fan. Just my thoughts and I’m sure it will be better than nothing. I’m cleaning garden shed today and creating a potting bench with potting material under it. Just need to find some more reclaimed materials 😊 I found your evening weather interesting as you are Z5b/6 and I’m Z5a, but lower elevation in WI. Our nights have been 45-55. Our daytime temps are pretty warm especially today we are hitting 91*F. Too Hot! We will cool down this weekend with rain-badly needed for sandy soil-and hope Accuweather is correct in future cast with no freezes. Must get hoops in place to be prepared. Happy planting!
Great video! I'm going to have to rebuild my Greenhouse by fall and you reminded me of some things I need to be looking for throughout the summer... I always think of inventions so maybe somebody needs to create Greenhouse tables that hold water! Basically fillable tanks and black. Of course they would be super light to move once you drain them, but otherwise, they are dual purpose. Just like an umbrella weght, or a basketball hoop weight. Same concept 😊
I have a 55 gal plastic drum in my greenhouse, half a steel drum under it for a stand, 3/4 ball valve (fast) and water the plants with pre-warmed water, not the 42 degree fridge water from the well. Made a bunch of grow pots out of steel drums also, deheaded and cut in two, with factory edges up.
interesting. I have a very large wood structure with windows from halfway up and over to the other side. We get deadly winds here so I needed the wood building. The winters are not very cold here but I am still careful and only plant cold hardy plants like kale and some cabbages. My problem is keeping it cool in summer. The heat actually melts some of my plastic pots. I wish mine was as neat as yours though. Thank you
(a cover that can be rolled down over each side from the top of the roof; dark tarps) (a cover that can be rolled down over each side from the top of the roof; dark tarps at night) Develop a method of covering the green house that will be easy to deploy and remove. I use a long pole that requires two people to set onto the top of the greenhouse roof and easily removed by folding the bottom of the tarps to the top of 'pole' and allow you to deploy and remove the tarp daily.
water being most efficient thermal mass depends on your definition. in this context, it can release stored heat over some time but crucially, also takes a lot of heat to heat up water, as thermal conductivity of water is not high. i've seen elsewhere a newer method, which is much more expensive, to use solar panels and soil heating cables. growing food always has been a human technology. we continue to improve
Absolutely 100% education right here! I Live in North Dakota, and really want to have a "sanctuary" during the cold winter months to escape into while starting my plants earlier in the year. Thank you so much for your videos. I subscribed!
We have a planta 30 foot greenhouse and live near Calgary, Alberta. This past winter we've had weeks where temperatures dropped to mid -30's celsius. It's now March 4th, the temp this week is mid -20's and we've just planted some cold weather seeds. I don't think it would be practical to try to heat it and try to keep plants alive during winter
The water in my greenhouse does a great job moderating temperature. I've been as low as -25c and the greenhouse stayed above -10C. I agree heating usually isn't practical but my kale, spinach, and lettuce survived. But winter gardening may not be worth the effort as I show in this video: studio.th-cam.com/users/videoq-3fRIiOlj4
I wonder if a solar water heater would help. Rather than adding thermal mass and take up more space, you can put less mass and make it hotter instead. On average winter days, the water inside the tank where I live can get to 60°C (our climate only goes as low as 8°C tho). I wonder if then piping that water around the plants or underfloor where the pipes would gradually radiate the heat be effective enough for heating.
Thanks Scott - Very informative! Perhaps a more enduring strategy involves constructing a box frame measuring 2x8x4 feet in height with OSB (oriented strand board). Subsequently, affix a single layer of 4x8 sheets of 1-inch polyiso insulation on the exterior, readily available at Home Depot. The next step entails outfitting the interior with black EPDM rubber pool liner or appropriate roofing material, complemented by a hinged door crafted in the same fashion as the walls, featuring the aforementioned insulation boards. For enhanced ventilation, strategically position a couple of vent holes on the hinged top door/roof. Voila!
@ 3:50 The above method would equal about 450 gallons of water- So well above the target of 250 -390 gal you were looking for. It also might be less of footprint in the green house area
Here in the PNW it's the same thing. It's easy to get my greenhouse hot during the day, maybe even too hot. But it loses it all really quickly once the sun starts going down. Maybe your next video will be on cooling the greenhouse for those times it just gets too hot during the day. 😉
@@TerryMcGearyScotland "Pacific NorthWest", it's what those of us who live here call the area covering Washington state, Oregon state and the lower British Columbia area. 😉
what if you have electricity near the green house and run a submersible water heater into those barrels or buckets? would that help keep temps up? i want to keep my begonia flowers going in the north east winters.
Hi GS, i just wanted to tell you about Insolcorp. they make a tile that is mainly used in office buildings but they advertise that it can be used in greenhouses. i have bought some and have yet to use them (greenhouse not finished). the tiles collect the heat durung the day and release it at night
Insead of those blue cylindric jugs you have, why not have flat black tanks what you could lay down along the length of the greenhouse? I think they'd capture more heat during the day and release it more uniformly during the night. Basically you have one side of the greenhouse that is entirely geared toward temperature control.
@@GardenerScott Thanks. I'm using 70% shade cloth (upper walls and roof), solar fans, solar misting, solar geothermal cooling and is dug into the ground. Winter night time temperatures can get as low as 100 F.
I have a very large slab of concrete on the south side of a building, if I was to get a greenhouse that is flat on the building side and place it on the cement slab, would the cement on the outside of the building wick away the heat from the inside of the building? - great videos !
Often the concrete within the greenhouse will absorb the sun's heat and then help warm it, rather than wicking it away, but portions of the pad outside the greenhouse may act to cool it in freezing conditions. Water helps hold the heat too. I explain more about thermal mass in this video: th-cam.com/video/lU7cvF_mxyk/w-d-xo.html
I put the hot water in the greenhouse and at night while the temperature is maintained, the humidity level is over 90%. I don’t know how to counter act that.
I found your channel last night and have subscribed. I like the way you reason out the correct path to follow. Concerning this video, I wondered if you have checked water temperature in the barrels versus the smaller containers in late afternoon and again early morning. I have just completed erecting my first greenhouse 9x21. I am amazed how much the temperature varies. I only have a few house plants inside so far but will start some garden propagation in a few days. I have an old bored well about 25 feet away that is not used for anything. I am considering pumping water from it into a grid system of pipe layed on the floor and covered with pea gravel. I would let it circulate continuously winter and summer. I hesitate with this as I have not seen any results from similar practice. Wondering what your thought might be. Thanks for your informative and straightforward videos!
Thanks! Welcome to the channel! I have wondered about the water temperature and would like to to install a temperature probe to monitor temperatures over the course of the year. There are videos with circulating water systems but they're usually buried deep. Look for info on geothermal heating.
Thanks for the quick response! I looked on the internet but didn’t find anything specific to what I was thinking. I have never liked being the Guinea pig so I’ll probably stick with the tried and true methods. I enjoy your channel thanks @@GardenerScott
Scott who is the manufacturer of your greenhouse? Such a valuable video, with the energy prices rising we all have to think about the alternative sources energy, especially for greenhouse.
Great info thank you and subbed - really appreciate you thinking of us Canucks and adding the Celsius conversion. I'm in Ontario and hoping to do this with the greenhouse and over wintering my pepper plants but not sure it will stay warm enough for them. I have 1 year to figure that out now as I won't have a greenhouse until next summer.
I have worked in greenhouses for years. There is one simple way to keep them from freezing up - install a gas heater. I tried all the 'green' stuff back in the 1970s, with thermal mass. It does not work.
Hi Gardener Scott-just wondering why you didn’t elevate your green house by building a perimeter wall and then installing greenhouse on top of the wall. Isn’t the low height a problem?
Mostly for cost and effort required. Also, I was concerned about the high winds in my area and the extra anchoring it would require when mounted higher. The height is not a problem and I was able to bury anchors to ensure stability.
Many years ago, I whatched a TV program where they used a seem of crushed glass below the soil surface. They had some sort of pump (or natural air circulation) to pipe warm air down through the glass. Have you thought about digging the barrels into the ground? How deep is your winter permafrost? Would this allow geothermal heat from the surrounding soil to also heat the water?
What if you put a greenhouse inside a bigger greenhouse? I sub to a farm in Pa who have 6 giant 100 X 20 hoophouses. They say the hoophouses have 2 separate layers of plastic & a blower forces air betwix the 2 layers. The plastic is clear/white they use NO additional lighting but do have gas heat as they start their seeds while snow is still on the ground. We could do that at home. I have a 7 X 7 X 10 soft greenhouse I could erect a 10 X 10 X 20 soft greenhouse over it. I have a 1500W electric heater which runs all the time the sun is not shining. The plastic loses the heat pretty fast. A 2nd greenhouse would encompass the warm air mass. !
Hi Scott! I also have a Planta Greenhouse. I noticed you did some sort of insulating around the door and top vents. Could you share what you did there please? Thanks!
Interesting….ours did not come with that weather stripping for our doors and vents. I will look into it. I love your videos. You are my go to for gardening info. Thank you
How did you fit the insulation in the north wall. My Planta greenhouse has aluminum cross members for support that prevent a flat panel to touch its neighboring panel. My I see a closeup of your install? Thanks. Sherry
That's a great idea. I didn't have access to steel barrels but did paint my barrels and showed how well they work in this video: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
So how do I fix my greenhouse fluctuations? I have compost and water in there. It's 103 in the day and 32 at night. Or whatever temperature it is outside. How do I stop the extreme swings
Extra insulation, more ventilation, and supplemental heating can help. My greenhouse has similar fluctuations if I'm not proactive with ventilating to reduce temps.
@GardenerScott I have a cheap plastic greenhouse. I have only had it a couple of months, what kind of insulation would you suggest? It only has a door. Ventilation suggestions?
I have foam insulation along the north wall. Some gardeners add a layer of bubble wrap on the inside. Opening the doors during the hottest times is often enough ventilation.
It's interesting that it takes a huge amount of energy for water to freeze and that reduces the likelihood. They warm again every day when the sun rises.
Uh,,, my poor man´s greenhouse is an old 15 foot glassfiber boat. Works as a self watering pot. Keel/foot area bottom keeps the water, sitting board level and all up are made into raised beds. I keep water table stable by flotation controlled valve to a garden hose, close up to my perforated bed flooring. Roofed with transparent tarpaulin and I threw in an old anti freeze electric cable I had laying around just for good autumn measures. I may put in some insulation around the hull, add a double layer of tarp and throw in some growth lights... How much heat would I need to be able to keep inside for the plants to be able to run a realistic winter garden ?
It depends on the plants. Many cool-season plants like spinach and peas can grow in cold conditions. For plants like that, a minimum of 40F is a good start.
Without going into mathematical computation, simple logic suggests that the interior of the greenhouse can not sink lower than the lowest outside temperature; nor can it rise higher than the highest outside temperature. Bonavista Newfoundland ranges from -30c to +30c. Water-storage needs to be HUGE to render (say) 5c during mid-winter. A corollary is that the water barrels can be drained and moved out once spring arrives (June!). In the limit, polar regions will not support seedlings for equatorial plants. In other words, the technique of storing heat smooths out the fluctuations and in my case might raise my mid-winter greenhouse minimum temperature to -20c, if I am lucky. Cheers, Chris
With the limited insulation properties of the greenhouse material it can be colder than outside temperatures without passive heating. I show that in an earlier video. It easily gets hotter than outside temperatures in summer. Without ventilation, my greenhouse can heat up to 50C. With supplemental heating in winter and cooling ventilation in summer, the interior temperature is moderated.
It is a Planta greenhouse that uses steel supports and polycarbonate covering that I built myself. The cost varies by size and design. You can see them here: plantagreenhouses.com/gardenerscott
I'm not an expert Gardener or farmer by any means but I would think you'd be lucky to get 50-60 F. So how do you keep plants alive in frost? I'm in CT and growing any peppers or tomatoes in 50-60 more than a few days is the kiss of death. In my head the solution could be a simple solar generator to keep heat above 68
Substantial water storage can make a difference. I document its effectiveness in cold weather with this video: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
I tried the water thing but don't think I had enough water and every container I had with water froze and broke the containers. What can be added to the water to keep it from freezing?
Some rubbing alcohol added to the water would work but I'm not sure how much it would take to keep from freezing or if there would be other negative effects I don't know about. I just know that I have to add alcohol to my concentrated windshield washer fluid in the winter to keep it from freezing.
@@lyndabuchholz1216 For these sorts of volumes, I don't think you really want to be adding the quantities of antifreeze or rubbing alcohol that would be needed to make any difference in the freezing temperature of the water; and then you also have a big disposal problem - surely you don't want to just drain out that combo into your garden... If your water is freezing like that, then I think you need a different solution to your problem, perhaps insulating and using an electric heat source on a timer?
Just fill them with vodka. Then you will be well supplied during the zombie apocalypse 😂 Actually, I was thinking of one of the cheap harbor freight solar panels and aquarium heaters or chicken water heaters. I'm not sure how many heaters it would take for a barrel or the size of the solar panels. Maybe someone else knows the math to figure it out.
I bought a Planta Greenhouse, not the same model as Gardner Scott, which was from southern Ont. I have electricity in my greenhouse which allows me to use a heater in the winter and have a fan ventilation system for the summer. I use a tarp to cover my greenhouse in the winter to keep out sunlight because I store small trees and plants in containers. I also have a greenhouse heater to keep temps between 25 - 35 degrees. Don’t want them to bloom on a few sunny winter days. In the summer I use a 60% shade cloth over my greenhouse to help keep the temperature lower. The key function of a greenhouse to to keep the temperature from getting too hot or too cold. Let me know if I can be of anymore help with your greenhouse design.
If you by a greenhouse kit to build on your own, here are a few tips. Have an extra person help you. There are time when you need a 3rd or even a 4th hand when putting a green house together. My greenhouse is 10’x13’. Plan on an extra $2,000 - $5,000 in addition cost to finish the project. To have the electrician install a moisture proof electrical system cost me $3,500. Yes is was worth the cost. Water proof lights, wire in Conduit, exhaust fan with temperature gage and shutter opposite of fan when the fan turns on, and outlets for plugs. I have a running water line in my greenhouse. 4 inches of small gray gravel for floor base. I put thin insulation panels half way up on the interior wall in winter. If you visit a commercial greenhouse, these are many things you will notice. Again, let me know if I can answer any of your questions or concerns.
Can anyone confirm my thoughts on how the R value of the glazing effects this calculation? I have a greenhouse built with triple walled PC with an R of 3. Given that heat loss factor is 1/R, i.e. 1/3. Am I correct in thinking this means I need 1/3 of the volume of water?
I haven't found any info on this, but think the time factor of heating should be considered. Water will lose heat over time. Even with a high R factor, less water will have less effect on keeping the greenhouse warm. More water volume will last longer.
@@GardenerScott thanks for the reply. That's a very good point. My calculations show I need about 16 barrels in my 20x14 foot zone 6b greenhouse. I can place about 12 as permanent barrels. Maybe I'll have 4 more that I'll remove early spring and use as additional rain barrels. Love your channel, so much great information and ideas.
While it might happen, with enough water the interior temperature can stay warm enough to prevent freezing. Even after days of single-digit temperatures outside none of my water was close to freezing inside. th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunately, using the formula you suggest (in my very similar climate) would require 14 55 gallon water barrels. Essentially removing one whole side of the space from production. Not sure that's realistic in terms of use of the space. I do put 'some' 55 gallon barrels in there over winter, but I'm not ready to give up all that space to water storage, not to mention tracking down 14 of those blue barrels :).
You can see how effective passive heating is in this video where I track daily temperatures during a cold snap: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
In the late 1970s, I took a tour of a community in Davis, CA (west of the University). The entire community used a variety of techniques to heat and cool these houses. One house had an entire wall that (if my memory is correct) was built using aluminum and held water similar to the blue barrels in your video. In the summer, this water was inline to the circuit used to water the yard and shrubs. What this did was put cold ground water into the wall to help cool. The wall was only hit by the sun during the winter months. There were a massive number of unique techniques as each house was different.
I use hotbed method inside my greenhouse. A thick layer of manure and organic material topped off with compost. It works awesome and when it's done heating I just take out the old stuff which now has composted itself. I recharge the bottom with fresh manure and toss that old compost back on top and amend as necessary, it's sustainable and works well for me. I can't speak for everyone else. I know what works for me cause I live with no electricity at all none nada no electricity. Improvise is my first name. It helped to grow up around Amish communities when I was a young person. I heat my water with the same method as well. Water barrels work good but here they would freeze solid in winter. I also added another layer of plastic to the inside of my greenhouse and brought my grow zone up another zone. I believe for each layer you add to it the more the zones jump up.
Basically all your doing the way I do it sheet composting in a deep raised bed. I also added logs to the bottom similar to a hügel bed. That includes all sizes of branches logs and rotting wood. It's great for water retention and slow release of nutrients into my soil. I'm no expert but I pay attention to the know people in sustainable permaculture and Scott is one of those who knows. Biomass, mulch, compost, and I have no doubt Scott is gonna rock this greenhouse and pump out the maximum potential and capacity it's capable of producing.
Until next time enjoy gardening ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks Scott
Zone 4 Black Hills mountains near Custer South Dakota waving at you neighbor 👋🏻
I also find a hotbed in the GH helps along with some water barrels, and bubble wrap in winter. With the hotbed you can at least grow stuff in the top of it at the same time :). Lived without electricity for 15 years in OR and grew most all of our food during that time back in the 7-80's. (I don't think bubble wrap had been invented yet but it wasn't 'that' cold in southern OR then either ;). )
Thanks for sharing this method.
I've been consider this myself
Good points you mention there,thanks for sharing
I have a 170 gallon stock tank with goldfish in my cattle panel greenhouse. Im planning to put a stock tank heater in soon and maybe adding a second tank. Its also pleasant to watch the fish as i have my morning coffee!
In my polytunnel, I use black dustbins full of water to hold heat on sunny winter days and then use the water on winter veg plants so they don’t have cold water shock
Now that's a win-win solution!
Very cool. In switzerland in 1800m high. A Farmer uses 3 ibc Container with water. Super result!!!👍🇩🇪
We have a similar style green house. Our green house is 8x16 and we live in Atlantic Canada with cold and snowy weather from around Late November to around late March. We use a large heavy duty transparent plastic cover which we put over the green house during the late fall and winter months. This plastic cover also protect the green house panels from harsh winter winds and snow loads. The plastic comes in a large role and we cut the plastic to fit the desired space required. The main floor is a mixture of patio stones and gravel and our main planting area are in large black bins which sit on the gravel floor with its soil contents. We get around a 6 to 8 degree temperature deference (warmer) using this method and we are able to keep below freezing until sunset. The front face and back face of the green house is not covered. It seems that this method helps keep the warm air in longer without compromising any of my interior space.
I use galvanized cattle water trough painted black put it on sheet of foam insulation and paint it black. I heat the water with a drain back vacuum solar collector powered by solar panel. 👨🏻🎨❤️
I like the sounds of that.I 'm not clear what your 'drain back vacuum solar collector' is.
Got a green house this summer and had black cement put in for the floor.....conducts a lot of heat. I will see what this winter brings.
I can actually pick up lots of intriguing ideas from the knowledgeable people making comments here! Thanks everybody.
Thanks for this video. This was my first winter with a greenhouse, and I knew to put lots of water in it, so I built an aquaponics system in it. Plenty of water, but it still got too cold at night without a heater, and too hot during the day (lots of sun in my high elevation southwest US location). Now that it’s warmer outside, I had to put a tarp with “windows” cut in it over the greenhouse, and a large canopy of shade-cloth over both that and the chicken coop, so that it stays cool enough during the day. I also run fans inside. Before next winter, I will put insulation on the north wall.
I have been using milk jugs painted black in my hoop houses for three years but I need to add more insulation of some kind because they do not hold the heat at night and it gets down to 12 C here at night even in summer in Victoria, BC, My hoop houses are just curved 10 foot long 3/4 inch PVC piles held in place and cover with plastic sheeting
Wow! This is the video I’ve been waiting for! Thank you so much and I’m glad you have done the math on water storage. I’ve been tossing around getting a greenhouse and this video has moved the decision forward by leaps and bounds. Looking forward to see what and when you plant in it, especially this Fall. Thank you, Gardener Scott😊🌺👍🌹
Ha i just finished putting my current greenhouse together with 3 pavers wide path between the doors just like that only to make it nice in there.
I am in the process of building a 20x12 ft green house. Because we are in a cold area i calculated that it would take me 960 gallons. (I used 4 because we can start with frosts in April/May and go through to Nov/Dec some years)
I’m in the Midwest near Lake Michigan and it gets cold here, I’m growing simple vegetables that can handle the cold , however , I have a layer of bubble wrap & an emergency blanket on my north wall, along with a compost bin and some water jugs painted black. It got pretty cold the other night and the day wasn’t much warmer it snowed. The green house was pretty warm because I forgot a jug of water that was on the floor and it wasn’t frozen . It’s a very small greenhouse, 2 1/2 ft by 4ft & 6 1/2 ft tall. It works for small & simple plants that I want to grown in the winter months. I have no electricity out by my greenhouse. Wasn’t sure about how to go about this, I have a few ideas to try & build a thermo heat sink infusing a solar powered heater. Just going to try an idea & see if it works with the water heating & releasing heat at night.
This was exactly what I needed to watch! My husband and I just assemble our greenhouse and much to my dismay, I was shocked to see the temperature is fluctuating as much as it is from day to night. You’ve given me so many ideas on how to better control the temperature so I can hopefully get planting my seeds soon. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us ☺️🙏
I'm the same. Well, I've had mine for several decades but never found a satisfactory (an affordable!) method to keep winter chill at bay. I had already started moving in the hot water mass direction this has encouraged me a lot! How is yours going?
@@TerryMcGearyScotland Hi Terry! Well, I finally figured out that I would need to store so much water in my greenhouse that it would leave little room for anything else. 😂 (I'm in zone 5). What I did find helpful however is having thermometers (one at ground level, another on the shelf and then one at the top ). It helped me learn that the ground was staying much warmer at night than the rest of my greenhouse. So, I put my geraniums, dahlias, etc on the ground and I covered them with a frost blanket in the evening. They did quite well! And when it started to stay warmer in the evenings, I was able to get my seeds started using a heating pad. It was all much more difficult to figure out than I thought it would be, but next year should now be easier. Don't hesitate to share any words of wisdom you might have discovered on your journey! ☺
6:38 This black paint will also make the plastic last a lot longer! I'm on year 3 of using clear plastic jugs in my greenhouse, and they're all brittle and breaking from UV exposure.
It's not just the amount of water, but the surface area of the containers. 55 1 gallon jugs stacked on racks would absorb and release more heat than a single 55 gallon drum, for instance - just from having all that air moving around it and having a large surface area to transfer the heat. Painting them black to absorb light would help as well if they're in sunlight, but mine rarely are in direct sunlight. I use plain re-used water jugs on racks for my greenhouse - often putting plants on the top shelf of a rack and then loading the bottom two racks with water jugs, but also placing jugs wherever I find unused space - often all around the base of larger plants, in corners, between pots, etc. Every little bit helps, and I often use the water to water the plants anyway.
Yes, however, mass in motion stays in motion. Therefore the larger MASS of the drum should hold heat longer. This is why 55 gallon jugs of ice will thaw significantly faster than the same quantity in a single container. Takes longer to heat but will retain it longer during a longer cold period.
Use the smaller gallon jugs around critical areas such as near plants that are growing or similar areas.
@@soonerfrac4611 I've re-read your comment several times to parse it, and I think you misunderstand the physics.
There's no mass in motion (except the water molecules which we measure as heat, but if they're all the same temperature, then there's no difference between a 55 gallons of water and 55 separate containers of 1 gallon of water. The drum and the separate containers hold the exact same amount of water, so their mass is the same.
The only difference is the materials of the containers and their negligible mass and the surface area.
The reason the drum takes longer to cool and heat is the surface area exposed to the heat source and/or air is smaller than that of separate containers.
There's no magic going on here, just physics. 55 gallons of water holds a certain amount of heat, and given a temperature gradient, time, and a specific surface area for that gradient to move, the water will give up that heat. Larger surface area means the water will transmit or receive that heat faster. If the goal is to stabilize the temperature in a greenhouse, you want more surface area on the water to maximize the heat transfer. A large drum holding on to heat because it has low surface area doesn't help if the plants freeze because the drum was too slow in dissipating heat.
About the only time when you'd want a large vessel with low surface area for heat storage would be if it were heated, possibly pressurized water - like a boiler or a hot water heater. You wouldn't want to heat up the plants to boiling temps, so a slower transfer of heat would be acceptable in that situation, but not for essentially room temp water.
Subscribed Scott! You're talking my kind of language. A friend recommened this video when I discussed my idea of hanging up solar showers bags of water to keep my greenhouse above freezing in our bitter Scottish winter. I can see I've underestimated the volume I'll need even using a couple of 5 gallon plastic bottle and having concrete slabs for a base! He has encouraged me in my project by gifting me a thermometer that beams the greenhouse temperature into my living room. This means I won't upset readings by even opening the door! As for cooling the greenhouse, My small one heats up to fairly dangerous levels very quickly when the sun comes out. How about a solar powered fan to blow the hot air from the loftier parts down to the base of your water containers?
Thanks! Welcome to the channel! Using fans to circulate the air can be an effective way to re-distribute heat.
It took me a few views of the video to take in the details. I have 48 sq ft of floor 😊
Must admit, I’m really surprised at the difference being 10 degrees. I absolutely wasn’t expecting it to be that much.
I’m guessing it works better or rather heats the water more when you have direct sun rather than cloudy. Lots to think about. Thank you for a really interesting one
Could look into an ibc tote. A bit bigger then a 55 gal barrel but holds alot of gallons for less foot print area
I’ve tried gallon jugs painted black. They can help, but the jugs will heat up and cool off faster then larger barrels. Like you said, they take up a lot of room. They can also freeze with several days of no sun. I had thought about attaching a cold frame to the south side lined with jugs. Then heat regulation could be easier with a flap.
Ours GH is pretty easy to heat as we designed a lean-to against south wall of garden shed. I only use it for seedlings, but would like to increase how early I can do that. Plan to enlarge it a bit when we replace polycarbonate panels as size was dictated by free materials at hand when we built it. It’s probably 6’x8’ now and need just 2-3 more feet to the south.
For heat we are installing 4” tubing that will draw the heat during the day to heat sink in the ground under the floor. We have reclaimed refrigerator building panels to surround the perimeter that are very thick. I believe setting one inlet high and another low will help air to cycle and thought of a solar fan.
Just my thoughts and I’m sure it will be better than nothing.
I’m cleaning garden shed today and creating a potting bench with potting material under it. Just need to find some more reclaimed materials 😊
I found your evening weather interesting as you are Z5b/6 and I’m Z5a, but lower elevation in WI. Our nights have been 45-55. Our daytime temps are pretty warm especially today we are hitting 91*F. Too Hot! We will cool down this weekend with rain-badly needed for sandy soil-and hope Accuweather is correct in future cast with no freezes. Must get hoops in place to be prepared.
Happy planting!
Great video! I'm going to have to rebuild my Greenhouse by fall and you reminded me of some things I need to be looking for throughout the summer... I always think of inventions so maybe somebody needs to create Greenhouse tables that hold water! Basically fillable tanks and black. Of course they would be super light to move once you drain them, but otherwise, they are dual purpose. Just like an umbrella weght, or a basketball hoop weight. Same concept 😊
I have a 55 gal plastic drum in my greenhouse, half a steel drum under it for a stand, 3/4 ball valve (fast) and water the plants with pre-warmed water, not the 42 degree fridge water from the well. Made a bunch of grow pots out of steel drums also, deheaded and cut in two, with factory edges up.
interesting. I have a very large wood structure with windows from halfway up and over to the other side. We get deadly winds here so I needed the wood building. The winters are not very cold here but I am still careful and only plant cold hardy plants like kale and some cabbages. My problem is keeping it cool in summer. The heat actually melts some of my plastic pots. I wish mine was as neat as yours though. Thank you
(a cover that can be rolled down over each side from the top of the roof; dark tarps)
(a cover that can be rolled down over each side from the top of the roof; dark tarps at night) Develop a method of covering the green house that will be easy to deploy and remove. I use a long pole that requires two people to set onto the top of the greenhouse roof and easily removed by folding the bottom of the tarps to the top of 'pole' and allow you to deploy and remove the tarp daily.
Good fact however, milk jugs are made to decompose. I learned this from using the jugs for plants. So it is a very temporary use to it.
Stick a couple aquarium heaters in the water tanks
I love when your videos come up for things that I need information on
Thanks!
Thank you very much!
water being most efficient thermal mass depends on your definition. in this context, it can release stored heat over some time but crucially, also takes a lot of heat to heat up water, as thermal conductivity of water is not high.
i've seen elsewhere a newer method, which is much more expensive, to use solar panels and soil heating cables.
growing food always has been a human technology. we continue to improve
Excellent …thank you for sharing this valuable information
Thanks for all the knowledge you impart!
Great lesson!! TFS
That’s pretty cool that there is a formula for that
Absolutely 100% education right here! I Live in North Dakota, and really want to have a "sanctuary" during the cold winter months to escape into while starting my plants earlier in the year. Thank you so much for your videos. I subscribed!
Thanks! Welcome to the channel.
Did it work? I'm curious how plants can live in this 50F area
Great idea for warm sunny days .
What would happen if you had cloudy or rainy days?
They won't heat much beyond the air temperature.
We have a planta 30 foot greenhouse and live near Calgary, Alberta. This past winter we've had weeks where temperatures dropped to mid -30's celsius. It's now March 4th, the temp this week is mid -20's and we've just planted some cold weather seeds. I don't think it would be practical to try to heat it and try to keep plants alive during winter
The water in my greenhouse does a great job moderating temperature. I've been as low as -25c and the greenhouse stayed above -10C. I agree heating usually isn't practical but my kale, spinach, and lettuce survived. But winter gardening may not be worth the effort as I show in this video: studio.th-cam.com/users/videoq-3fRIiOlj4
I wonder if a solar water heater would help. Rather than adding thermal mass and take up more space, you can put less mass and make it hotter instead. On average winter days, the water inside the tank where I live can get to 60°C (our climate only goes as low as 8°C tho). I wonder if then piping that water around the plants or underfloor where the pipes would gradually radiate the heat be effective enough for heating.
I am looking into solar heating options. A solar water heater might work, but I haven't seen any examples of gardeners using one.
Thanks Scott - Very informative!
Perhaps a more enduring strategy involves constructing a box frame measuring 2x8x4 feet in height with OSB (oriented strand board). Subsequently, affix a single layer of 4x8 sheets of 1-inch polyiso insulation on the exterior, readily available at Home Depot. The next step entails outfitting the interior with black EPDM rubber pool liner or appropriate roofing material, complemented by a hinged door crafted in the same fashion as the walls, featuring the aforementioned insulation boards. For enhanced ventilation, strategically position a couple of vent holes on the hinged top door/roof. Voila!
@ 3:50 The above method would equal about 450 gallons of water- So well above the target of 250 -390 gal you were looking for. It also might be less of footprint in the green house area
That's an interesting approach. Thanks!
Nice simple explanation. Great video
Here in the PNW it's the same thing. It's easy to get my greenhouse hot during the day, maybe even too hot. But it loses it all really quickly once the sun starts going down.
Maybe your next video will be on cooling the greenhouse for those times it just gets too hot during the day. 😉
That video is coming, but probably next month.
Fans lol
What's PNW please?
@@TerryMcGearyScotland "Pacific NorthWest", it's what those of us who live here call the area covering Washington state, Oregon state and the lower British Columbia area. 😉
Didn't think of that..but good thing my greenhouse is on a concrete slab already hahaa.
what if you have electricity near the green house and run a submersible water heater into those barrels or buckets? would that help keep temps up? i want to keep my begonia flowers going in the north east winters.
A water heater can help but an air heater would help the plants more. If I had electricity near my greenhouse I would take that approach.
Hi GS, i just wanted to tell you about Insolcorp. they make a tile that is mainly used in office buildings but they advertise that it can be used in greenhouses. i have bought some and have yet to use them (greenhouse not finished). the tiles collect the heat durung the day and release it at night
Thanks! I'll look into it.
Thank you
Insead of those blue cylindric jugs you have, why not have flat black tanks what you could lay down along the length of the greenhouse? I think they'd capture more heat during the day and release it more uniformly during the night. Basically you have one side of the greenhouse that is entirely geared toward temperature control.
I got the barrels for free. Paying for flat tanks wasn't part of my plan. Stacking tanks along a wall is a viable option.
Very interesting! I have always wondered about this. Thank You for the information.
I wonder if a low watt tea warmer in 12v like travel type or fish tank thermometer in a tube would help.
I moved from Minnesota to a near equatorial climate. Any ideas on cooling a greenhouse without electricity?
Here's how I cool in summer: th-cam.com/video/gDRjdaFkosI/w-d-xo.html
@@GardenerScott Thanks. I'm using 70% shade cloth (upper walls and roof), solar fans, solar misting, solar geothermal cooling and is dug into the ground. Winter night time temperatures can get as low as 100 F.
I have a very large slab of concrete on the south side of a building, if I was to get a greenhouse that is flat on the building side and place it on the cement slab, would the cement on the outside of the building wick away the heat from the inside of the building? - great videos !
Often the concrete within the greenhouse will absorb the sun's heat and then help warm it, rather than wicking it away, but portions of the pad outside the greenhouse may act to cool it in freezing conditions. Water helps hold the heat too. I explain more about thermal mass in this video: th-cam.com/video/lU7cvF_mxyk/w-d-xo.html
Nice! Thanks. @@GardenerScott
I put the hot water in the greenhouse and at night while the temperature is maintained, the humidity level is over 90%. I don’t know how to counter act that.
I found your channel last night and have subscribed. I like the way you reason out the correct path to follow. Concerning this video, I wondered if you have checked water temperature in the barrels versus the smaller containers in late afternoon and again early morning. I have just completed erecting my first greenhouse 9x21. I am amazed how much the temperature varies. I only have a few house plants inside so far but will start some garden propagation in a few days. I have an old bored well about 25 feet away that is not used for anything. I am considering pumping water from it into a grid system of pipe layed on the floor and covered with pea gravel. I would let it circulate continuously winter and summer. I hesitate with this as I have not seen any results from similar practice. Wondering what your thought might be. Thanks for your informative and straightforward videos!
Thanks! Welcome to the channel! I have wondered about the water temperature and would like to to install a temperature probe to monitor temperatures over the course of the year. There are videos with circulating water systems but they're usually buried deep. Look for info on geothermal heating.
Thanks for the quick response! I looked on the internet but didn’t find anything specific to what I was thinking. I have never liked being the Guinea pig so I’ll probably stick with the tried and true methods. I enjoy your channel thanks @@GardenerScott
Thank you so much!
Scott who is the manufacturer of your greenhouse? Such a valuable video, with the energy prices rising we all have to think about the alternative sources energy, especially for greenhouse.
It is a Planta Greenhouse.
Sadly here in northern Alaska, we have no sun during the day for about 3 months straight. So no solar energy heat for us 😢
Good info, thank you!
😃👍
Great info thank you and subbed - really appreciate you thinking of us Canucks and adding the Celsius conversion.
I'm in Ontario and hoping to do this with the greenhouse and over wintering my pepper plants but not sure it will stay warm enough for them. I have 1 year to figure that out now as I won't have a greenhouse until next summer.
Thanks! Welcome to the channel!
Id like too try to make PVC tubes painted black and with easy access release
Try painting the water storage containers black will help them heat up further to allow more heat to store in the same water
He did that in video
I have worked in greenhouses for years. There is one simple way to keep them from freezing up - install a gas heater. I tried all the 'green' stuff back in the 1970s, with thermal mass. It does not work.
Hi Gardener Scott-just wondering why you didn’t elevate your green house by building a perimeter wall and then installing greenhouse on top of the wall. Isn’t the low height a problem?
Mostly for cost and effort required. Also, I was concerned about the high winds in my area and the extra anchoring it would require when mounted higher. The height is not a problem and I was able to bury anchors to ensure stability.
Thanks for the great ideas!
Actually you can build or use a water basin instead of bottles or drums in which some plants also can be grown and survive in winter times😊
Great video! I learned a lot! Thank you for sharing!
Many years ago, I whatched a TV program where they used a seem of crushed glass below the soil surface. They had some sort of pump (or natural air circulation) to pipe warm air down through the glass. Have you thought about digging the barrels into the ground? How deep is your winter permafrost? Would this allow geothermal heat from the surrounding soil to also heat the water?
I considering digging down but my soil is very dense and compacted and it was too much effort. My soil can freeze down to more than 36".
Anyone know where he gets the rules of thumb on the calculations?
IBC tote should work. The space is about 4.5 ft x 4.5 ft x 5 ft tall.
What if you put a greenhouse inside a bigger greenhouse? I sub to a farm in Pa who have 6 giant 100 X 20 hoophouses.
They say the hoophouses have 2 separate layers of plastic & a blower forces air betwix the 2 layers. The plastic is clear/white
they use NO additional lighting but do have gas heat as they start their seeds while snow is still on the ground.
We could do that at home. I have a 7 X 7 X 10 soft greenhouse I could erect a 10 X 10 X 20 soft greenhouse over it.
I have a 1500W electric heater which runs all the time the sun is not shining. The plastic loses the heat pretty fast. A 2nd
greenhouse would encompass the warm air mass.
!
A greenhouse inside a greenhouse will hold heat better.
Hi Scott! I also have a Planta Greenhouse. I noticed you did some sort of insulating around the door and top vents. Could you share what you did there please? Thanks!
I didn't add anything. It's the standard rubber seals that came with the greenhouse kit. I did add foam panel insulation on the north wall.
Interesting….ours did not come with that weather stripping for our doors and vents. I will look into it. I love your videos. You are my go to for gardening info. Thank you
Scott, I looked into it and discovered that Planta changed their design. Thanks again!
How did you fit the insulation in the north wall. My Planta greenhouse has aluminum cross members for support that prevent a flat panel to touch its neighboring panel. My I see a closeup of your install? Thanks. Sherry
Lesson learned...
On another note, what's with that pink apron...🎀
How about black steel barrels for better absorpshon and transfer of heat than blue plastic barrels?
That's a great idea. I didn't have access to steel barrels but did paint my barrels and showed how well they work in this video: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
So how do I fix my greenhouse fluctuations? I have compost and water in there. It's 103 in the day and 32 at night. Or whatever temperature it is outside. How do I stop the extreme swings
Extra insulation, more ventilation, and supplemental heating can help. My greenhouse has similar fluctuations if I'm not proactive with ventilating to reduce temps.
@GardenerScott I have a cheap plastic greenhouse. I have only had it a couple of months, what kind of insulation would you suggest? It only has a door. Ventilation suggestions?
I have foam insulation along the north wall. Some gardeners add a layer of bubble wrap on the inside. Opening the doors during the hottest times is often enough ventilation.
Just south of Boston, my concern of the barrels inevitably (I would presume) freezing?
It's interesting that it takes a huge amount of energy for water to freeze and that reduces the likelihood. They warm again every day when the sun rises.
Thank you
If the black color works better in retainimg heat then are you plaaning to paint your blue barrels too?
Black doesn't retain heat better it absorbs heat better. At some point I probably will paint them, but the blue is dark enough for now.
Uh,,, my poor man´s greenhouse is an old 15 foot glassfiber boat. Works as a self watering pot. Keel/foot area bottom keeps the water, sitting board level and all up are made into raised beds. I keep water table stable by flotation controlled valve to a garden hose, close up to my perforated bed flooring. Roofed with transparent tarpaulin and I threw in an old anti freeze electric cable I had laying around just for good autumn measures. I may put in some insulation around the hull, add a double layer of tarp and throw in some growth lights... How much heat would I need to be able to keep inside for the plants to be able to run a realistic winter garden ?
It depends on the plants. Many cool-season plants like spinach and peas can grow in cold conditions. For plants like that, a minimum of 40F is a good start.
Have you considered burying water containers under the floor of the greenhouse? Do you think that might help?
My soil is extremely dense and hard. For it to be effective, water needs to be buried deeply and I didn't want to to that much digging.
Without going into mathematical computation, simple logic suggests that the interior of the greenhouse can not sink lower than the lowest outside temperature; nor can it rise higher than the highest outside temperature. Bonavista Newfoundland ranges from -30c to +30c.
Water-storage needs to be HUGE to render (say) 5c during mid-winter.
A corollary is that the water barrels can be drained and moved out once spring arrives (June!).
In the limit, polar regions will not support seedlings for equatorial plants.
In other words, the technique of storing heat smooths out the fluctuations and in my case might raise my mid-winter greenhouse minimum temperature to -20c, if I am lucky.
Cheers, Chris
With the limited insulation properties of the greenhouse material it can be colder than outside temperatures without passive heating. I show that in an earlier video. It easily gets hotter than outside temperatures in summer. Without ventilation, my greenhouse can heat up to 50C. With supplemental heating in winter and cooling ventilation in summer, the interior temperature is moderated.
Thank you so much for this, you are a inspiration! =)
what type of greenhouse is this building material and who built it and if u dont mind the cost
It is a Planta greenhouse that uses steel supports and polycarbonate covering that I built myself. The cost varies by size and design. You can see them here:
plantagreenhouses.com/gardenerscott
what if the days are not sunny, but overcast and raining like auk winter,
The sun is needed to generate heat. Continual overcast and cold days will not heat the greenhouse.
I'm not an expert Gardener or farmer by any means but I would think you'd be lucky to get 50-60 F. So how do you keep plants alive in frost?
I'm in CT and growing any peppers or tomatoes in 50-60 more than a few days is the kiss of death.
In my head the solution could be a simple solar generator to keep heat above 68
Substantial water storage can make a difference. I document its effectiveness in cold weather with this video: th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
I wonder if you are doing only hydroponics in your greenhouse if that would stabilize the temperature.
Yes, hydroponics can help stabilize the temperature. The size of the greenhouse and the amount of water will determine how effective it is.
I wonder if using aquaponics in a green house helps as a thermal mass?
Yes, it can.
does the water need sunlight? or does it warm up with the insulated air in the greenhouse?
Sunlight is the necessary heat source. Warm air will heat water but the sun is needed in an unheated greenhouse to warm the air.
I tried the water thing but don't think I had enough water and every container I had with water froze and broke the containers. What can be added to the water to keep it from freezing?
Some rubbing alcohol added to the water would work but I'm not sure how much it would take to keep from freezing or if there would be other negative effects I don't know about. I just know that I have to add alcohol to my concentrated windshield washer fluid in the winter to keep it from freezing.
Because you're not using it to drink or water plants, you can add antifreeze.
@@nikkithomas5313 That is a good idea. I had thought of using car antifreeze but didn't try it.
@@lyndabuchholz1216 For these sorts of volumes, I don't think you really want to be adding the quantities of antifreeze or rubbing alcohol that would be needed to make any difference in the freezing temperature of the water; and then you also have a big disposal problem - surely you don't want to just drain out that combo into your garden... If your water is freezing like that, then I think you need a different solution to your problem, perhaps insulating and using an electric heat source on a timer?
Just fill them with vodka. Then you will be well supplied during the zombie apocalypse 😂
Actually, I was thinking of one of the cheap harbor freight solar panels and aquarium heaters or chicken water heaters. I'm not sure how many heaters it would take for a barrel or the size of the solar panels. Maybe someone else knows the math to figure it out.
Will it make it hotter in summer? I’m a,ready bringing out shade cloth on some warm days. Montana here and crazy up and down spring.
It should make it less hot as it absorbs the heat. I've already noticed that it doesn't warm as quickly or as hot as it did before I put water in.
Now you are sacrificing the growing space for all the water containers and it will still freeze mid winter
I don't expect it to freeze, but the lost space gives me increased temperature during cold nights and buys me extra time to grow in my short season.
I have water in mine snd it just freezes in winter
Does the water freeze in the winter? How do you deal with that?
The water surface froze a few times during the coldest days. The sun thaws it very quickly once it comes up.
@@GardenerScott Thanks. I just wondered about the plastic containers splitting if the water froze. Pretty sure that would happen here in Ohio. ☹
what design of greenhouse looking for one for southern ont winter usable
I suggest looking for designs that include a lot of ventilation.
I bought a Planta Greenhouse, not the same model as Gardner Scott, which was from southern Ont. I have electricity in my greenhouse which allows me to use a heater in the winter and have a fan ventilation system for the summer. I use a tarp to cover my greenhouse in the winter to keep out sunlight because I store small trees and plants in containers. I also have a greenhouse heater to keep temps between 25 - 35 degrees. Don’t want them to bloom on a few sunny winter days. In the summer I use a 60% shade cloth over my greenhouse to help keep the temperature lower. The key function of a greenhouse to to keep the temperature from getting too hot or too cold. Let me know if I can be of anymore help with your greenhouse design.
If you by a greenhouse kit to build on your own, here are a few tips. Have an extra person help you. There are time when you need a 3rd or even a 4th hand when putting a green house together. My greenhouse is 10’x13’. Plan on an extra $2,000 - $5,000 in addition cost to finish the project. To have the electrician install a moisture proof electrical system cost me $3,500. Yes is was worth the cost. Water proof lights, wire in Conduit, exhaust fan with temperature gage and shutter opposite of fan when the fan turns on, and outlets for plugs. I have a running water line in my greenhouse. 4 inches of small gray gravel for floor base. I put thin insulation panels half way up on the interior wall in winter. If you visit a commercial greenhouse, these are many things you will notice. Again, let me know if I can answer any of your questions or concerns.
@@chetfuhrman6390 send pic please
Can anyone confirm my thoughts on how the R value of the glazing effects this calculation? I have a greenhouse built with triple walled PC with an R of 3. Given that heat loss factor is 1/R, i.e. 1/3. Am I correct in thinking this means I need 1/3 of the volume of water?
I haven't found any info on this, but think the time factor of heating should be considered. Water will lose heat over time. Even with a high R factor, less water will have less effect on keeping the greenhouse warm. More water volume will last longer.
@@GardenerScott thanks for the reply. That's a very good point. My calculations show I need about 16 barrels in my 20x14 foot zone 6b greenhouse. I can place about 12 as permanent barrels. Maybe I'll have 4 more that I'll remove early spring and use as additional rain barrels.
Love your channel, so much great information and ideas.
How do pollinators get into green houses?
They'll find their way in with the doors and windows open, otherwise they need to be introduced.
Black pvc 4 " pipe filled with water they actually get hot.
Why not a small hydroponic setup since you already have the water, will allow you to get some use out of that space.
I don't have the electricity for hydroponics outside. Maybe if I can add solar power some day.
What if the water freezes? Cracked containers!
While it might happen, with enough water the interior temperature can stay warm enough to prevent freezing. Even after days of single-digit temperatures outside none of my water was close to freezing inside. th-cam.com/video/jDk2jBEB85Y/w-d-xo.html
Interesting
Unfortunately, using the formula you suggest (in my very similar climate) would require 14 55 gallon water barrels. Essentially removing one whole side of the space from production. Not sure that's realistic in terms of use of the space. I do put 'some' 55 gallon barrels in there over winter, but I'm not ready to give up all that space to water storage, not to mention tracking down 14 of those blue barrels :).
Try the hot bed method another commenter mentioned!
@@AuntNutmeg Yeah, I'm gonna try that this year. I have about 50 tons of fresh horse manure available, LOL.
@Paula T if you put the hot beds on the "cold" side of the structure, you shouldn't lose much growing space!
I wonder if you could use the water barrels to grow using the kratky method?
Then they would be useful during the spring, summer, and fall, too.