Help Me Decide How To Heat My Greenhouse

[JSmokes420]

Blue flame is off the table for 2 Huge Reasons.

1. For every 1lb of propane you burn releases 2lbs of water. Talk about crazy humidity issues
2. Doesn't work consistently at my altitude

 

[DrMcSkunkins]

How bout a compost pile heater?
http://compostpower.org/node/24

 

[Homesteader]

If you supplement compost heat you can also benefit from the soil respiration of CO2 from microbes breaking down organics.

 

[GreenHouser]

What size unit do you have? I am in need of a greenhouse heater myself. Farmtek recommends the modine effinity units. They are 93% efficiency units compared to the hotdawg @ 80%. Farmtek says the hotdawgs will rust out much faster. Anyone elses thoughts? they want something like 2300 for a 110k btu effinity, nearly double the hotdawg

we have a hotdawg at work. It's old as hell in a rough environment an it still cranks. Any thoughts into implementing geothermal of sorts?

 

[JSmokes420]

we have a hotdawg at work. It's old as hell in a rough environment an it still cranks. Any thoughts into implementing geothermal of sorts?

U would need a ton of compost and I am not an organic farmer so not seeing that as an option.

I wish like hell I had a geothermal source here, it would be heaven. I would setup a hot tub with mineral water.......wow but anyway nope not an option

 

[Homesteader]

 

[JSmokes420]

Badass, just not something I can do before winter. Plus making a pile that big is gonna be some work, stinky work.

 

[scoop]

Anyone consider wood heat? I'm going with a small shed for a plenum and will be using a Blaze King catalytic stove to heat my dome GH. (with 4 acres of trees and brush...just can't see paying the corps for fuel) Gonna order both on Monday....

I already own 2 of these stoves. One is used as the sole source of heat for the house....one is in the shop/garage. I've never burned such a clean burning stove....nor have I ever burned a stove that would hold a fire as long as this one. Unlike many other stoves...you can regulate the temperature (and burn time) very easily on this stove.

Yeah...it'd take A LOT of compost to heat a structure here in CO. (build your GH in Greeley on one of those mega=stinky feed lots and it might work..LOL)

good luck all....

 

[JSmokes420]

Anyone consider wood heat? I'm going with a small shed for a plenum and will be using a Blaze King catalytic stove to heat my dome GH. (with 4 acres of trees and brush...just can't see paying the corps for fuel) Gonna order both on Monday....

I already own 2 of these stoves. One is used as the sole source of heat for the house....one is in the shop/garage. I've never burned such a clean burning stove....nor have I ever burned a stove that would hold a fire as long as this one. Unlike many other stoves...you can regulate the temperature (and burn time) very easily on this stove.

Yeah...it'd take A LOT of compost to heat a structure here in CO. (build your GH in Greeley on one of those mega=stinky feed lots and it might work..LOL)

good luck all....

I'm way to lazy for that. ..Plus sometimes I leave town for the weekend and have friends watch the place. Would rather not have them working their butts off. Looking for more of a set it and forget it.

 

[scoop]

It >is< a bit of work to cut wood/etc.....but as I watch the whole N Dak pipeline thing unfold I am willing to do such work to keep from >fueling< the Oil/Gas industries nasty, dirty, disrespectful ways. I ripped the propane heater out of this house the first day I owned it...and the electric baseboards followed suit the next day. We are totally wood reliant here as far as heat goes.

But I do understand wanting the flexibility to leave/go on vaca....etc....which is something I rarely do because I bought a property I never wanna leave and have no real reason to go anywhere else as a result. :smoking:

best of luck finding the solution that fits your needs

 

[JSmokes420]

It >is< a bit of work to cut wood/etc.....but as I watch the whole N Dak pipeline thing unfold I am willing to do such work to keep from >fueling< the Oil/Gas industries nasty, dirty, disrespectful ways. I ripped the propane heater out of this house the first day I owned it...and the electric baseboards followed suit the next day. We are totally wood reliant here as far as heat goes.

But I do understand wanting the flexibility to leave/go on vaca....etc....which is something I rarely do because I bought a property I never wanna leave and have no real reason to go anywhere else as a result. :smoking:

best of luck finding the solution that fits your needs

I agree entirely. The house has a wood stove for heat in the winter.

The greenhouse I need to be able to keep hot at all times. Setting up a backup generator with autostart is on the list also.

If I overslept and woke up to a cold house that's fine. If I overslept and woke up to a frozen greenhouse CATASTROPHIC!!!

 

[JSmokes420]

What do y'all think about this one? Has great reviews and quite a bit cheaper than the hot dawg

 

[scoop]

Got ya. Thing is...this particular stove will burn for 24 hours or more on a load of wood. I can get 15 hours out of it by just walking the grounds and picking up small sticks...2" or so in diameter. Basically...stuff you wouldn't burn in any other stove because it wouldn't give you more than a few hours of heat. My last stove was like you described....wake up at 5AM to a cold house/etc...then you'd fire it up and 20 minutes later you were opening a window! 4-5 hours aftert that you were rebuilding the fire....

Last year I used one match to start the fire in December and burned continuously all year....loading the stove once a day....

I like the idea of propane until that truck pulls up.... LOL. Good luck!

 

[JSmokes420]

Got ya. Thing is...this particular stove will burn for 24 hours or more on a load of wood. I can get 15 hours out of it by just walking the grounds and picking up small sticks...2" or so in diameter. Basically...stuff you wouldn't burn in any other stove because it wouldn't give you more than a few hours of heat. My last stove was like you described....wake up at 5AM to a cold house/etc...then you'd fire it up and 20 minutes later you were opening a window! 4-5 hours aftert that you were rebuilding the fire....

Last year I used one match to start the fire in December and burned continuously all year....loading the stove once a day....

I like the idea of propane until that truck pulls up.... LOL. Good luck!

For the security standpoint or cost?

 

[JSmokes420]

For the security standpoint or cost?

As far as security I am not worried. There are 4 other grows within a mile and mine is the second smallest. You can see 3 of them driving to my place.

I'm tucked in the back, but their is still no hiding, the greenhouse is bigger than my house. Plus the local sheriff has already been by checking paperwork. He checked all the grows, as I found out from my neighbors. It's no secret that I'm here, but I have good security and someone is always here.

 

[WalterWhiteFire]

Dang @scoop that burner sounds dope.

 

[JSmokes420]

Got ya. Thing is...this particular stove will burn for 24 hours or more on a load of wood. I can get 15 hours out of it by just walking the grounds and picking up small sticks...2" or so in diameter. Basically...stuff you wouldn't burn in any other stove because it wouldn't give you more than a few hours of heat. My last stove was like you described....wake up at 5AM to a cold house/etc...then you'd fire it up and 20 minutes later you were opening a window! 4-5 hours aftert that you were rebuilding the fire....

Last year I used one match to start the fire in December and burned continuously all year....loading the stove once a day....

I like the idea of propane until that truck pulls up.... LOL. Good luck!

May take a second look, how hard is it to set to achieve a reasonable burn time 18hrs+

 

[Cali clouds]

How much propane do these heaters go through? I assumed a decent amount but I don't know. Will my 25 gallon tank last a couple weeks or a couple days? I was thinking I need about a 80k btu at least. The greenhouse 24x24

 

[JSmokes420]

How much propane do these heaters go through? I assumed a decent amount but I don't know. Will my 25 gallon tank last a couple weeks or a couple days? I was thinking I need about a 80k btu at least. The greenhouse 24x24

Well I know you need at least 100gal tank to run this heater.

From what I understand, might be wrong. With fuel consumption it depends on how much it runs. 1 gallon of propane is around 91,500 BTUs of energy. The heater is rated at 80k btu per hour. So a 100gal tank will last little over 100hrs?

 

[JSmokes420]

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/heat-calc.shtml