A little follow up
I thought I'd write a follow up to explain a few more of the things that I have planned for the greenhouse that I wrote about yesterday.
When I say it will be a solar greenhouse, I more correctly should have called it a passive solar greenhouse shouldn't I have? I mean really, aren't all greenhouses solar? The thing that makes it a passive solar greenhouse has a lot to do with a couple of the things that Eric and Rhonda both mentioned. Thermal Mass. If you look again at the drawing I did. The heavy square shapes on the left side of the picture are the thermal mass walls that I hope will serve as both insulators and solar collectors. In the final iteration of this plan, I want the north walls to be made of stuccoed straw bales. Straw is a great insulator, and the stucco should hold some heat. In addition, as Rhonda mentioned, the floor is already solid. I paved it with recycled urbanite (old concrete) when we first built it. I also plan to build a low wall along the south end of it from more stacked concrete to capture more heat as well.
The idea of the roof design, is so that the over hang of the top piece will effectively shade much of the inside of the greenhouse during the Summer months, while allowing and reflecting light back into the house in the winter months. That sun should warm the concrete flooring and radiate that heat back out overnight. Eric, I am aware actually of the paraffin powered pistons. They're on my list for sure.
As for the pergola structure that is already in place, most of it will be re-fitted to become the greenhouse. I don't know about the existing trellising, but I definitely want to have some kind of support inside so that I can grow year round.
I can't tell you how exited I am for this project. It's been a long time coming. If this unseasonably warm weather of ours keeps up, I may have to start working early!!
Stay tuned.
P~
Labels:
greenhouse,
passive cooling,
passive solar,
solar collectors
5 comments:
Straw-bale...nice thought. I'll be very interested to see how that works out for you. I trust you'll be documenting the action for us.
Since you're going passive, you might look into picking up some cheap old blankets to cut your radiated heat down from the glazed area during cold, clear winter nights.
Are you going to do any kind of black stone or black barrels filled with water to keep it warmer in the winter?
I'm just in here to cheer you along. Green houses is one of my favourite things, and I'd definately have one if I lived in a house.
Paul,
I can't wait to see what you do! It is great to learn from others. We are cheering you on from the side line...be sure to put on lots of pictures:)
Our floor is a dirt floor and we are adding cold frames indoors to harden off our produce. I don't think we ever thought of a rock floor or even concrete? That sounds interesting? Rhonda mentioned the rock that is so true I can't believe how much the cinderblocks heat up. I have also heard of the black barrels. I just love all the wisdom that is shared here!! Thanks again,
~Renee
Gardendesk.com
Great news about the greenhouse! I was puttering around my greenhouse today and it hit a high of 91 today. A bit of a problem because I haven't yet installed the vents and that was a pretty huge temperature swing for the day. It is pretty cool to be able to go in there when it is 40 outside and feel like I've just moved to the south. Also, my lettuce and carrots overwintered nicely in the greenhouse and are starting to perk up a bit. Can't wait to get lots of use out of it this season, particularly with cucumbers and melon which can be tough to grow in my climate.
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