Excellent! Have only skimmed it thus far but the picture & charts are inspiring. (Went looking for thermal calculator stuff)
@Ftlob check it 
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Yeah ! And all in one nice spot ! You are a mind reader brother ! I seriously suck at finding reference material ! Thank you brother,I’m on it !
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I’ve been looking into this for heating my greenhouse. I wanna use 55 gal drums of water to keep it up to around 45 degrees when we get a couple frost warnings. I have a 10.5x14 hoophouse made out of a trampoline. I think the need about 800 gallons of water to do so. Which would take up a lot of space.
I’ve also read about using a solar panel and a hot water pump to circulate water through black pex tubing to help heat the water in barrels more. They said 140 degrees in the barrels I think. It was on the Permies site.
Look into fruit walls also. Very interesting idea if you have a brick wall or my stucco house on a south facing wall.
Is anyone heating a greenhouse and growing all winter in California. Very interested in discussing ideas on this!
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…talk about more bounce to the ounce! 
I’m in Sac/916 & am seriously looking into something like this. The most novel heat idea i’ve seen uses a large wood-chip & manure pile with a plastic drain pipe coiled inside. forced air through a 160F compost pile. 
I think wood chips are used specifically because of the slower decomposition & may last 2 seasons. When it’s all decomposed it’s soil amendment. 
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My great uncle used to build his orchid greenhouses out of that green wavy hard plastic stuff. Super cheap and really easy. They worked very well
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https://permies.com/t/30816/heat-greenhouse#239332
Heres the site I was scrolling through. I’m hoping I can find someone doing this to gain some more firsthand knowledge. Last year I flowered four plants in a 3x6 greenhouse and my ventilation wasn’t good enough or heat.
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This was also good information to do it cheaply.
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If you’re gonna do something right, do it all the way.
Not passive.
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Ooh, yo his greenhouse is amazing.
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That’s awesome. 1 fan drawing 7(?) amps only when the temp drops under 52.
Can’t you just imagine overgrowing that greenhouse? 
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Great old dude. Probably isnt a stoner. 
When the internet craps out his fans may shut off… 
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This youtuber is quite the inventor/tinkerer.
Here is his design for a lean away greenhouse.
He ought to narrate children’s storytime with that voice of his.
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Really good book if you’ve got a day or two.
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Yeah, I’m thinking along the same lines, only just not internet, a powerdown(blackout) situation.
There are several off grid answers to power that vent system but would require regular maintenance - the rocket stove mass heater being my favorite.
For a maintenance free system, I’d look to a high mass solar chimney to move the air.
This would complicate the design and add significant cost and would not work in case there were extended periods of cloudy weather.
The rocket stove mass heater should be incorporated into that design regardless. Again at added cost but importantly, one time added cost.
In my neck of the woods, weeks of sunless weather are not uncommon in the winter.
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lol
Thanks, I have that book, if only I’d waited 40 yrs I coulda saved a few bucks!
There’s few things I take issue with what that book states.
First, using water tanks to store solar gain passively requires a lot of collector area and needs backup in times of extended sunlessness.
Remember that your collector re-radiates all that gain which plays into my second issue:
Axis oriented solar collectors. While these not only maximize solar gain at certain times of the year, they look cool and shout out “greenhouse”.
They also accumulate snow and possibly shut down on some radiative loss, they require maintenance and need cover in the summer months.
Much better is to have a lean away design with an opaque roof and vertical glazing.
The opaque roof overhangs the collector enough so that at noon of summer solstice, no sun shines directly into the interior.
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I didn’t read the whole thing because it sucks on an iPhone.
I agree with the water collector idea. It seems you need double the gallons compared to footage of area. I like the idea of running the water through a coil to heat the water more and it also moves the water on the bottom which would stay cooler without the movement.
I’m not sure what the axis oriented solar collectors are.
I’m looking to just raise the temp in the greenhouse to around 45 on nights it gets down to 32 or lower. I’m in 9a so it’s not that cold. I’m thinking your design on the south side of my house would work better than the hoophouse I built.
The wife thinks it’s to big in the small yard. I’ll tear it down if I have to. I have about 20-30 bucks into the build.
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Axis orientation is having the glazing perpendicular to the sun at noon on the winter solstice, on or about Dec 21st.
Pretty neat hoop house. Get a lot of area plus your zone is perfect for such a type.
How is it oriented to the sun?
That plywood side looks like a great place for a solar chimney or two.
Excellent fixture for getting airflow through your 'house.
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Time to wheel & deal… 
She’s not crazy re: space, only crazy to forgoe the benefits! 
Just make sure you’ve got basil or whatever she wants in there too.
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Ok got the axis orientation now! Reading is one thing doing is another. I can read all day but application of the reading is where I learn the most.
The north wall is the sided wall. East is left, west to the right. Slight sun block at end of night. I thought insulate as much as allows on north wall with Mylar reflection. Also insulate above water barrels on north wall and sides below the hip rail.
The wiggle wire and plastic is pricey compared to what I have into it so far. I was looking at agriculturalsolutions.com for it and it’s still $200. Then I think a temperature window opener and some fans I already own to put inside.
I used this last year with small success.
Are you using a greenhouse at all. Any ideas to keep it warmer than I already suggested. You seem to be knowledgeable on the subject.
Also what is the solar chimney is that like rocket stove. I was thinking wood stove for heat light it about 10pm. It’s the last hours before the sun rises that it’s coldest here. Thanks for letting g me chat your ear off.
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If it was that simple I’d have a whole backyard garden. Lol.
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