9 Ways to Heat a Greenhouse in Winter

covering your plants isn't enough if you really want to get serious about growing you got to add heat in the cold months in this video simple tech is going to explore nine of the most popular ways people heat their greenhouses simple tech that's the name of this channel and we have all kinds of other videos on greenhouses you should check out the longer you keep your greenhouse warm the more plants you can grow most of these methods are cheap some aren't but we're going to present them all so you can choose what works best for you with your budget and climate the more plants you can grow the more money you can make or as chunky my black lab would say the more food you can grow the more food you can eat so let's get started because chunky looks hungry [Music] the first and most obvious way to heat a greenhouse is directly by the sun duh all greenhouses heat up during the day in the sun and if you have a way to capture that heat and release it later somehow you can continue to keep your greenhouse warm through the cold night the term passive solar greenhouse refers to a specific greenhouse design made to take advantage of this heating source often referred to as radiant heat these greenhouses work but there's a limit on just how much heat they can store and use and they tend to work better in climates that have mild winters china has an entire greenhouse industry built around a cheap functional passive solar greenhouse design they have been beefed up for canadian climates but if you live in an area that gets a sustained minus 40 degree weather in the winter no amount of passive heat will get you through the night you're going to need to add heat somehow [Music] probably the easiest and most common method of heating a small greenhouse is just to plug in an electric heater depending on where you're located and how much heat you need this is a simple easy option that doesn't cost a lot of money to set up small electric heaters using 1500 watts cost about 30 bucks to buy if you have a small greenhouse and it doesn't really get that cold at night where you live this is probably all you need yes electric heaters can use a lot of electricity and depending on the electricity prices where you live this might be cost prohibitive but remember you could turn off the heater when the sun is shining during the day to save costs mind you even with the cheapest electricity costs electric heaters for greenhouses aren't an option as soon as you get into some real cold as you'll suddenly need several heaters and the electricity cost will outweigh any benefit you might get from selling plants be sure you got your insulation game right if you're using electric heaters in any real winter climate as most commercial greenhouses will only use electric heaters as a short-term backup solution in case their primary heating system fails and they need a few days to get it repaired [Music] [Applause] propane and natural gas are the most commonly used choice of commercial greenhouses in coal climates gas is easy to use and a byproduct of burning gas is carbon dioxide which invented inside the greenhouse can actually help to increase plant growth if you check greenhouse stores almost all have propane or natural gas heating systems they can sell you the reliably low cost of gas and propane paired with very little maintenance to operate a gas system are the main appealing factors of this type of heating system you need a profitable crop to make this work but the sheer amount of commercial systems in use today that use propane or natural gas to heat their greenhouses in northern climates is proof that growing food four seasons in a greenhouse heated by propane or natural gas is possible and profitable and their experience dictates that you really need to investigate this heating source for your greenhouse wood is the heating option of choice for most small greenhouse operations private and commercial barrel heaters rocket mass heaters outside wood boilers wood stoves pellet stoves these are just some of the wood burning furnaces used to heat greenhouses in the winter depending on your greenhouse insulation a wood furnace can produce a lot of heat enough to keep a greenhouse warm and growing and weather down to minus 40 degrees wood especially if you cut and collect the wood yourself can be many times cheaper than propane or gas to heat a greenhouse even if purchased and cut for you what tends to be one of the most affordable options to heat a greenhouse the biggest drawback is the amount of work needed to keep a wood furnace going wood needs to be replenished every few hours even the best outside wood boilers need feeding two times a day in extreme cold weather and wood stoves and starch need attention every few hours if you have a small operation and live close to your greenhouse wood heat is a very viable choice a lot of greenhouse operators use to keep their plants warm on the coldest nights [Music] compost isn't just for growing better plants compost gives off heat and that heat can be captured and used to heat a greenhouse a man from france named jean-pay pioneered the technology of harnessing the heat from a large compost pile and since then people have started using this energy to heat greenhouses among other things what's nice is the heat a large compost pile gives off is steady 24 7 and at a usable temperature of about 40 degrees celsius plus or minus a few degrees large compost piles can produce stable heat for an entire winter if not an entire year with little maintenance other than the initial setup time compost heating is a relatively new technology and one you should look into for a small greenhouse operation if budget's a concern body heat from animals is something you can consider if you have livestock in a barn simply put you attach your greenhouse to your barn on the south side to gain solar energy in the winter and the heat from the animals in the barn will keep the plants warm and toasty through the cold winter nights things like chain-link fencing can separate the animals from the plants as tasty plants unrestrained from your livestock will often become supplemental feed or just a midnight snack mind you some say it's cruel to tease the animals with fresh daily fruits and vegetables just out of reach in full sight day in and day out but who's this operation for anyway okay okay i'd give them some as a treat but i need some too [Music] [Applause] [Music] earth climate batteries are active solar energy storage devices that are just starting to become popular most climate batteries store solar energy but understand that earth climate batteries just store energy and that energy could be from wood solar compost fossil fuel but pretty much any source of energy has heat because heat is just energy but solar energy is free and you can store it and use that energy later all the matter the issue is the cost of the thermal battery but new technology allows for storage devices made of water or mud that are cheap to build and store enormous amounts of energy for long periods of time people are starting to build these and simpletech actually has a video reviewing the top five climate battery builds of greenhouses on this channel we're gonna see a lot more climate batteries for greenhouses being built in the near future as they store free energy [Music] geothermal heat can be used to heat a greenhouse iceland created an entire greenhouse industry out of the abundant geothermal heat from the volcanic rock the country sits on iceland the land of ice and snow is growing abundant amounts of food year-round in heated greenhouses but you don't have to find an active volcano to heat your greenhouse to use geothermal heat famous four season greenhouses in the united states like citrus in the snow in nebraska use air tubes tapping on low-grade geothermal to keep their greenhouses above freezing at night in winters as cold as minus 30 degrees this kind of heating is cost effective to install and very low cost to run if your area allows it this is something you should consider if you want to heat your greenhouse economically long term [Music] of course there are other fossil fuels that can heat a greenhouse gasoline kerosene and diesel fuel can power heaters that throw enormous amounts of energy and sometimes in areas where other fuels aren't readily available gas diesel or kerosene are the only options one has to be very careful with the carbon monoxide fumes these heaters give off as they are much more deadly than the carbon dioxide that plants love cost is another concern as gasoline kerosene and diesel are usually much more expensive than propane or natural gas and depending on where you live could even cost more than electricity to heat your greenhouse and then there's all the time involved with refueling [Music] that's it nine different ways you can heat your greenhouse some are cheap some are labor intensive and some are just expensive but all work and you need to choose which one is best for you and your circumstance if you need more help in deciding my youtube channel simpletech has all kinds of videos explaining many of these topics on how to heat your greenhouse if you're planning on building a greenhouse in the near future you should check out our other videos on heating cooling coverings etc simple tech has piles of videos on practical effective technology focusing on agriculture and energy see you next time

Channel: Simple Tek

Views: 640,834

Keywords: heat a greenhouse, greenhouse heating, greenhouse heating systems, greenhouse heating ideas, greenhouse heating in winter, greenhouse heating and cooling systems, greenhouse heating with compost, heating a greenhouse, heating a greenhouse in winter, heating a greenhouse with compost, heating a greenhouse with wood, heating a greenhouse for free, free heat for your home, free heat source, winter greenhouse, winter greenhouse canada, winter greenhouse heating

Id: 0i8oqUWm1Pw

Length: 10min 36sec (636 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 09 2020