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Make sure to insulate the hotbed soil from the surounding soil otherwise any heat you do gain from the panel will be lost in short order. Extruded polystyrene (xps) is the only insulation that can be used below ground.

Henry Ford used it to make cars http://www.hempcar.org/ford.shtml Ford recognized the utility of the hemp plant. He constructed a car of resin stiffened hemp fiber, and even ran the car on ethanol made from hemp. Ford knew that hemp could produce vast economic resources if widely cultivated. It look...

I wouldn`t rely on tape staying put for very long with rain and ice, especially with 60 joints to seal. A mechanical clamping method is better long term although its more expensive than tape. Mamos, it can be done but the cost/complexity soon adds up plus it`ll be higher maintenance... doesn`t cost ...

If you have a few grand to spare for the ETFE, that`ll solve the issue unless it gets damaged
Inflated pillows will cost twice the price plus another 500 for hardware and control. Triangular pillows don`t work too well. The Eden Project had a budget of £50m to work with

If you plan to cover it with poly the main issue (apart from waterproofing) is you`ll need to replace it at some point. If the design locks the poly between the triangles you`ll need to dismantle a good percentage of the structure to remove it.

A dome roof would be the best shape. A lightweight timber frame covered with 2 layers of chicken wire, plastered with a 3:1 mix of sharp sand and portland cement. Hurricane proof

I find it strange why you have to employ these fixes to acheive what should have been addressed at the design stage. Admittedly siting it on a slope isnt a big problem but you shouldnt have to do it just to get the ventilation upto par. I guess the alternative for those without sloping gardens is to...

A bottle wall can be used for a planter which provides a few added bonuses
http://www.sunnyjohn.com/photos2/tours/ ... age024.htm

I always grow a few plants starting in february and then take cuttings from only the strongest, healthiest ones to stock the garden. Seeds can be hit and miss sometimes but a cutting has exactly the same traits as the plant it came from.

I doubt the taxman would swallow it, although its still worth asking if you do a lot of demonstrations as thats the percentage of time you might be able to claim for

I far as i`m concerned, the eccentrics/mad scientist types are the ones who make the biggest difference. I`m probably labelled eccentric by eccentrics

If its working for you thats the main thing. I haven`t seen the original calculations do you have a copy? If its a one size fits all type approach it wont be accurate as every greenhouse has a different air volume and heating load based on the glazed area, the orientation affects the solar gain. If ...

Hi Green Aura,
When you delve into the math and physics its just about the bare minimum needed for the task.
Its not easy to tame the sun using a cubic metre of gravel.. its like fighting a forest fire with a glass of water

It depends on the back pressure and what flowrate you need really. The most powerful 12v fan i`ve come across is a 3" bilge blower, it`ll do 90cfm and can handle about 1/2" wc pressure. It draws 1 amp flat out and is fairly quiet running. Not exactly cheap but not too pricey at £25 (ebay i...

There`s a fan driving the system which is quite a bit larger than it needs to be but i went bigger so i could experiment with higher airflow rates. It has its own fan speed controller and flat out it draws 170w, in normal service its running at less than half of that. The fan is also controlled by a...