Heat sink in greenhouse

[rmenmuir]

I remember seeing one of the It Isn't Easy Being Green programmes where they dug a hole in a greenhouse and put in some pipes etc to make a passive heat source. I can't remember what they used or how they did it . Does anyone know how to do this?

Richard

[Big Al]

You will get the info on this site http://www.thegreenlivingforum.net/forum/ as this is the new forum for the formally "it's not easy being green" forum. Where it is I'm not sure as I have lost my membership details.
Also if you are thinking of digging a hole in the greenhouse why not look at sinking a water barrel into the hole as the water will act as a heat sink ( I think) and the water will be at a constant temperiture to water your plants.

HTH

BA

[wulf]

I seem to recall seeing that episode. I think they used a prodigious amount of crushed glass to hold the heat collected during the day, which makes it a potentially difficult one to duplicate.

Wulf

[Odsox]

I seem to remember from yonks ago that someone recommended glass bottles for the greenhouse path for retaining heat.
What he did was fill dozens of bottles with water, put the caps (or corks) in and bury upside down so that the bottoms of the bottles formed the path surface.
Probably not so good with wine bottles with dimpled bottoms

[Green Aura]

Have a shufty at this

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... nk#p154808

[grahamhobbs]

These are some great ideas, some simple and others perhaps a bit costly, but has anyone done any studies to discover the real value of them? Do they have a really significant effect or do they only lift the temperature a degree or so? I know in a polytunnel at CAT in Wales, they have a deep bore hole down into the slag (that's what CAT is built on, old slag heaps) that releases warm air up and I seem to remember them saying it makes a few degrees of difference, you can actually sense the warm air rising. It would be interesting if anyone knew of any other research.

[Green Aura]

You can feel warmer air coming out of the piping. But I have to confess I've not been in the polytunnel during the night But last winter it didn't drop below 4C.

I think it went below zero this year by a degree or two. But as Altnaharra (20 miles due east of here) recorded -22.3C at one point, I'm guessing the sink was helping - I think we got down to about -10-15C but I'm not sure (just know it was bl**dy cold!)

[Minnesota]

http://www.farmshow.com/default.asp

Here is a great idea if you have a slight hillside.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu12 ... 0_0941.jpg

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu12 ... 0_0939.jpg

[Big Al]

The simplest form of taking the chill off the greenhouse is a candle inside one of the concrete type building blocks. The candle heats up the air and the block pushes it upwards.

hth.

[rmenmuir]

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I like the idea of the bottle path - means I've got a good excuse to drink lots of wine so I can recycle the bottles

I'm not so sure about the powered fan system as it's a long way from an electricity source but if I ever get a small solar panel I'll definitely give it a go.

I'll follow some of these up and let you know how it works out.

I thought it was cold enough here in Wales but I think Durness beats our record! I'm surprised you can grow much up there. Mind you, I recall seeing a sign for a hydroponic nursery just beyond Ullapool last time I was there.

Richard

Richard

[Green Aura]

I thought it was cold enough here in Wales but I think Durness beats our record! I'm surprised you can grow much up there.

It was only for one night:lol: And it's not a regular occurrence. Usually the weather's pretty good here.