I'm building an earth sheltered greenhouse...I need some ideas -

Nobody has any ideas???

the 55 gallon drums are pretty standard. You need a tarp or shade cloth to cover at night the south angled glass at night.

the best system I've heard is to use the thermal mass of an aquaculture setup to grow tilapia- so it's not just wasted space.


I've also heard building a chicken coop or rabbit pin in your greenhouse helps to make for winter heat.

[link to attra.ncat.org]

I want one of those also, and curious of others ideas.

this is the book i've read on the subject
[link to permacultureumaine.files.wordpress.com]

solar collector maybe wood panels, lined with pennies and spray painted black? or plexiglas panels? they would be mobile.

Yeah, I've read about the chickens and rabbits - I own both... I can't imagine the smell of the rabbit urine in the greenhouse - I'm sure it's great for the plants, but I just can't imagine incorporating this into this design?

I think it would be a nightmare to clean enclosures in such a limited space... Still digesting it though - Trying to figure out a way to make the rabbits 'hutches' in the greenhouse with piping to the outside world, to a run-around area. If I piped through the earthen mound on the North side, I may risk letting cold air in, in the winter that will interrupt the whole concept - still contemplating it...

It makes for very little heat, but some studies have been done that by incorporating rabbits or fowl, it increases the co2 output which increases plant growth by up to 162% so, definitely worth thinking on...

We've also thought about doing a Solar Radiant Heating System under the grow beds - putting that solar panel ontop of the earthen berm on the North side... burying the storage tank under the earthen berm on the North side...

Lots of ideas - we want to construct it right, from the begining with NO ELECTRICITY needs. But, we will still need some form of heat for at least 90 days, I'm afraid...

Well I can tell ya what I've though about and that's using a pool heat pump INSIDE the greenhouse to pump daytime heat out to an external water tank that's been wrapped in insulation and then to pump that water through radiators in the greenhouse at night.

I've heard earthen material, such as bricks or masonry, painted black usually do the trick... Soaks up the heat during the day and radiates it back out during the night. Same concept as an earth sheltered house. Though, i'm not very knowledgeable on the subject... So I'm sure there's more to it than that.

just being earth sheltered means higher winter temperatures (as ye know) so I suspect with yer water barrel heat storage ye should have no freezing. and if ye grow cold season crops during the winter ye'd get year round use without electricity. just my 2 cents...

I am interested in the design you linked op. Can you link the main page for that design? The write up?

I like your plans. Do you have a link for something more detailed than that?

I was reading about somebody who used a tunnel underneath his greenhouse to sequester warm air during the day. Then at night that warm air would slowly seep up through the floor of the greenhouse. But the floor has to be completely earthen, it can't be concrete or something else. Can't seem to find those plans anymore

As far as incorporating chickens and/or rabbits, here is an idea. Forget about rabbits the urine is awful. Try chickens. Build a small chicken house with chickenwire on the bottom of it. Put your eating trays and water trays slightly elevated on the sides of the cage. Directly underneath the chicken house you'll have a worm composting bin. The chicken droppings will automatically drop through the wire and into the composting bin.

You can then use the worm castings as fertilizer. Of course you'll have to add more compost to the worm composting bin, as they will not be able to survive just on chicken droppings

I looked at your diagram.

Is there any way you could create a convection loop that could circulate air through a chamber below the growing bed?

Air inlets from the bottom of the cold sink go into the storage chamber,pass through the storage materials, then run in more pipes to some elevation above the floor.

I did something like this on a greenhouse, only I used electricity for a fan that would move the air actively. I don't really know that much about passive convective loops.

Also, make sure your greenhouse glass is set at the best angle for your winter sun. Solstice sun angle + glazing panel angle = 90deg.+-.

And consider insulating the ground around the greenhouse to prevent the cold from getting pushed down deep into the ground. There was some great info here, a while back, about how to maintain subsurface ground temperatures. I can't find the damn thread though. Sorry.

Glauber salt, or eutectic salt, was available in black polyethylene tubes back in the 70's. They were expensive as hell. I was never able to incorporate them in any of my projects, because homeowner's wouldn't pay for them.

Then the energy tax credits that came in under Carter went away under Reagan, and the passive solarium business went in the tank.

I assume that the floor would need to be below frost line correct? In another words it couldn't be just built up earth around the outside.

The most information I've been able to scrounge up is actually out of this book...
[link to www.amazon.com]

Other sources and info, I'm reasearching online and with some solar magazines I get...

Just in the finalization of the design process right now - would like to incorporate a radiant solar heat source into the design though, before we start building...

You are correct - The whole concept is dug down, below the frost line, with the cold sink in the front at 8' in depth. Then earth is mounded along the North side for extra insulation.

I would build a hot tub and cover it with black plastic, then put hydroponics over that, you have a dual use.

Use poly urethane foam for insulating

use foam sheets for shutters to lock in evening heat.

Make double damn sure the place is pressurized air tight that's where you lose your expensive heat.

have you heard of the walipini greenhouse ? Basically the entire greenhouse sits about 6 feet underground, with earthen walls all the way around, and clear glass ceiling.

It was developed in your neck of the woods as a matter of fact. Check it out they even have some cool YouTube videos

[link to peswiki.com]

Yes, I've heard of the Walipini greenhouses - that's the concept I first came upon for this inspiration...

I don't have the soil structure to risk just a dirt hole in the ground and I'm lucky enough my husband owns a contruction company and he's a General Engineering contractor... I can do a more elaborate earthen greenhouse, but based upon the walipini concept - sort of.

I think I've found my solution...It is a 'Subterranean heating and cooling system' Pretty basic and cheap to construct -
[link to www.youtube.com]

You can read more here:
[link to www.sunnyjohn.com]

This has been quite a fascinating project to undertake...

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