Topic: heating a greenhouse

[cambourne7]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering whats the best way to heat the greenhouse ?

Not thought about that till the husband joked about moving the chiminea in there over the winter to protect it and said i can light on very cold nights to keep the greenhouse warm... not a great idea so what do i use? I dont want to use parafin and spend 2 much on electricity?

[chriscross1966]

If you're going to use a Chimnea I'd make sure you add a flue to the outside (replace a glass pane with an insulaing roof panel thing with the flue through it and rig a flue pipe into it...

I',m going to knock something up out of an old calor gas bottle with a backboiler arrangement to a radiator thing under a big propagator as a hot box plus another to a big water-tank in the floor feeding an old radiator..... hopefully one burn per night will keep the frost out of the main bit and keep the hotbox nice and cosy too...

Anything that will burn pallets will be cheapest to run, but I have backup on cold nights of paraffin and a propane heater too....


chrisc

[goodlife]

I have one of those spaceheaters that are drum-shaped and can burn wood or coal...it is not much bigger than bucket and it kicks heat out so much that GH is like sauna..now it's been redundant for couple of years as it is not good really..
You cannot keep temperature even and it needs constantly loading up as temp in GH drops very quickly..I used to get up in the middle of the night to fuel up...and after while I though.."sod it..!I need my beauty sleep".. ::)
But it is nice to have a bit of heating while working and you can put kettle on top too... ::) ;D
I would love one of those with water pipes running around greenhouse..they give gentle heat over long periods of time..but they are not cheap..!
I think they are Victorian invention..and you can still buy them looking almost identical..but if it works..why change it..

[davyw1]

I',m going to knock something up out of an old calor gas bottle with a backboiler arrangement to a radiator thing under a big propagator as a hot box plus another to a big water-tank in the floor feeding an old radiator.

Have you done this before Chris

[cambourne7]

Yes looked at those and there a bit expensive.

[chriscross1966]

I',m going to knock something up out of an old calor gas bottle with a backboiler arrangement to a radiator thing under a big propagator as a hot box plus another to a big water-tank in the floor feeding an old radiator.

Have you done this before Chris

No, but I'm good with tools and need at least two of them (one for my camper) so I'll get to play.... like I said I've got alternatives available to me but I fancy using free fuel (also want to build a charcoaling still/furnace to try and make a dent on Swindon's share of the EU pallet mountain.... It won't matter if the charcoal is rubbish, I can easily make big briquettes out of it....

chrisc

[davyw1]

Chris, the reason i asked if you had done it before is because if you are going to cut through the gas cylinder with a still saw you need to take the on/of valve out ( anti clockwise thread) and fill it with water as the seems in the bottle absorb the gas.

[chriscross1966]

Chris, the reason i asked if you had done it before is because if you are going to cut through the gas cylinder with a still saw you need to take the on/of valve out ( anti clockwise thread) and fill it with water as the seems in the bottle absorb the gas.

It's not that they absorb the gas, they trap bits of the acetone they use as an aid to get the gas to pressurise.... anyway, I was aware of the need to do the trick with water.... I've gas-soldered petrol tanks before :-)

chrisc

[Tee Gee]

I have to say 'electricity' every time.

Because of its ease of control and efficiency I think it works out possibly cheaper than all the other forms I have used over the years! e.g. paraffin & gas (natural & LPG)

It is certainly the most reliable and there is no odours so no noxious fumes if the wick is not set properly or if industrial grade paraffin has been used.

There is less condensation so less damping off!

Then when you consider that you can use a small propagator or hot bed to keep tender subjects growing through the winter months you don't have to heat the whole greenhouse.

I was taught very early on; work out the cost of replacing stock you would like to keep through the winter, and if the cost of fuel exceeded replacement costs then don't heat .........replace!