Budget Greenhouse Project

I actually thought about running some geothermal plumbing in my yard while installing the greenhouse. The problem with that is 1/2 my yard, and 1/2 lazyness. I can blame part of it on my yard because I have a thin one foot layer of sand, and then nothing but wet clay for as far as I have ever dug.

I cannot imagine the trouble I would have digging a 3-5 foot deep trench in clay to lay the pipe. I DO think geothermal is a good idea. I would like to bury some pipe if I ever build a larger greenhouse on a different piece of land.

For this little greenhouse, I have looked into chillers and small window ac units. A chiller would be fantastic....for $300-$500 :) But, being a cheap DIY guy, I will probably just go with a $70-$80 el-cheapo window unit from Wal Mart. I bet an energy efficient 5000 BTU model would be able to take the edge off those really hot days using about 500 Watts of power.
 
hamburglar said:
Thanks for the heads up on the dual ranco guys! That thing looks great!
Click to expand...

I use the dual ranco on my tank and love it. Turns on my fans when the tank gets too hot and my heater in the winter. Once you figure out how to program it, it is great. Keeps the programmed settings for days even if there is a power loss.

B.
 
hamburglar said:


I cannot imagine the trouble I would have digging a 3-5 foot deep trench in clay to lay the pipe. I DO think geothermal is a good idea. I would like to bury some pipe if I ever build a larger greenhouse on a different piece of land.
Click to expand...
time to rent, borrow, or steal a trencher :D Oh and CALL BEFORE YOU DIG :eek1:
 
Time to resurrect this thread from an early graveââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

Well, the hottest part of the summer should be ending soon. I have learned that there is no way to keep this greenhouse cool with fans alone. The fans do provide some benefit. I have consistently kept the water temperatures 5-10 degrees below air temperatures. But, with summer highs in the mid-upper 90ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s, the fans canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t do it alone.

I have bit the bullet and added a chiller. It is a 1/6 HP Coralife unit that I bought new from another hobbyist. He won it as a door price, and was willing to part with it well below retail. The chiller is working out fantastic for this system, but it would not be practical for a larger system. I still feel like geothermal is the best solution for heat dissipationââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.at least from a reoccurring cost standpoint.

The chiller is almost tripling my power usage. I am pulling an average of 8KWA per day when the chiller runs heavy (90+ degree days), and pulling about 3KWH per day when it is not needed (less than 90 degree days). This is not too bad, but I am paying about 11 cent per KWA these days so I am looking at about $0.88 per day to run the greenhouse with the chiller on.

Coral growth has been hit or miss. I am having some ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œnew tank issuesââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ with ALK/CA levels, but I should be able to get these parameters fixed soon. That is holding back the SPS right now. One interesting think to note is that my colorful SPS turns brown in the greenhouse. And, my brown SPS is starting to turn colorful. There is a big difference between sunlight and PC lighting. All of the softies love the greenhouse. Xenia, Mushrooms, and Zooââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s are going nuts.

Almost time to buy a heater. I will keep this thread alive through major equipment changes and seasonal changes. We still have cold winter nights to learn about.
 
Almost time to buy a heater. I will keep this thread alive through major equipment changes and seasonal changes. We still have cold winter nights to learn about. [/B]
Click to expand...

What kind of winter temps do you have in New Bern ?


I also thought I'd point out this thread if you haven't seen it.
 
I would say our average night-time temps are in the 40's. We will generally have a cold week or two right in the middle of winter where we get down into the upper 20's to lower 30's.

Snow acumulation over 3 inches only happens every 3 years or so because we are fairly close to the ocean.

I still plan on dropping in two 500 watt titanium heaters, with the possibility of a third. I will just have to play it by ear and see what happens. There are several passive things I can do to help, such as sealing up the greenhouse better (The panels are already siliconed in), adding some sort of insulation around the top tank, and possible covering the tanks with something clear. I may also remove the %30 shade cloth to boost the sunlight.

I don't expect any heating trouble in the daylight with the greenhouse sealed up. It might actually get overheated. if I'm not careful.
 
I met a guy around here that had a crawl space under his stairs that was dirt. He dug a pretty deep hole and coiled up some tubing and then covered it back up. I don't know how deep it was cause it was already covered but I am guessing about 3 feet. The ground that deep would bee fairly cool even when it's hot out. if you put lots of coils spaced 6 or more inches apart I bet you could rig up some sort of geothermal cooling system that might work good and save you some money.

BTW, I love the system. Can't wait to see some more pics. Good luck with the cooling.



EDIT ---- Sorry guess I should have read the thread better. :)
 
Another option to think about is evaporative cooling using "cool cells" My grandparents own commercial greenhouses in iowa and they keep their greenhouses around 75-80 year round with no air conditioning. They have been using the same method for years. I believe you still have to dig a big hole for the resovoir of water to sit in. If you want I can ask them for some information on it. My uncle runs them now and he built most of them.
 
Hey Chris :)

hamburglar said:
A picture of my greenhouse was recently used at IMAC. The presenter actually downplayed the durability of my budget system.............. The presenter who downplayed the durability of my system had glass tanks in a plastic film greenhouse. I will just let common sense convey the point of this rant. :)
Click to expand...

Uhhhh....the presenter would be me :rolleyes:

Let me clarify now

Chris, I gave you a copy of my slideshow, and my notes for presentation, which I didnt follow word for word. My notes stated that you are limited with this kind of setup for its durability and exposure to harsh weather which is very true especially when you are speaking to people from all over the globe. Most of the people that I know that are setting up greenhouses for this type of operation are in florida and one of the major concerns is the durability of extreme weather conditions (hurricanes, tornadoes etc) while you are a very small part of the picture I was trying to portray, your setup definately deserves merit. It just cannot be applied to all locales, was the point I was trying to get across. Greenhouses can sustain winds from 70mph - 140mph+ depending on the design structure, and anchoring systems. Building codes are different for each city, state, or governing officials in the area. I truely hope your greenhouse sustains weather conditions in its areas for your lifetime+ but I also think it wouldnt stand a chance where I live....Just think even if you had one of the toughest greenhouse's on the market and you where in Gulfport Miss. right before hurricane katrina? I think you get my point. I dont think I downplayed your setup, I just stated that I thought it was not for every region. Hope that helps you understand a little bit more.
 
Hi Hamburglar,

I really applaud your creativity with this system. I'm very interested in the continuing progress of your greenhouse, so please keep us posted!
I can't believe I haven't found this thread earlier. I live fairly close to New Bern, and I'd love to come check it out in person sometime. Since I've moved back to the eastern part of the state I've had trouble finding other serious hobbyists in this area.
Did you by any chance attend the MASC meeting in Raleigh a couple months ago?

James
 
Looks great, I am really interested to see how this works out once we get out of the hottest part of the summer.

I hope scubadude was wrong about your greenhouse as Ophelia looks like it is headed toward Eastern NC.

-Wil
 
Scubadude, no harm intended. I was mostly in a foul mood. I do stand by the durability of this system. It is nearly all plastic, quite flexible, and anchored with a couple hundred lbs of concrete underground. But, I do not think it would survive much greater than a CAT2 hurricane without bracing

For those of you wondering, I think Ophelia's eye wall just slowly passed within 30 miles of my back yard. Ophelia was mostly a rain event, but I did make some interesting observations. First off, the greenhouse frame held solid. Not a single wobble during wind gusts. I think this is due to gluing in the panels, and having a very solid foundation. I am still impressed with the durability vs the affordability of this little greenhouse. The door and top vent also stayed closed without any problems.

My only issue was power loss, but that was only for about 5 hours. I took care of this with a deep cycle battery and a power inverter. I would have had a generator available the next day if needed. In the future I will just buy a generator...when (if) the system pays for one :)

In other news......The lower temps have been fantastic! The water temps are roaming in the mid-upper 70's with no heating or cooling except for simple fans. This has gone on for a couple of weeks now. The chiller I bought only kicked on a couple of dayââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s right after I bought it. I will leave it plumbed in because it has a heater controller built in. I will hook up one of my newly arrived Finnex 500 watt heat tubes to the chiller.

Diatoms are still growing fairly well. :) But, I have not had any other type of ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œfunkââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ yet. Corals are still hit or miss. I guess a lot of them are upset about the warmer water, and greatly increased lighting. I have continued selling/swapping lots of frags, but the bulk of them still come from my indoor system. I hope to change that ratio in cooler weather with a little bit less daylight.

Reelheel, I was at the MASC meeting. I was the guy with way too much xenia to get rid of. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll have to plan some sort of open house for local guys sometime. It would probably be smart to do it through MASC to kind of pre-screen the visitors. I have a wife and kids here also.

More Later!
 
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