For those considering building a greenhouse, search / research geothermal green houses.... Those are the best options. Bury tubes under the frost line and use fans to pull warm air out of the earth.

Surprised he missed using a compost pile. Its a great way to keep a greenhouse a bit warmer through winter as it can actually generate some heat.

Im in central texas. I have a 55 gallon barrel in my 10 x 10 ft greenhouse. I have dropped a large aquarium heater down into the water and I dont have a problem keeping greenhouse warm.

I really appreciate that this man speaks in a normal voice instead of that obnoxious journalism voice that so many youtubers try to use.

We are using geothermal to heat our greenhouse this winter. It is 90% off grid. We buried a 55 gallon barrel and circulate the water threw a car radiator with a 12v fan blowing across the radiator. It blows air at 55 degrees. We use a solar panel and wind turbine to charge the batteries that run the system.

Oh wow, these comments are pure GOLD. You guys rock!

Geothermal is awesome. A guy in Nebraska grows citrus using a 3-sided greenhouse and geothermal energy and fans. And he sells those greenhouses one of the first gardening videos I saw. He was a farmer. If you search Nebraska citrus greenhouse and maybe geothermal it will come up. It came up but it's in the snow. The first 4 words will get it. You want the oldest video, it's the original. I looked at a house that had geothermal to heat and cool it. You have almost no bill. You don't have to dig straight down for 15 or 30 feet, just a trench 3 feet down or so and coil your pipe. You can do it in town that way.

I'm using C9 Christmas lights to heat my outdoor grow tent and hoop house. I had to install sensors and exhaust fan. When it gets too hot the heat mats and Xmas lights turn off and the exhaust fan pumps the hot air out and pulls in cool air. It's awesome. Works perfectly

Useful information, but I'd check the math on using water tanks as heat sinks. If the recommendation is 5 gallons per square foot and your greenhouse is 1,000 square feet, you'd need 5,000 gallons of water! (i.e. you need to multiply the square footage by 5, whereas you appear to have divided by 5 to get 200 gallons). I don't have any direct experience, but Google suggests 2.5 gals per square foot, which would equate to 2,500 gallons for your greenhouse. That's a lot of water, and if you try it you might want to consider setting up a "warm zone" near the tanks. I'm hoping to build a ~100 square foot greenhouse, so a 500 gallon water tank might be practical.

Ok your tips are great but the COMMENTS are pure gold. Like between you and people in this comment, this whole thing is a found of knowledge

For the home gardener it’s best to keep the greenhouse small. We were given parts from a friend’s blown over GH and fabricated a small lean to on garden shed. I have a wood floor. Couple weeks ago I purchased a temperature monitor (non Wi-Fi) to monitor temps. It can measure 4 locations. I only had a basic thermometer before and this one has an alarm. I never heated the GH until last spring when bare root plants shipped too soon. I used a small ceramic heater and it was fine. With the monitor I can now gauge the temp swings and get an idea how long a heater needs to run. It has been a surprising learning experience as it reaches 90*F in 30-40*F daytime outdoor temps. I can watch how fast it drops as well. It also has an alarm. We are thrilled with it as we can use a monitor for are chicks soon. As a home gardener who preserves the small greenhouse has been a great tool and about to get greater. Plans to replace polycarbonate panels and enlarge Just a couple of feet to accommodate few items and install heat sink in floor with a pea gravel topper. A simple solar powered fan to pipe hot daytime heat to sink below and if we wanted later to run heater off solar. Keep in mind I basically use the GH to get some seedlings shoved out of house so I’m heating mainly pre spring. I grow lettuce inside in coldest part of winter. I have refrigerated building panels to incorporate into the base of walls into the ground and north wall of garden shed-overkill, but they were reasonable used. I’ve thought of maybe doing some brick or stone on north wall, but not sure if it’s needed, but would look nice.😊 To cool we use 50% shade cloth draped over outside and with new side vents should be perfect. In the fall I set up a cattle panel and dry my onions in GH. With no plants in there now in winter the humidity is extremely low sometimes 14%. If the changes greatly improve, which I’m sure they will, I will probably use it to actually start seeds in GH instead of inside. Experimenting more with winter sowing in containers again this year as it is the greatest-except this extremely warm weather right now is delaying that project. I have Plenty enough room in small GH to not only supply us with seedlings, but others as well. Happy gardening!

We did a sunken greenhouse. The floor in it is 4 1/2 feet below the ground outside around it. Then we have 2" insulation on the north wall and the corner of the north an east wall's. We are putting a propane heater in it the end of the month. Also the more stuff that's in it helps to hold heat. Also with ours being down in the ground - low profile against the weather - winds, snow and cold. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

The old houses in downtown Boise are heated by geothermal hot springs. Wish I was on that line. Maybe they'll extend it to my place someday. That'd keep a greenhouse nice and toasty.

For small greenhouses apply bubble wrap on inside of wall at (5 cents a ft) Or use Reflectix on bottom ft of wall to retain heat.

The in ground greenhouse is even more powerful than one might think. I've read stories of people using them to grow citrus in the Dakotas. (Not sure if supplemental heat is needed in that winter tundra land.) I've also read that in the 18th and 19th centuries, people would line the interior walls of greenhouses with piles of leaves, straw or hay and let the heat from the decomposition keep things warmer. If you have the material for free (leaves are available almost everywhere in the fall), you might as well. You also get the benefit of the broken down leaves as compost in the spring.

One way you didn't talk about, is putting rabbit cages in the green house. It not only will give off radiate heat, but will make it nicer for the rabbits in the winter. You can always move those rabbit hutches out in the spring.

We are I'm Southern indiana and this winter has been so warm the whole time. The 4 warmest winters on record have been since I moved here from Florida just 8 years ago. I have zone 10 plants coming back every year next to the house. It's awesome. It's less awesome for the fruit trees though.

Now we are going to need information on how to keep your greenhouse cool in summer.

Thank you, for sharing your knowledge and experience, and for running your store. I've been watching your channel for almost three years, just placed my first order from your seed stock! We have installed a wooden bookcase type shelf in our backyard, from repurposesd commercial garden shelving. I plan to fill trays with seed starting mix, wet the mixture, plant the seeds, then place the trays on the shelving unit and wrap the whole shelving unit in plastic wrap, to make a mini greenhouse. I will poke a few hole for ventilation. Trial and error, hoping for the best. Hopefully by the time we can actually plant in the ground the starts will be thriving.

Dang Luke! You've done your homework! I'm so impressed w/you! Thank you, so much, for sharing! You brought a well needed uplift to my spirits today! (Confined to the couch 😪). So happy w/the success of your new business & watching your family grow.

The first best thing you can do is start with a more efficient Greenhouse design that only has half of the green house covered with clear material that faces south, and has the north half of the greenhouse very well insulated. This alone will almost cut in half your heat losses.

Your greenhouse is a dream I’d love to have.

We used 55 gallon steel drums full of water. The tops made convenient spots for starting seeds.

Nice job, we also installed 50 percent shade cloth which helps to cool in summer so it doesn't get over 80 degrees

I would possibly add a few energy efficient, solar powered ceiling fans to push the warm air that rises, back down to the lower part of the greenhouse. Keeping all the plants nice and cozy. Also helps with air circulation without having to let in cold air. Therefore, also helping with too much moisture and mold 🙂 I also read somewhere that laying black runners in your pathways helps trap the heat from that gravel and keeps the ground warm for longer.

Perfect timing!! We were gifted a 25'x25' greenhouse and we've been talking about how we're going to heat it. We decided using rainwater barrels would be efficient and effective!!

I already have cold-weather vegetables sprouting in my dome here in central Indiana. It's three layers of clear plastic draped over PVC hoops in a raised bed, next to the concrete porch.

I have two small walk in greenhouses and this has been on my mind a lot lately. Thank you for the ideas.

Many years ago when my husband and I moved to our house we discovered 5 lengths of clay sewer pipe tucked under a shed. We have a 24x24 greenhouse and are going to use those pipes, granite stone from our property, and some block to create a passive solar thermal mass heater in it.

Have you tried a leaf compost bin along the entire north side of your greenhouse and then place the water barrels up against that? My theory is that the composting pile of leaves will warm the barrels as well as the sun warming the barrels. This would provide warmth of the greenhouse for longer. Then, in the spring, you could transfer those leaves to a proper compost pile.

Congratulations again to your family and your new addition.

I have 4 wicking beds, 2 of them made with scoria in bases, the other 2 made with "waterup" cells. Use polystyrene boxes in other areas, over turned to insulate & raise up pots with temp sensitive plants. 2 layers Styrene boxes make good storage for pots & starter trays while trapping warm air. Effective for overniggt frosts up to -3C (26F). I throw over large shade cloth at night if forecast -2 C. Our greenhouse has a wooden board around its middle. Lower half has UV stabilised plastic permanently attached. Upper half we staple on UV plastic in winter, & summer staple on 50% shade cloth. Extreme heat days need extra shade cloth. Thanks for other ideas.

Happy Thursday, Luke and all the crew.

Thanks for sharing. Very helpful.

Excellent information, thank you so much😀🥰

Sound is good now. 👍🏽

Thanks for this

Ha! Who knew?!! So much great info (as always Luke!). I really learned a lot!!

Montana. Wheaton labs has a totally passively heated n cooled greenhouse.

Great information And editing!👍 Blessings!💚

This is a technicality, but it is water’s INSULATION of heat that causes it to be such a great “thermal mass” as he puts it. That is the opposite property of conduction. Relevant equation: Q = mc(dT) Q: thermal energy (heat) m: mass c: heat capacity (constant at standard conditions) dT: change in temperature. Rearranging and setting a standard mass at 1 kilogram and standard temperature differential at 1°C, we have: c = Q/mdT This equation will give the standard heat capacity in Joules per kilogram degree Celsius (J/kg°C), which is the amount of energy required to heat one kilogram of any substance one degree Celsius. Thus, a substance with a high specific heat capacity is a good INSULATOR of heat, because it must release or absorb a lot of energy to change one unit of temperature. Here are some examples: Solid rock 1.8-3.0 MJ/kg°C = 1.8-3.0 x10^6 J/kg°C Unsolidated ground 1.3-2.8 MJ/kg°C = 1.3-2.8 x10^6 J/kg°C Water 4.184 kJ/kg°C = 4.184 x10^3 J/kg°C Copper metal 0.385 J/kg°C = 3.85 x10^(-1) J/kg°C We can see that copper which is a great CONDUCTOR of heat has a very low specific heat capacity, about 10,000 less than water and about 10,000,000 less than soil or stone. In other words, a material’s thermal insulation is directly proportional to heat capacity, and the material’s thermal conduction is inverse. Some of you may be asking whether surface area impacts heat capacity. No, the specific heat capacity is independent of surface area, but the rate of energy transfer is faster with greater surface area, so while a sphere of boiling water and a large, thin sheet of boiling water may have the same temperature and heat capacity, the energy transfers from the large sheet of water at a faster rate, causing it to cool faster.

You can use a much, much larger water reservoir for the thermal mass, which adds in more options - aquaculture, water filtration, even a few live fish if you like. That kind looks more like a pool than a tank.

I have a Rubbermaid garbage can filled with water and use an aquarium heater to heat my 6’ x 10’ greenhouse.

this was so informative. thank you

Thank you for the Info

Thanks for your great information 👍 😀

Another great video, great topic.

Dreaming of a green house, maybe someday.

Very cool info thanks

Very interesting

I have heard of people putting compost bins in the greenhouse and using the heat from the decomposing matter. Also heard of digging down underground with pipes and letting the air flow in.

**Luke,, there is a guy who uses hay bales stacked up on the outside of one end of his green house. He cuts a small square and inserts pipes, like fireplace heat exchange pipes that blow hot air once the fire heats them up... he makes the hay into a 'hot' compost situation covers it with a tarp and it heats the pipes and blows in the hot air into the greenhouse.. It was the best idea i've seen ... Also, a lady lined up hay bales in hers and poured beer in them so they would hot compost. it helped heat it up but I can't imagine as well as the guy that used the hot pipes.

I have a green house built on railroad ties. And on the floor of wooden planks is fine mesh wire and cattle panel underneath it. I cover the floor with a tarp and up the sides. I have a couple heat mats, and grow lights. I have a small electric heater that I used one year before I got everything done. I sat that on the floor but with the heater on a terra cotta pot. I put my potted flowers in there, just to see what would survive. And I covered everything with some straw, keeping it away from the heater. I had a Gerber daisy and it bloomed, I had it sitting on the floor just to see how much meat would radiate down. I kept a container of water with straw for a little humidity and everything even the tropical plants lived.

I would think that installing some compost bins in the greenhouse would help heat it. The composting process itself generates heat. What do you think,?

Another way to heat a greenhouse, is composting. Little like geothermal, take a large round bail of straw next to the greenhouse with pipes in/under the bail and leading to the greenhouse, as the straw decomposes over the winter the heat from the process helps to heat the greenhouse. One can also do a hot composing pile within the greenhouse.

I use an Inkbird 308 wifi temperature controller. It monitors and logs the temperature on a wifi app but also has a temperature set-point with two plugs - one for heating and one for cooling. If it goes above the range I set, the greenhouse exhaust fan turns on to cool; if below, a small 1000 watt space heater (it's not a big greenhouse). An app and device alarm goes off it it exceeds emergency set-points. About $50, no subscription. I also have one on a chest freezer that I automatically set to run as a fridge for storing hundreds of apples in the fall, one in the garage for monitoring my dormant potted plants on insulated shelves and turning on a heater, one on our actual food chest freezer for storing garden produce in the winter, not to control the freezer but just as a cheap temperature alarm if it exceeds a set point, and one for my grow shelves in the spring for rooting figs and starting vegetable seeds on heat mats.

I am getting a 10x20 greenhouse. Gonna divide half with a wire fence. Putting plants on one side, chickens on the other, for the winter. I'll have big black garbage cans for chicken and plant water. Pavers will be added. Plus lots of free fertilizer. The hay and chickens should warm it ALOT. I think that should work wonderfully for winter greens and happy chickens.

I'm in the U.P., geo-thermal really doesn't work for us, our frostline is about 7 ft. down. but the rest of your ideas will be really helpful. My GH is small, 6x8, but I put in brick floor, and will be putting in a black water barrel soon, a temp. control elec. heater will still be needed some nights till June here.

FYI: compost pile, 55gal drum, 200ft 1/2in homedepot garden irrigation pipe and a pond pump you can have heat all year no problem and your fuel source is free. After seeing most post i literaly see a how to video on how to build such a system. cheers also the double film with the air layer between helps alot aswell

to stabilize temperature in mine, i use dodge caravan radiators. they are connected with 4000 L of water in tank and 600 feet of tube underground with valve to choose the water flow. the radiator collect the heat during the day and store it in the water and the ground. in the night the fan spread it in the air. Really cheap and effective. In my solar-passive greenhouse, I can keep windows close on the 21st of june even if it's a full sunny day at noon. the wind even lower hte chance of mushroom infestation.

With the high cost of vegetables in the market, can't wait to start my gardening to save money. Wish I have greenhouse 🤔🤔🤔🤣. Bc I am from Toronto.

i am considering someday placing my little greenhouse over the septic tanks. That area has been the first to thaw all season, and there's power there. Not glamorous, but might as well use that bio-energy for good.

I collected used plastic milk cartons, filled them with water and put them in a large black plastic planter (approx 5 ft by 3 ft). Also experimented with a large black plastic planter (same 5 ft x 3 ft), filling it with horse manure that had already started composting, thinking it would give off heat. It got so cold, that it did stop composting so no real heat was given off. Just the mass might have helped some, as did the water in milk cartons. Also had five 30 gal black garbage cans filled with water, but as winter went on,, I had to use the water for the plants.

Two ply plastic with air barrier, direction (south), Frost is different you can check with your local building department to ask. Moist soil is a conductor, black plastic or landscape cloth for winter, remove or cover for summer.

Luke if you had a double layer of plastic and then air between the two plastic layers. Move the air between the layers. See Curtis 2020 in Kelowna BC, Canada.

beautiful edit 😃😃

I have a 7'x16' plastic greenhouse. Growing cold hardy Veges but I also put another smaller greenhouse inside so I can put potted, less cold tolerant, plants in at night.

I was expecting you to suggest reactant heat like composting, i.e. french hot beds. Basically having a hot compost pile under your raised beds. You'd probably want an exhaust pipe from the compost portion directly to the outside of the grow tunnel, so you dont smell it _inside_. Composting with horse manure is about as hot as it gets.

Our frost line here in Hammond, LA is a horrible 4 inches...

i have seen a couple of places where they built a long 3' high compost bin running down the center of the greenhouse. they put growing flats on top of a cover and the heat from decomposition the warmed up both the plant container bottoms and also the greenhouse overall. to me here in southern california i would be wondering about how to handle the summer heat if those compositor bins were permanent... or even hard to move. as usual, thanx for xlnt info well presented.

that man youre talking about with the geothermal greenhouse citrus farm is in the western part of nebraska.

Ok. It isn't just me. I am also getting no sound when playing it on my phone. I will try on smart TV. Must . . . get . . . daily . . . garden information fix! 😅 Strange. I have sound on my smart TV. Not on my phone.

Iḿ a science teacher, love the mini science lesson. Try to tell students all the time science is allover life

The geothermal greenhouse set up is in Nebraska

Would double layering a greenhouse be best? Would the buffer keep it temperate?

We do indeed have heat sinks in our greenhouse. Water barrel plus we place boxes of dirt on top of boxes of water. Every morning my husband takes the temp of the water. Despite nighttime lows in the teens this winter and lots of cloudy days the water has barely started getting any ice. Only when the temperature drops to single digits do we touch on extra heat at night. Another problem I have in the greenhouse is that during the day it gets TOO warm for winter plants. I fear if the winter starts are exposed to warm temps for too long they will bolt too soon. So we run out in the mid-morning to open up windows. I start to freak out if the temperature hits 60.

Fresh manure and compost will also create heat, but I’m not sure about containing the smell and gases if the moisture level is raised.

Black rubber mats. 8' x 12' probably cost about 150$-200$. Easy to clean with a water hose or broom, good heat absorption, and decent heat retention. Can help cut down on insect pests as well. I have seen it used alongside a single brick wall greenhouse. The bricks were painted black.

If you carefully place it so you control the focal point so it stays in the water you can use a fresnel lens to heat water for your thermal mass.

You completely forgot about composting inside the greenhouse, as compost creates heat that can heat your greenhouse. You can also raise rabbits in cages and place the cages over the compost piles. The rabbits continue to feed the compost and keep it creating heat, plus they’ll fertilize the compost with their droppings, making amazing compost for your gardens year round.

my mind is spinning and want to do all of this

A hot compost pile in one corner can do wonders too if you have the room. I know there are ways of doing the pile outside & piping the warm air into the greenhouse but that seems overly complicated to me.

Making a solar collector with black irrigation tubing to heat up the water in the water tanks would help. I've made one for na outdoor shower. Coil the tubing in a large swirl and have a small pump circulate the water.

Hi Luke, This is Sabrina from the Campbell’s freedom farm. We are probably going to move our farm to another location and rent this one. But when we do my daughter and I would love to talk to you about my greenhouse you think we should do. Great video Sabrina❤

Question. You said 5 gallons of water per 1 sq foot of greenhouse, so yours should be 5000 gallons for a 1000 sq foot greenhouse, no?

Besides all the tips provided, never forget that you need sunshine rays to heat your greenhouse and slowly store energy. To heat a one For instance most Michigan cities get six ou sept days of full sunshine in March and about 13-14 of full of partial sunshine. It leave you cold for half of the month. A back up (electric, fossil fuels) is a must in most of the northeast. Even to warm up your water barrels, you will need about 44 kw to get 1 C degree (1,5 Farentheith) to a one cubic meter of water (264 gallons of water). That much energy for 1,5 Farentheit !

This is SO us too! 🤣 I'm the offender though... It just took a car with a non-functioning gas gauge to get over the worst part (that was reeeaally bad for a while!! 😅) but I've still ended up periodically walking or calling for rescue since 😜 My partner is the one who won't let it drop under 3/4 of a tank... I try my best to fill it when I know he'll be using it - its not automatic for me, but I love him and don't want him stressed 🥰

I just have my hotub in my green house works just fine

I had sound the whole time, and no ads.

Nebraska is the man you are talking about

Earth Battery, using underground 4" corrugated pipe with fan

You didn't mention compost. A greenhouse that big could definitely hold one or two composting bays with easy acces. Keep turning and adding to it during winter, and it should give a lot of warmth, don't you think?

Question. How about in between the rows with black gravel or weed barrier.

Water absorbs heat faster than most things but it also releases heat very rapidly. That’s why it’s used in radiators. Masonry (bricks, rock, sand etc.) collect heat slowly during the day then take all night to release it. This way you get the benefit of the warmth all night not for just two or three hours. Stack used bricks on the north side of your green house and put in brick walkways. Two layers of plastic with a two inch air gap between them will also do wonders. Better than this is a geothermal system but very costly and needs electricity to work. The insulated sand batteries in Scandinavia release stored heat for three months in the cold winter.

Hot compost can also be used to warm greenhouse!

Nebraska. Citrus in the snow.

Thank you for your helpful videos! I suppose greenhouses might offer protection from nuclear fallout, but hopefully that won't affect too many people. Many might know this already, but I discovered today that May 1 (aka "May Day") is traditionally celebrated all over the world as a holiday for laborers and the working classes (it is International Workers' Day). I read the following on Wikipedia: "May Day has been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups since the Second International. May Day is one of the most important holidays in Communist countries such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union countries. May Day celebrations in these countries typically feature elaborate workforce parades, including displays of military hardware and soldiers. ... "... The biggest celebration of 1 May usually occurred in the capital of a particular socialist country and usually included a military display and the presence of the president and the secretary general of the party. During the Cold War, May Day became the occasion for large military parades in Red Square by the Soviet Union and attended by the top leaders of the Kremlin, especially the Politburo, atop Lenin's Mausoleum. It became an enduring symbol of that period." Best regards.

I just bought a house specifically for growing vegetables inside a greenhouse that completely covers the house. At the very end of your video you mentioned using a wall of a house be attached to your greenhouse for a heating source. This house is only 996 square feet in size and I will be adding an area that surrounds the house an extra 20 feet on three sides and only 5 feet on the last side due to setback regulations. My goal is to be able to walk around the entire outside of thehouse no matter what the weather is. The only concren I have is, will the house be too hot to live in during the summer months. My guess is it will be unless I install a fan that can pull out the excess heat during the day. My fiance' is from the Philippines so no doubt she won't have a problem with the heat like I do. I whine and cry about the heat every time I go there to see her family. 😂 Anyway, thanks for the video. The information helped me a lot.

Compost is excellent for heating growing spaces in the winter. The pilgrims used to heat a version of cold frames built with a compost bin beneath. It was so toasty warm that they could start seeds with these set ups in the winter, for the next summer’s crops. Compost gets so hot it is like a heater on its own.

Will you please share the link to the video for the guy you were speaking of that grow citrus? I have quite a few citrus, and this sounds like it might be some useful information.