Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Re: Greenhouse- milk jugs

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Leigh Hauter <lh AT pressroom.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Re: Greenhouse- milk jugs
  • Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 14:45:15 -0500

Title: RE: [Market-farming] Re: Greenhouse- milk jugs


There is a fellow that used to dig a 2' wide ditch about 15' down then lay down 2 each 4" PVC pipe covered up about 1' then put 2 more 4" PVC pipe down in a big U that went out 75 ' across 50' and back 75 foot. He would then pump air down the pipes from inside the house and get the air at a constant 68 degrees in the winter and around 74 in the summer. I don't know what happened to him .  I thought that it was a neat idea and wondered if that would be enough to help a greenhouse. The earth does use the whole season into the next season if you go down enough it gets fairly constant.

One of our new neighbors, since the suburbs have reached the edge of our farm, has a system like that to heat and cool his house.  Geothermal, he calls it, and I guess it is.  He has pipes that are about 8 feet down in the ground where he says the temperature stays a steady 57 degrees around here.  He uses this in conjunction with a heat pump in the winter. He then only has to heat the air inside his house 15 degrees to have it at 72 rather than heating it from the outside winter temp (which last night was 10 F.

He says in the summer he uses the system to cool his house.   He also says that the initial system cost was steep but he predicts it will take about 7 years of reduced heating bills to pay for the system.

Me, I heat with wood, both the house and greenhouse, and since cutting and splitting is my winter exercise and since we have a hundred acre wood lot of oak and there are always a dozen or so dead trees, it doesn't seem to be profitable, but, its a nice idea.



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page