Market Farming

[robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>]

Mark, Water passes through 48 independent loops from a hot water main line so
each loop gets the same temp water entering and same cooled water on return.
When going full tilt water out of the heater on the coldest night is 120-130
degrees and return temp is 90 degrees. Heater thermostat is pre set at 160
degrees. This is enough to maintain 70 degrees in the root zone of trays on 
top
of wire benches. I do not insulate under the benches. On larger systems with
greater heating capacity they install tempering valves to add cold water when
needed. My system is free standing. Bob.

TxBeeFarmer wrote:

> Sounds like a great system, but how do you regulate the water temperature?
> Also seems like the water would be really hot when it starts out, but as it
> circulates it would be much cooler.
>
> Thanks
> (West Texas) Mark
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "robert schuler" <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
>
> > My hot water heated house was specially designed for propagating cuttings
> and
> > germinating plug trays. Its 20x48 with 700 sq ft of bench space set two
> feet
> > above the floor covered with 4000 linear feet of 1/4" epdm tubing heated
> by a
> > 65000 btu residential hot water heater. I can easily heat the trays and
> pots
> > on the benches to 70 degrees with the radiated heat capable of heating the
> > whole house over head at half the cost of a modine type hot air heater.
> What
> > I like about this setup is its ability to uniformly heat every corner of
> the
> > house and every plant at exactly the same temperature without cold
> spots...
> > Bob.
> > Sunny Meadow Farm
> > Bridgeton, NJ.