Do you winters look like this?
But you want to be able to grow things like this…
And this…
All year round?
Well look no further! We’ve got the solution for you. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY is your answer! A retired mailman named Russ Finch figured out how to grow oranges during the winter in his backyard greenhouse without paying a dime for heat!
How did he do this? Well when he build the greenhouse, he dug 4 feet below the surface to place the floor. He also uses 6 inch tubes that go 8 feet underground. Look at those tubes!
In his original green house, these tubes go out about 90 feet out. In the newer models, the tubes go 75 feet out, 75 feet across, and 75 feet back in to the other end to pick up the 52 degree temperature. (Some other places may have a different temperature depending on location!) That’s a lot of tubing! 230 feet worth of tubing! They then come out into a can like this. He’s working on a new lid design…
These tubes come out of the ground into the greenhouse. Actually, there are 7 of them! They come up through areas like this one.
He then utilizes a blower that is connected to the 7 tubes and it looks like this.
And only one fan to circulate the air.
When building his greenhouse, he built it with a sloped back wall. Why? Well, when the sun goes low in the winter, this wall will reflect down onto the growing beds!
The back wall has openfoam, while the rest of the walls use galvanized metal.
He also used Lexan, which is a polycarbonate, that is around 3/8th of an inch thick. He doesn’t get growing rays from the north, so he gets all the sun from the south and above! That’s smart!
When you get a stable temperature, which should be easy since the ground gives that to you, you can use it for both winter and summer! AKA for cooling and heating. This is why there are two thermostats. One goes on when it hits 80 degrees during the summer to cool, and one goes on when it hits 50 degrees in the winter to heat. The fan doesn’t go on during the temperature in the middle, which helps to save power and energy!
The last thing that he’s done to make all of this even more great, is that it is all automated and can be monitored right on your phone!
With all that information, hopefully you’re convinced to use geothermal energy in YOUR greenhouse! Grow your fruit YEAR ROUND!
And if all that hasn’t convinced you that you need to give it a try, watch the full video here to learn more about Russ and his cool new technique using geothermal energy.
