Thanks for watching! The air exchange is for heat only, it’s a solid drain tile. Non perforated tubing through the entire pile and back in allows us to push air through without exchanging any gasses as it blows warmer air back into the greenhouse
Any thoughts on the impact of shade on a compost pile? I want to set up a compost pile heat system for a small greenhouse (8' x 8') I'm planning to build. I have access to free wood chips and can build a pretty big pile... but the only place I have for this pile is in the shade. (I'm in the suburbs on a quarter-acre lot.) Can I still get decent heat from a pile 10' in diameter and 6' high if it's in constant shade?
The shade does affect your pile however if you insulate it you can get away with having it in full shade, great question. I always offset my pile a bit from the greenhouse to allow for the winter sun to hit it a bit, and with a clear poly it has the ability to multiply minimal heat.
That’s how we started, our small greenhouse didn’t have any geothermal only compost heat. Even our large greenhouse didn’t have geothermal for the first year while I dug the trench for it. We ran small compost piles inside using systems to move the heat around off the pile. I find the geothermal to be just as important as the compost heating especially on the cold cloudy days.
