This is a great idea, but two things that you would want to concider are its lifespan/lifecycle, and the gasses consumed and produced (may be dangerous?). To the first point, the pile will produce heat for a couple of months on average, but that's probably enough for some areas to cover the colder winter months. The more important thing to consider is that a compost pile consumes oxygen, which could be bad in a confined space, but to compound that, if the compost pile IS in an oxygen deficient space, like the one it will create without good ventilation, it will start to produce potentially dangerous amounts of Methane and Nitrous Oxide, both of which are potentially hazardous to people and pets. So the problem I see with this is that you want to let the greenhouse breath, but you need to balance that with retaining the heat. I'm not claiming it can't be done, or that it's even difficult. It may just be that typical greenhouses allow enough air to come and go to keep that from being a problem. The plants may even be enough to turn the CO2 that the compost pile also produces into enough oxygen to solve the problem. I'm just saying it should be concidered, and I would be interested to see if someone has measured these things. Great idea, great channel, great content. Thank you.
I use fresh horse manure in mine it works good and free. You can put seed starting trays on top a get a head start or put 6 inches of compost on top and have things going on all winter
Hey, super late to this thread but I'm curious if you could tell me how often you have to add to the compost to keep it heated or does the heat stay relatively steady for most of the season?
@@toad_house_homestead I will cool over time I turn mine if it get to cold. When you turn it lets o2 sack in and will heat up again. The larger the pile the longer it last.
Great idea. I have pallets for shelves in my greenhouse. I can do the same thing. My winters are not as bad as yours, I live in the panhandle of Florida.
Thnx. Im planning the same. What im planning is figgong down 4ft and also running tubing with fan to push air through every 1 hour during the night. Heaps of vids on it thermal geo hesting etc but i thought youd like to know as a give back for your vid 😁
You could use an aquarium air pump to move the air through it continuously. Low power & low air flow. A $20 Tetra Whisper 20 pump should move about 20 gallons of air per hour. That is about .045 cubic feet per minute, but you don't want too much or it will cool the pile down too much.
That is a great idea I have to try that in my Greenhouse I have a heater in there right now what does get cold at night so I think that would really work thanks for the idea
I've used electric, propane, and kerosene heaters but I'm trying this because of costs. The real test will be what temp it gets at night when it's near or below freezing
If you put this outside and ran ducting through you pile into your greenhouse you would omit the toxic gasses that are going to occur with this system. You cannot do this without putting yourself in danger.
You could double skin the poly with warm air blowing through the skins via a 15watt extractor fan also fan air intake/out will sort the condensation forming.
Wax motor cylinders are a thing. They are like hydraulic cylinders but uses wax as the actuator. Wax expand or contract depending on temperature. So it can open the vents when it got enough heat.
Dampness is another issue, but I heard some ancient method uses certain hair braided to a yarn where they contract to humidity. Might be used to pull a series of pulleys but that veers on complex machinery.
Wow! I was thinking, perhaps with the warmth and the humidity it would be good for wintering potted tropical plants and fruit trees like lemons and oranges. What is your opinion on this? I found your channel because of the cattle panel greenhouse and I already showed it to my husband for him to make one..... we'll see. ;-)
Now i have a question - what is the point of heating your greenhouse in the winter if you don't have anything grlwing in it? (Because you said that once the conpost is broken down you'll plant a garden in it)
Today is a very warm winter day in Hungary but the real winter is coming and I have a small, 6.5m ×2.4m raised-bed, I want to upgrade it to a greenhouse this winter and I want to make a similar passive heating "system" like your. I have three questions: 1.) how cubic meter (or cubic feet, if it is easier for you ;) ) was your pile? 2.) It is started to generate heat by itself or required to handle with any biological "starter" or compost or manure, etc... 2.) Is there any dangerous gases cumulated inside your greenhouse?! There is no any dangerous if the greenhouse rarely opened? Thanks for any answers.
I had this idea in reverse recently: greenhouses, I've heard, can get warm in winter provided it's sunny enough (although they'll still chill off by night) - could I use the greenhouse to heat the compost pile, which would then heat the greenhouse, which would then help the compost pile stay warm? Or am I in cloud cuckoo land, as I often am?
That's the idea. You're not in cuckoo land. The only issue like he said, is does it give off enough heat to make it through the night, and/or non sunny days.
Just nowseeing your channel. How long did it take from start until you filmed that the heat was enough? I have a compost crib in my greenhouse, but as of yet it is not heating. I am using clay pots filled with sawdust as extra heaters. But it's still not enough for cold overnights.
Seems to me about how you layer the compost, so layers of actual already done compost in it so the microbiome get heating, egg shells and trimmed up small banana skins help, plus you could pee and water it down a lot then water it with that to get the nitrogen in. If you are feeling really brave sabe some dumps of your own manure, compost toilet is best, basically any poo heats it like crazy, I tried with my rabbit children years ago using their pine toilet chips and their rabbit droppings plus veg and fruit waste and nut wast etc, I had lots as I had five rabbits my children then so rabbit manure was abundant. I had no idea that compost especially with manure hearsd it up. I did not know how to cover smell or weaken the nitrogen aspect then etc I was new to compost completely, I saw a shed load of steam coming off it and I swear to god it must Iof been at 150C no word of a joke, I was shocked! It was amazing though, did not carry it on as I & my then other and our rabbit children were being targeted and had to survive. Still am.
Just wondering how much those cattle panels cost you for the hoop house. I hope to copy your greenhouse, compost pile and all, but the price of those panels where I live is $75-$100 each.
Thank you! Wanting to do this in my greenhouse that does not have power. I have wood floor, would there be a way to enclose this as I dont want to rot the wood floor? Also, is there a way to avoid any risk of spontaneous combustion?
some kind of tarp or if you want to be really save a concrete basin. you can avoid spontaneous combustion by not making it several meters tall. oh an keep it wet enough
