The Greenhouse In Winter

The Greenhouse In Winter

It took all summer, and a lot of help to finish my new favorite building. I found some really great plastic to cover it with, called Clear Polycarbonate Sheeting. The sheeting worked so much better then I imagined, but at $20, per 8 ft by 3 ft section, it was not cheap. Altogether, I figure I only spent $1,500, for all the building materials. I even found the glass door in one of the farm sheds.

The tempurature hovers about 5 degrees above the outside temp at night, and when the sun is out, it can peak out at 80 + degrees in January. Since I get a bit gloomy in the winter, I like to spend time basking in the sun, sitting in the red fold up chair in the corner. When stepping inside on a sunny day, it’s time to strip down to a t-shirt, and jeans, and this time in the sun tends to trick my brain into thinking I’m someplace tropical…. wooohoooo0 !

I did a search online for heating systems, and found that some people are storing the heat from the sun, without the need for a heating system. The idea is to store the sunshine in a “thermal battery”, which would charge on sunny days. This battery would then release the heat at night, and on cloudy days. The easiest method I have seen is to use barrels of water, painted black. You can research this further at “Topper’s Place“. I’ve started collecting small jugs (2.5 gallons per jug), and painting them black. So far, I don’t have nearly enough water, but I have until March to accomplish that goal.

The smaller building to the left is my small chicken coop. I have six chickens, mainly for eggs, and manure. I really don’t think I could eat these guys, as I’ve come to notice individuality in the small herd. Each chicken has it’s own personality it seems, I even have a “bully” in the heard, that always eats first.

The dimensions of the Greenhouse are: 14ft x 16ft.