Cattle Panel Hoop House Is Going Up!

[Morda Grown]

@013 When I was thinking about heating with wood I thought about this...

I can have an open fire pit.
I do not want to take room inside for a stove or wood storage.
I do not want to have to feed it a small fire day after day.
I do not want the smoke/or smoke smell in the hoop house.

This is a crude drawing of the idea to use an open fire pit. I can do a fire and have it heat the ground around the pit. If I put in 2 fire rings, one inside the other, I could use the outer ring to hold hot air. I could move that hot air through a pipe in the ground with a computer fan powered by a couple small solar panels. It would not have any smoke going into the hoop house

 

[greenjeans]

That's the same kind of idea that I was going to try with an old wood stove I had, using a surrounding jacket. I actually had the stove in the green house for the first spring and it took up a lot of room. Since my green house is attached to my shop and my shop is heated by an outdoor water furnace (also diy) I just work around that. I am still looking for alternatives tho. I had built a solar water heater but it was inefficient.

 

[Azimuth]

@013 When I was thinking about heating with wood I thought about this...

I can have an open fire pit.
I do not want to take room inside for a stove or wood storage.
I do not want to have to feed it a small fire day after day.
I do not want the smoke/or smoke smell in the hoop house.

This is a crude drawing of the idea to use an open fire pit. I can do a fire and have it heat the ground around the pit. If I put in 2 fire rings, one inside the other, I could use the outer ring to hold hot air. I could move that hot air through a pipe in the ground with a computer fan powered by a couple small solar panels. It would not have any smoke going into the hoop house

That's a cool idea. You'd probably need to insulate the stove pipe so you don't give too much heat back to the ground. You'll only need it during the coldest part of the year.

People use the uninsulated pipe to cool their houses in a geothermal setup.

We have one of those Solo Stoves that have the dual wall like you show. Pretty efficient. No smoke after 5 mins or so once it's up to temperature.

 

[Morda Grown]

That's a cool idea. You'd probably need to insulate the stove pipe so you don't give too much heat back to the ground. You'll only need it during the coldest part of the year.

People use the uninsulated pipe to cool their houses in a geothermal setup.

We have one of those Solo Stoves that have the dual wall like you show. Pretty efficient. No smoke after 5 mins or so once it's up to temperature.

My wife and I are both on the same page, we are going with compost this year. What I posted for the fire pit heat is still on the table and It is one thing I can add easily. I have a converted barrel stove too but, that is a big unit in a small space. I'm expecting it to be a learning and re planning project.

 

[Morda Grown]

That's the same kind of idea that I was going to try with an old wood stove I had, using a surrounding jacket. I actually had the stove in the green house for the first spring and it took up a lot of room. Since my green house is attached to my shop and my shop is heated by an outdoor water furnace (also diy) I just work around that. I am still looking for alternatives tho. I had built a solar water heater but it was inefficient.

There are a lot of options. I'm not thinking the solar will work in the winter. Have to get a few deep cells to keep it going. I would trust it to run some DC fans though. I have a pile of computer fans from salvaging an A$s load of old comps.

Sounds like your heat is working out for you. I would like to use my barrel stove in the out building next to the green house... May be I could work out a plan there. Always nice to options in the back ground.

 

[Azimuth]

My wife and I are both on the same page, we are going with compost this year. What I posted for the fire pit heat is still on the table and It is one thing I can add easily. I have a converted barrel stove too but, that is a big unit in a small space. I'm expecting it to be a learning and re planning project.

A couple of barrels might even be easier to gin up than the firepit. You could put them wherever, even right up next to the greenhouse. Google wood charcoal retorts for the sizes. I think they us a 50g and maybe a 30? They use them to make charcoal for bbqs and biochar. Lot of smoke, though. Not great for the environment. Yours would be open and presumably a lot less smokey.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Looking good. Im eager to see the next update