Passive Solar Heating While Raising Fresh Organic Produce
Posted: Thursday, August 05, 2010
by Lynda Lacroix
Clean Team Detailers
Many people are searching for ways to go green, save energy and money, and to live healthier. By building a lean-to style greenhouse onto your home, you can take advantage of the sun's rays to grow fresh, organic vegetables and even citrus trees to help provide fresh food for your family.
By incorporating another small room onto your house, you can build your own greenhouse/sunroom. This will help to increase the value of your home and provide hours of enjoyment for you and your family. Depending on the size, you might wish to incorporate a small breakfast table and chairs so that the family can enjoy a relaxing snack or meal together enjoying the suns' natural warmth.
The greenhouse portion can be made as decorative as you like with terrraced beds, hanging baskets, small potted citrus trees, and possibly a small fountain or pond. On the other hand, you might prefer it to be a fully functional greenhouse growing fruit and vegetables year-round, starting your outdoor garden plants in seed trays early to maximize your growing seasons, and to keep your own houseplants in good health.
Doors can be added between the greenhouse and your home to keep the unwanted heat out during the summer while letting the additional heat into your home to help heat it during the winter. By adding multiple 55 barrels filled with water or sand, you will be able to hold the heat in the greenhouse longer each day since the water or sand in the barrels would heat up during the day. This heat would then be released slowly back into the greehouse/sunroom as the temperature of the air drops once the sun goes down. It's sort of like a battery backup storing heat during the day while the sun is charging' the barrels and then once the sun has set the stored heat would be used to heat the room.
You can customize this set-up in any way you wish depending on how involved you want to get and your budget. In colder climates many people install pipes in the floor to help warm the floors. The same system can be used in conjunction with the greenhouse. The barrels would contain heated water, additional pipes could be run in the floor of the greenhouse and the warm water can be run into the house under the flooring to warm the floors.
Be creative, ask questions, figure out what you want from the system, and then build it. If you're interested in conservation as well, look around for the materials to build your project at building sites and renovations. Quite often a contractor will let you have what they call scraps just so they don't have to pay to have it hauled off. If you get permission to scavenge, make sure you clean up after yourself and don't leave a mess. This will make it easier to get the contractor to allow someone else to scavenge in the future.
There are ways for everyone to do their part to help our planet, save valuable resources, and to live better healthier lives. Be creative, put a little effort into it, and find a better way of living using natural solar energy.
Lynda M. Lacroix is an accomplished writer with over 40 years working in areas of homesteading, animal husbandry, and conservation. She is an avid homesteader and conservationist as well as a Wildlife Biologist. It is her belief that we live in a time that neighbor must look after neighbor. No longer can each person go through the day thinking of themselves first. People must think about the consequences of their actions. By going back to basics and becoming more self-sufficient, using alternative energy sources, and eating organic grown foods, we can help ourselves and the planet. For more information please visit: http://greenenergyfromhome.com/
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)LyndaWe just actually built a passive Solar Heating Greenhouse off a barn (12 x 20) with all recycled materials including doors and windows for venting. However, did not think to put the rain barrels inside of the greenhouse. We have a drain down spout funneled off the roof to collect water to use in the greenhouse. Thank you for the idea.CarlaI am glad my information was helpful. The barrels filled with water inside will give off radiant heat at night and provide additional water storage for you. If you need warm water in the barn, this water would also be warm enough for bathing (kritters) or pre-heated for your water heater.
These are great ideas. I can see the day when people naturally do whatever they can to conserve natural resources.It is my hope people will choose to do better and eventually these ideas will be second nature to us. We have to drop the arrogance just because we're at the top of the food chain or we'll trash this planet to the point of extinction. Mother Nature has a way of taking care of herself.
Lynda, the idea of a greenhouse is a good one. Thank you for your article.Grace
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