Wendy wrote:

Ok, I am getting serious now! Curious about the steam for heating?
Would you use electricity to heat the water?


Hot water underbench (or in floor) heat is what I would like. It
has been used successfully even up here in the 'tundra'. Far easer to
implement than steam. Electricity is what I have on site. I heat the
house with oil, but this would be too far from the house for that. I'll
probably need a separate tank of fuel for the greenhouse, either lp or
natural gas, depending on what works best. Cheaper than electricity,
and since I need a separate tank anyway, probably not too big a hassle.

I often wonder what the guys use in snowbound winters.?


Typically gas or propane. It can get a little expensive. One
commercial grower (with several acres under glass) quoted me 20,000 per
month for his heating bills in the winter. I'm not sure if that was a
single greenhouse or all of them. They were huge, drafty glass
greenhouses, so who knows. The things we do for orchids.

However you will probably save money if you have been using indoor lights
no?


No... Of course I would _keep_ the indoor setup. Come on, that is
precious space for plants! *grin* Actually I'll probably convert that
into a very cool room for plants I can't grow right now.

This must be so exciting for you Rob, I remember the feeling well.
Good luck


Thanks! I'm thinking about posting some drawings and musings to my
website when I get that far. I have several months to procrastinate.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit