"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
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

Now wait a minute Rob. Aren't you more than a thousand miles from the
nearest tundra? ;-) I'd be surprised if Michigan got much colder than
central Ontario. Neither of us tries to cram spring, summer and fall into
July and August, as happens in Churchill which, IIRC, has the tundra nearest
to you. But I CAN encourage you since the last time I did field work, in
Churchill, more than ten years ago, I saw a working greenhouse used by one
of the resident couples to meet most of their needs for vegetables as well
as a wide variety of flowers. And they weren't rich, so they must have
found an economical way to provide heat and light through the ten month
winter. It was over ten years ago that I saw it, so I don't recall what
they used for heat.

One of the things I'd look at is the potential for passive heating as a
supplementary source of heat. A certain amount of heat will enter the
greenhouse, and if you have rain barrels, full of water painted black, and
sitting in the sun, they will absorb a certain amount of energy. The other
thing I'd look at is the potential for using a wood burning stove. I know
my sister and her family save a bundle using one to heat their home. I
would suppose that similar potential exists for heating a greenhouse.

Cheers,

Ted