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Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
Hi all,
Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote:
Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
Hi all
On 28 Mar 2007 05:52:38 -0700, "adder1969" wrote: On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote: Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. Yes - that's how it (was claimed to) work..... The principle has been around a long time - and is used in house heating - it's effective where there are large differences between day-time and night-time temperatures. The key to its success would be how much airflow you could get from the PC fan, and how much gravel you had to store the heat in.... I guess that most of us would open the greenhouse vents when it go really hot in there - so much of the hot air would escape. Also, a simple 'solar panel runs the fan' approach would not account for bright, cold days - where you might well end up pushing what little warm air there is into the gravel bed - which might not be what you want..... Like much of the 'science' in the programme, I got the feeling that it was done for the sake of 'good TV', rather that being particularly 'green'. Dick likes 'making things' - which is great - but some of the things he devised in the series seemed to be a triumph of ingenuity over common-sense... A cheap way of storing the heat in a greenhouse (if you have the room) is to put as many black-painted oil drums in there as you can manage. Fill them with water. When it's hot in the greenhouse the drums & water will absorb the heat, when it's cooler the drums will rediate the heat back into the greenhouse. Probably just as effective and the gravel bed system - and no moving parts to go wrong ! Regards Adrian |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
"Adrian" wrote in message ... Hi all On 28 Mar 2007 05:52:38 -0700, "adder1969" wrote: On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote: Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. Yes - that's how it (was claimed to) work..... The principle has been around a long time - and is used in house heating - it's effective where there are large differences between day-time and night-time temperatures. The key to its success would be how much airflow you could get from the PC fan, and how much gravel you had to store the heat in.... I guess that most of us would open the greenhouse vents when it go really hot in there - so much of the hot air would escape. Also, a simple 'solar panel runs the fan' approach would not account for bright, cold days - where you might well end up pushing what little warm air there is into the gravel bed - which might not be what you want..... Like much of the 'science' in the programme, I got the feeling that it was done for the sake of 'good TV', rather that being particularly 'green'. Dick likes 'making things' - which is great - but some of the things he devised in the series seemed to be a triumph of ingenuity over common-sense... A cheap way of storing the heat in a greenhouse (if you have the room) is to put as many black-painted oil drums in there as you can manage. Fill them with water. When it's hot in the greenhouse the drums & water will absorb the heat, when it's cooler the drums will rediate the heat back into the greenhouse. Probably just as effective and the gravel bed system - and no moving parts to go wrong ! I seem to remember he used recycled glass cullet. I don't know if that makes any difference. |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
On 28 Mar, 11:04, Paul Waites wrote:
Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. I would have thought just painting the floor black or a dark colour would be simpler. If the slight reduction in light level were an issue, an external reflector could make up for it. (Assuming a concrete base) NT |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
"Paul Waites" wrote in message ... Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. You need to visit Dick's personal site though the information on it regarding the greenhouse is brief - more info is promised to lie within his book. http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/...htm#greenhouse HTH Howard |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
On 28 Mar, 21:57, "Howard Haigh" hh001c7439@$NOSPAMPLEASE
$blueyonder.co.uk wrote: "Paul Waites" wrote in message ... Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. You need to visit Dick's personal site though the information on it regarding the greenhouse is brief - more info is promised to lie within his book. http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/...htm#greenhouse HTH Howard Where I have come across heat sinks they have comprised of Pits 2 to 3ft deep set into the greenhouse floor and filled with stones from cricket ball size to football size, and covered with a heavy wooden lid with gaps of around 1/4 inch between planks. Warm air from the roof area is pumped into the bottom of the sink and the stones gradually warm, and give off heat through the night. I had hoped to try pumping warm air through a tunnel formed from concrete blocks under the benches, but 2 knee replacements have prevented me crawling around under the benches. The idea being that as with storage heaters the concrete would store the heat they gained in the day and give it off through the night. David Hill Abacus Nurseries |
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Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
gentlegreen wrote:
"Adrian" wrote in message ... Hi all On 28 Mar 2007 05:52:38 -0700, "adder1969" wrote: On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote: Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. Yes - that's how it (was claimed to) work..... The principle has been around a long time - and is used in house heating - it's effective where there are large differences between day-time and night-time temperatures. The key to its success would be how much airflow you could get from the PC fan, and how much gravel you had to store the heat in.... I guess that most of us would open the greenhouse vents when it go really hot in there - so much of the hot air would escape. Also, a simple 'solar panel runs the fan' approach would not account for bright, cold days - where you might well end up pushing what little warm air there is into the gravel bed - which might not be what you want..... Like much of the 'science' in the programme, I got the feeling that it was done for the sake of 'good TV', rather that being particularly 'green'. Dick likes 'making things' - which is great - but some of the things he devised in the series seemed to be a triumph of ingenuity over common-sense... A cheap way of storing the heat in a greenhouse (if you have the room) is to put as many black-painted oil drums in there as you can manage. Fill them with water. When it's hot in the greenhouse the drums & water will absorb the heat, when it's cooler the drums will rediate the heat back into the greenhouse. Probably just as effective and the gravel bed system - and no moving parts to go wrong ! I seem to remember he used recycled glass cullet. I don't know if that makes any difference. Indeed he did, he hired a glass bottle sonic "crusher" then scrounged the bottles from the local pub, so everything was free. Then used some white plastic tubing to direct the heat from the top of the GH down into the bottom of the glass sump. It was powered by a solar panel (outside the GH), but I thought the fan was a little more sophisticated than a simple PC fan (could be wrong). The real advantage of this is that it takes up no space, uses up no energy, and basically just runs itself an ideal little extra heat during the evenings, though there was no real demonstration of how well it worked. Would be nice to see a max/min thermometer inside and out of the GH to see what difference it can make. Though how you turn off a heat sump I don't know. D |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
dr wrote:
gentlegreen wrote: "Adrian" wrote in message ... Hi all On 28 Mar 2007 05:52:38 -0700, "adder1969" wrote: On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote: Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. Yes - that's how it (was claimed to) work..... The principle has been around a long time - and is used in house heating - it's effective where there are large differences between day-time and night-time temperatures. The key to its success would be how much airflow you could get from the PC fan, and how much gravel you had to store the heat in.... I guess that most of us would open the greenhouse vents when it go really hot in there - so much of the hot air would escape. Also, a simple 'solar panel runs the fan' approach would not account for bright, cold days - where you might well end up pushing what little warm air there is into the gravel bed - which might not be what you want..... Like much of the 'science' in the programme, I got the feeling that it was done for the sake of 'good TV', rather that being particularly 'green'. Dick likes 'making things' - which is great - but some of the things he devised in the series seemed to be a triumph of ingenuity over common-sense... A cheap way of storing the heat in a greenhouse (if you have the room) is to put as many black-painted oil drums in there as you can manage. Fill them with water. When it's hot in the greenhouse the drums & water will absorb the heat, when it's cooler the drums will rediate the heat back into the greenhouse. Probably just as effective and the gravel bed system - and no moving parts to go wrong ! I seem to remember he used recycled glass cullet. I don't know if that makes any difference. Indeed he did, he hired a glass bottle sonic "crusher" then scrounged the bottles from the local pub, so everything was free. Then used some white plastic tubing to direct the heat from the top of the GH down into the bottom of the glass sump. It was powered by a solar panel (outside the GH), but I thought the fan was a little more sophisticated than a simple PC fan (could be wrong). The real advantage of this is that it takes up no space, uses up no energy, and basically just runs itself an ideal little extra heat during the evenings, though there was no real demonstration of how well it worked. Would be nice to see a max/min thermometer inside and out of the GH to see what difference it can make. Though how you turn off a heat sump I don't know. D Just watched the tape of this weeks episode, and I see they we're doing the heatsink thing again, only this time using any old rubbish in the hole. D |
Its not easy being green - Greenhouse heater.
On 2 Apr, 10:48, dr wrote:
dr wrote: gentlegreen wrote: "Adrian" wrote in message . .. Hi all On 28 Mar 2007 05:52:38 -0700, "adder1969" wrote: On Mar 28, 11:04 am, Paul Waites wrote: Hi all, Last year there was a BBC2 programme called "Its not easy being green". In one of the episodes the presenter Dick Strawbridge built a greenhouse heater out of a computer cpu fan, solar panels and a bit of piping.... Now that I've erected a nice shiny a wanted to try out his idea (It involved circulating the air from the top of the house back into the gravel bed on the floor. I can't find any link on the internet or the BBC's website..... Has anyone tried this idea or knows where there are plans for such a scheme. Thanks, Paul. The show appears to be back on. I would suspect, solar panels power the fan which blows air down a tube/pipe into the gravel. whether it really works or not I wouldn't like to say. Yes - that's how it (was claimed to) work..... The principle has been around a long time - and is used in house heating - it's effective where there are large differences between day-time and night-time temperatures. The key to its success would be how much airflow you could get from the PC fan, and how much gravel you had to store the heat in.... I guess that most of us would open the greenhouse vents when it go really hot in there - so much of the hot air would escape. Also, a simple 'solar panel runs the fan' approach would not account for bright, cold days - where you might well end up pushing what little warm air there is into the gravel bed - which might not be what you want..... Like much of the 'science' in the programme, I got the feeling that it was done for the sake of 'good TV', rather that being particularly 'green'. Dick likes 'making things' - which is great - but some of the things he devised in the series seemed to be a triumph of ingenuity over common-sense... A cheap way of storing the heat in a greenhouse (if you have the room) is to put as many black-painted oil drums in there as you can manage. Fill them with water. When it's hot in the greenhouse the drums & water will absorb the heat, when it's cooler the drums will rediate the heat back into the greenhouse. Probably just as effective and the gravel bed system - and no moving parts to go wrong ! I seem to remember he used recycled glass cullet. I don't know if that makes any difference. Indeed he did, he hired a glass bottle sonic "crusher" then scrounged the bottles from the local pub, so everything was free. Then used some white plastic tubing to direct the heat from the top of the GH down into the bottom of the glass sump. It was powered by a solar panel (outside the GH), but I thought the fan was a little more sophisticated than a simple PC fan (could be wrong). The real advantage of this is that it takes up no space, uses up no energy, and basically just runs itself an ideal little extra heat during the evenings, though there was no real demonstration of how well it worked. Would be nice to see a max/min thermometer inside and out of the GH to see what difference it can make. Though how you turn off a heat sump I don't know. D Just watched the tape of this weeks episode, and I see they we're doing the heatsink thing again, only this time using any old rubbish in the hole. D Thinking it over you could always fill the heat sink with plastic pop bottles filled with water, thus helping recycle them. David Hill Abacus Nurseries |
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