Greenhouse or building

[Bigtyny]

I have been planning on get charms again and wanted to know which would be better a greenhouse or building ? I don't really have anymore room in my reptile room so I am planning on getting a building or greenhouse and I live were it gets cold and lose power.

 

[Todnedo]

For cold climates I would go with a building or sunroom addition on your home.
With the room addition you will have the thermal mass of the home during power outages.
A green house is not very green in a cold climate as far as energy goes. Most green houses have an R-value of about 2 or less so in an outage you would have very little time before the temps dropped to outside temps inside the green house.

 

[fluxlizard]

It totally depends on your situation.

I went for a building and sometimes wish I had done a greenhouse. Would have taken many years of fossil fuel bills for greenhouse heat to offset the expense of the building- and now that got even more intense after rebuilding from a fire this year (which would also have never happened in a greenhouse). Also, although the building I built has been very energy efficient (never required heat to remain above 50 even on nights in the teens), the lights on the cages still can run up a huge electricity bill ($400 for me sometimes when I had a lot of winter indoor breeding going on rather than sleeping lots of lizards through). Then there is also the cost of the fixtures and tubes that have to be replaced regularly and bulbs. A greenhouse = no lighting (I guess- I haven't used one) so although you have a gas heat bill to cover night temps, you probably wouldn't have an electrical lighting bill and annual or biannual light replacement bill.

How about how bert langerwerf did it for his different bradypodion species- solar pit style concrete block below grade enclosures?

 

[CarlC]

Im in the process of designing a 20' x 49' greenhouse. From talking with some locals who have houses I am being told your heat source will only really run at night. Once the sun is up it does the warming for you. On a 20 degree day here when it is very sunny cooling is needed.

There are lots of choices when it comes to heating. Radiant floor heating is popular around here. You keep the cement slab warm and the heat rises. A 50 gallon water heater, pump and thermostat are all that is needed. Gas or oil heat also has its fans. That just solves the heat problem. Ventilation is a major concern also.

The cost of building with all the options is what gets expensive. Im giving a rough estimate of 35k for mine. This is from excavation to the finished product. Some area's need building permits and inspections so don't forget those costs.

Call a reputable greenhouse retailer or builder and describe what your end goal is. They can give you idea's.

Carl

 

[fluxlizard]

Wow Carl- that's a lot more expensive than I was thinking - that's more than my building cost (30x42'). I built it myself though except the concrete pad which cost 10,000. What do you think about the big greenhouse kits sold by Farmtek? Ever check them out?

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1a;ft_greenhouses.html

How about this one less than 10,000 about the size you need-

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft_greenhouses-ft_professional_greenhouses;pg106306_106314C.html

Our course you would still need a concrete pad and heat system and water system...

 

[CarlC]

Wow Carl- that's a lot more expensive than I was thinking - that's more than my building cost (30x42'). I built it myself though except the concrete pad which cost 10,000. What do you think about the big greenhouse kits sold by Farmtek? Ever check them out?

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1a;ft_greenhouses.html

How about this one less than 10,000 about the size you need-

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft_greenhouses-ft_professional_greenhouses;pg106306_106314C.html

Our course you would still need a concrete pad and heat system and water system...

And electrical. I am having a separate panel pulled for the house. Controls and automation is also a major expense. I work 12 hours days so I need almost everything automated. I do not plan on lighting the cages in the summer. The top will be shade cloth. It is not sunny every single day where our animals come from. During the winter month's a single T5 across the tops of the cages should provide for the animals needs. I will have some overhead halide lighting for working inside during the shorter day length winter month's.

A commercial RO system will be used to keep a 500 gallon holding tank full. The large tank full of water will also help with heat since once the water in it is warmed it will radiate. I will be running a PEX line from my house.

Excavation is also major since I need to have a structure that will need to be protected from freeze cracking on the foundation. This is written into the code requirements here. This is a big house and after a major rain run off will need to be addressed. This is a huge surface area. Some water will be used and contained for water needs inside the house but we get long periods of no rain so the RO above is more of a back up.

Another big consideration is snow load. In my area it is not uncommon to get a storm that dumps 2'-3' of snow. There are tons of house designs that do not have a load rating which is ok for the southern area's.

As you can see the costs start to add up.

FarmTek was a consideration. The house you linked to is just the house. If you click the options you see with heat and roll up sides the price jumps to 18k.

The only reason I am going with a greenhouse over a insulated building is I would like to have the benefit of real sun and the savings of real sun in the summer month's.

Carl

 

[Bigtyny]

Thanks now I got a better picture of what to do. I got another question doesn't the glass or plastic block uva and uvb?

 

[CarlC]

Yes it blocks the UV's. Screen cloth in the warm month's will allow the UV's through. How much gets through depends on the shade rating of the cloth.

Carl

 

[fluxlizard]

Sounds like you have it well planned.
I'm lucky here- not much snow.
Summers I haul everything out into the yard for sunlight. Labor intensive every spring and fall carrying everything out and then back in at the end, but works...

Radiant floor heating is popular around here. You keep the cement slab warm and the heat rises.

I think my brother in law has a system like this using water pipes and solar power for his front sidewalk out in the rocky mountains...

 

[MSAquatics]

A small hot water boiler with radiant heat floors would provide the cheapest and most uniform heat, it also wouldn't dry the room/building out. I install them, they are the most efficient way to heat a house, but a costly initial investment.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Yes it blocks the UV's. Screen cloth in the warm month's will allow the UV's through. How much gets through depends on the shade rating of the cloth.

Carl

Carl

If you research more there are greenhouse manufactures that sell skins that allow UVA and UVB Rays to penetrate through. Meaning UV rays for 100% of the year and no lamps or shade clothes are needed and even less of an electricity bill.

Jeremy A. Rich

 

[PressurePro]

Another cheap option to help with winter heating would be to get some 50gal plastic barrels (used for food storage) paint them black, fill with water, and seal. This acts as a heat sink and will release heat into the surrounding area when it starts to cool at night. This wouldn't take care of 100% of the heating, but would help. Do some research on a trombe wall and you'll get the idea.

Another idea I just thought of would be to make it only 1/2 of a greenhouse. Using standard framing and insulation on the north wall might help keep some of that energy trapped inside. Or, make styrofoam panels that fit up against the walls.