No expensive heat pumps needed, system uses only enough electricity to blow air through a loop of underground plastic tubing. Also great for reducing high winter heating bills in homes to springtime levels and providing very energy efficient cooling in the summer.
Winter temperatures in Alliance, Nebraska can drop to -20°F, but retired mailman Russ Finch grows oranges in his backyard greenhouse without paying for heat. Instead, he draws on the earth’s stable temperature (around 52 degrees in his region) to grow warm weather produce- citrus, figs, pomegranates – in the snow.
Finch first discovered geothermal heating in 1979 when he and his wife built it into their 4400-square-foot dream home to cut energy costs. Eighteen years later they decided to add a 16’x80′ greenhouse in the backyard. The greenhouse resembles a pit greenhouse (walipini) in that the floor is dug down 4 feet below the surface and the roof is slanted to catch the southern sun.
To avoid using heaters for the cold Nebraska winter nights, Finch relies on the warm underground air fed into the greenhouse via plastic tubing under the yard and one fan.
Finch sells a “Citrus in the Snow” report detailing his work with his “geo-air” greenhouses and says anyone can build a market-producing greenhouse for about $25,000 or “less than the cost of a heat system on a traditional greenhouse”.
• Geothermal heating with only “air” and not liquid
• No expensive “geothermal heat pumps”
• No heat exchangers
• No supplemental heating in the greenhouse for nearly two decades at sub-zero
• Extremely low water consumption
• No system mold or fungus
• Installation costs at only a fraction of present geothermal exchange systems
• Virtually no maintenance costs for decades
Whether you want to heat a giant greenhouse in sub-zero temperatures, or cool a home in 115° desert heat, this simple technology can do it very efficiently with only a circulation blower. This is not a “concept”, it’s a proven reality with more than 30 years of real life testing and fine tuning. Anyone could easily build a “free energy” greenhouse anywhere and earn more than $100,000 per acre annually.
– Owen Geiger
http://www.citrusinthesnow.com/
This is very unique and everyone needs to listen for growing produce in the WINTER. Perhaps, Black River Produce or Woodbury Floral for a better economy for LOCAL farmers and MORE JOB! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
ReplyDeleteVery COOL, HOT idea! I have the room to do this with my house... I love the idea and apparently it really works. I would like to see it work in person before doing it and have someone with experience. My neighbor has 10 green houses and an excavator, I will share this with him as well.
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