We have been in our present house for two and a half years now, and this Summer we finally got our greenhouse built. We built our greenhouse on the south side of our house, for the insulation and because it’s one of the best spots in our garden for sunshine. It really is not a solar greenhouse, but I did incorporate some solar principles into it. I will post on how it performs and what changes I make, this Winter.
The south wall of the greenhouse is tilted to 60% to maximize Winter sunlight. I wanted to use old windows to make the greenhouse, but because of the angle, I thought they should be tempered glass for safety. So I found some used patio doors; some for cheap, some for free. Because we live in a fairly mild climate, I did not bother to double glaze. The ends have old windows and storm doors. The roof is coroplast. The greenhouse is about 7 feet by 22 feet. I have two 50 gallon barrels of water for thermal mass. That is a little low, so I may be adding more. There are currently a lot of air leaks in our greenhouse, which I may try to stop up as Winter progresses.
I am cheating a bit in terms of solar design. There are two windows from the house opening into the greenhouse and the basement bathroom fan blows into the greenhouse. In the Winter, I plan to only open the windows when it is too hot in the greenhouse.
I will soon be buying a minimum/maximum thermometer, for the greenhouse, so I can give you some real data on the performance. I look forward to sharing with you how it goes, and I really look forward to having fresh Winter veggies
