Post by bertiefox on Nov 18, 2012 8:07:20 GMT -5
I'd welcome any suggestions about my project to create a frost free winter lean to greenhouse which should have little or no heating input but keep tender crops and plants going all winter.
We already have a 'conservatory' constructed around a south faced building which has the rear and side walls buried in a bank of earth. I've topped this with polycarbonate panels and fronted it with old single glazed doors and windows reclaimed from the tip. This works fine especially at the back where it never drops below freezing despite minus 20C during winter fairly often.
My future project is to use the south facing bank in our garden to construct a 6 or 7ft wall to which I will attach a further structure in polycarbonate roof and glass windows, probably six foot to eight feet wide.
To make this as near frost proof as possible, what thickness of wall should I aim for. I am planning a double layer of blocks with the gap between filled with local stone and rubble. Is this the best material? What might be more effective in creating a thermal mass?
The whole thing might be as long as 30 feet, but what kind of considerations should there be for insulating the sides, roof and front? Or floor?
The main purpose of the building would be as a place to put all our tender trees and shrubs...like guavas and avocados...to protect them in winter.
At present I just about get these plants through winter with minimal damage and no added heating. Will my proposed greenhouse ever work or should I go back to the design board?
We already have a 'conservatory' constructed around a south faced building which has the rear and side walls buried in a bank of earth. I've topped this with polycarbonate panels and fronted it with old single glazed doors and windows reclaimed from the tip. This works fine especially at the back where it never drops below freezing despite minus 20C during winter fairly often.
My future project is to use the south facing bank in our garden to construct a 6 or 7ft wall to which I will attach a further structure in polycarbonate roof and glass windows, probably six foot to eight feet wide.
To make this as near frost proof as possible, what thickness of wall should I aim for. I am planning a double layer of blocks with the gap between filled with local stone and rubble. Is this the best material? What might be more effective in creating a thermal mass?
The whole thing might be as long as 30 feet, but what kind of considerations should there be for insulating the sides, roof and front? Or floor?
The main purpose of the building would be as a place to put all our tender trees and shrubs...like guavas and avocados...to protect them in winter.
At present I just about get these plants through winter with minimal damage and no added heating. Will my proposed greenhouse ever work or should I go back to the design board?
