I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
demand on my heater.

Here's my mixed report.

As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.

However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.

Mulligans

K Barrett

KB,

I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
living between water filled walls.

The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water can
absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the heat
back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that you
would see any savings.

Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the extreames.

Good growing,
Gene

P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get short and
cold.



"K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
> I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
> turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
> demand on my heater.
>
> Here's my mixed report.
>
> As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
> received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
> just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
> $1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
>
> However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
> falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
> GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
> 42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
> 68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
>
> Mulligans
>
> K Barrett

*G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!

Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
thought it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat
from a day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment
in my life.

The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables, LOL!!

But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.

I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100 top
cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see
the weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly
the coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an
ex-war zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so
far Costa Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah!
To win the lottery!

K

Gene Schurg wrote:
> KB,
>
> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
> living between water filled walls.
>
> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water can
> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the heat
> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that you
> would see any savings.
>
> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the extreames.
>
> Good growing,
> Gene
>
> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get short and
> cold.
>
>
>
> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
>
>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
>>demand on my heater.
>>
>>Here's my mixed report.
>>
>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
>>
>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
>>
>>Mulligans
>>
>>K Barrett
>
>
>

For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived in
SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.

Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold, there
were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
> *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
>
> Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I thought
> it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from a
> day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in my
> life.
>
> The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables, LOL!!
>
> But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
> only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
>
> I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100 top
> cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
> fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see the
> weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly the
> coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
> zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far Costa
> Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win the
> lottery!
>
> K
>
> Gene Schurg wrote:
>> KB,
>>
>> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
>> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
>> living between water filled walls.
>>
>> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water can
>> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the heat
>> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
>> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that you
>> would see any savings.
>>
>> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
>> extreames.
>>
>> Good growing,
>> Gene
>>
>> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get short
>> and
>> cold.
>>
>>
>>
>> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
>>
>>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
>>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
>>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
>>>demand on my heater.
>>>
>>>Here's my mixed report.
>>>
>>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
>>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
>>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
>>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
>>>
>>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
>>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
>>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
>>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
>>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
>>>
>>>Mulligans
>>>
>>>K Barrett
>>
>>

Are these heat sinks sealed,or open topped?Does it matter either way.
Cheers Keith
"Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
news:J7adnSvFtppxXsbeRVn-3A [at] comcast.com...
> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived
in
> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>
> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
there
> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>
> --
>
> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>
>
> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
> > *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
> >
> > Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
thought
> > it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from a
> > day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in my
> > life.
> >
> > The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables,
LOL!!
> >
> > But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
> > only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
> >
> > I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100 top
> > cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
> > fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see
the
> > weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly the
> > coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
> > zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far Costa
> > Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win the
> > lottery!
> >
> > K
> >
> > Gene Schurg wrote:
> >> KB,
> >>
> >> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
> >> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
> >> living between water filled walls.
> >>
> >> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water can
> >> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the
heat
> >> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
> >> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that you
> >> would see any savings.
> >>
> >> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
> >> extreames.
> >>
> >> Good growing,
> >> Gene
> >>
> >> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get
short
> >> and
> >> cold.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
> >>
> >>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
> >>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
> >>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
> >>>demand on my heater.
> >>>
> >>>Here's my mixed report.
> >>>
> >>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
> >>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
> >>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
> >>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
> >>>
> >>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
> >>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
> >>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
> >>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
> >>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
> >>>
> >>>Mulligans
> >>>
> >>>K Barrett
> >>
> >>
>

Closed. If the were open, evaporation would cool them more rapidly.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"keith ;-)" <keith.kent3 [at] REMOVETHISntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:H2Q6f.8303$S_1.2524 [at] newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
> Are these heat sinks sealed,or open topped?Does it matter either way.
> Cheers Keith
> "Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
> news:J7adnSvFtppxXsbeRVn-3A [at] comcast.com...
>> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived
> in
>> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
>> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
>> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>>
>> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
> there
>> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
>> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
>> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>>
>>
>> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
>> > *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
>> >
>> > Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
> thought
>> > it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from a
>> > day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in my
>> > life.
>> >
>> > The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables,
> LOL!!
>> >
>> > But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
>> > only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
>> >
>> > I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100
>> > top
>> > cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
>> > fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see
> the
>> > weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly the
>> > coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
>> > zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far
>> > Costa
>> > Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win the
>> > lottery!
>> >
>> > K
>> >
>> > Gene Schurg wrote:
>> >> KB,
>> >>
>> >> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
>> >> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
>> >> living between water filled walls.
>> >>
>> >> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water
>> >> can
>> >> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the
> heat
>> >> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
>> >> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that
>> >> you
>> >> would see any savings.
>> >>
>> >> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
>> >> extreames.
>> >>
>> >> Good growing,
>> >> Gene
>> >>
>> >> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get
> short
>> >> and
>> >> cold.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
>> >>
>> >>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
>> >>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly
>> >>>cold.
>> >>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
>> >>>demand on my heater.
>> >>>
>> >>>Here's my mixed report.
>> >>>
>> >>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
>> >>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
>> >>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
>> >>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
>> >>>
>> >>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild.
>> >>>Night's
>> >>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer
>> >>>the
>> >>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got
>> >>>to
>> >>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
>> >>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
>> >>>
>> >>>Mulligans
>> >>>
>> >>>K Barrett
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>
>

Thanks Ray.
Keith
"Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
news:fJqdneeSGvXqU8beRVn-rw [at] comcast.com...
> Closed. If the were open, evaporation would cool them more rapidly.
>
> --
>
> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>
>
> "keith ;-)" <keith.kent3 [at] REMOVETHISntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:H2Q6f.8303$S_1.2524 [at] newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
> > Are these heat sinks sealed,or open topped?Does it matter either way.
> > Cheers Keith
> > "Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
> > news:J7adnSvFtppxXsbeRVn-3A [at] comcast.com...
> >> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I
lived
> > in
> >> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
> >> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
> >> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
> >>
> >> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
> > there
> >> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop
below
> >> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
> >> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
> >>
> >>
> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
> >> > *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
> >> >
> >> > Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
> > thought
> >> > it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from
a
> >> > day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in
my
> >> > life.
> >> >
> >> > The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables,
> > LOL!!
> >> >
> >> > But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water
will
> >> > only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
> >> >
> >> > I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100
> >> > top
> >> > cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities)
was
> >> > fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and
see
> > the
> >> > weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly
the
> >> > coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
> >> > zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far
> >> > Costa
> >> > Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win
the
> >> > lottery!
> >> >
> >> > K
> >> >
> >> > Gene Schurg wrote:
> >> >> KB,
> >> >>
> >> >> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short
period.
> >> >> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would
be
> >> >> living between water filled walls.
> >> >>
> >> >> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water
> >> >> can
> >> >> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the
> > heat
> >> >> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there
is
> >> >> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that
> >> >> you
> >> >> would see any savings.
> >> >>
> >> >> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
> >> >> extreames.
> >> >>
> >> >> Good growing,
> >> >> Gene
> >> >>
> >> >> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get
> > short
> >> >> and
> >> >> cold.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
> >> >>
> >> >>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the
weather
> >> >>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly
> >> >>>cold.
> >> >>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
> >> >>>demand on my heater.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>Here's my mixed report.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
> >> >>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums.
I
> >> >>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
> >> >>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild.
> >> >>>Night's
> >> >>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer
> >> >>>the
> >> >>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got
> >> >>>to
> >> >>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH
was
> >> >>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>Mulligans
> >> >>>
> >> >>>K Barrett
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

On initial read this sounds great. My first thought was if you had the
water barrels you wouldn't need heat in SC. What is the probability that
you would have a week of overcast cool days followed by a long cold period?
Would the heat sink be sufficient to protect the plants?

I guess you could consider having a small alternate heat source. It's like
buying flood insurance when you are in the 100 year flood plane.

Good growing,
Gene



"Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
news:J7adnSvFtppxXsbeRVn-3A [at] comcast.com...
> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived
in
> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>
> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
there
> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>
> --
>
> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>
>
> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
> > *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
> >
> > Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
thought
> > it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from a
> > day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in my
> > life.
> >
> > The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables,
LOL!!
> >
> > But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
> > only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
> >
> > I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100 top
> > cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
> > fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see
the
> > weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly the
> > coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
> > zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far Costa
> > Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win the
> > lottery!
> >
> > K
> >
> > Gene Schurg wrote:
> >> KB,
> >>
> >> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
> >> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
> >> living between water filled walls.
> >>
> >> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water can
> >> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the
heat
> >> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
> >> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that you
> >> would see any savings.
> >>
> >> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
> >> extreames.
> >>
> >> Good growing,
> >> Gene
> >>
> >> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get
short
> >> and
> >> cold.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
> >>
> >>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
> >>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly cold.
> >>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
> >>>demand on my heater.
> >>>
> >>>Here's my mixed report.
> >>>
> >>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
> >>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
> >>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
> >>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
> >>>
> >>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild. Night's
> >>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer the
> >>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got to
> >>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
> >>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
> >>>
> >>>Mulligans
> >>>
> >>>K Barrett
> >>
> >>
>

I did Gene, a 5000W electric heater that apparently came on so minimally
that it didn't seem to cause an overwhelming and obvious blip to me electric
bill.

Then I moved north again....

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Gene Schurg" <gene_schurg_nospam [at] verizon.net> wrote in message
news:zQX6f.6933$iH6.5868 [at] trnddc01...
> On initial read this sounds great. My first thought was if you had the
> water barrels you wouldn't need heat in SC. What is the probability that
> you would have a week of overcast cool days followed by a long cold
> period?
> Would the heat sink be sufficient to protect the plants?
>
> I guess you could consider having a small alternate heat source. It's
> like
> buying flood insurance when you are in the 100 year flood plane.
>
> Good growing,
> Gene
>
>
>
> "Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
> news:J7adnSvFtppxXsbeRVn-3A [at] comcast.com...
>> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived
> in
>> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
>> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
>> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>>
>> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
> there
>> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
>> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
>> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>>
>>
>> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:eKmdncm6ZdWzI8beRVn-tA [at] comcast.com...
>> > *G*! We ain't even into winter yet, LOL!!
>> >
>> > Nah, I only wanted to report that the water cost much less than I
> thought
>> > it did. And that I was a dolt an forgot to reset the thermostat from a
>> > day I was working in the GH. Hence yet another 'do over' moment in my
>> > life.
>> >
>> > The lesson to be learned is to check & re-check all your variables,
> LOL!!
>> >
>> > But you and Pat Brennan are undoubtedly correct in that the water will
>> > only amelioate the extremes. Which is a good thing.
>> >
>> > I've been googling real estate. The Money magazine report on the 100
>> > top
>> > cities in America (found from their link on cities commuter cities) was
>> > fun to click around on, until you get to the botom of the page and see
> the
>> > weather high/lo and inches of rainfall. Internationally supposedly the
>> > coast of Croatia ain't bad, but one wonders about living in an ex-war
>> > zone... *G* Then there's the Pacific bays of Honduras. But so far
>> > Costa
>> > Rica near the San Antonio Miguel reserve has me hooked. Ah! To win the
>> > lottery!
>> >
>> > K
>> >
>> > Gene Schurg wrote:
>> >> KB,
>> >>
>> >> I don't think you will be able to measure savings over a short period.
>> >> Also, I would not expect it to be a huge savings or all of us would be
>> >> living between water filled walls.
>> >>
>> >> The real savings will be on the very hot winter days when the water
>> >> can
>> >> absorb the radiant heat. In the evening it will slowly release the
> heat
>> >> back into the greenhouse. If you have a group of days where there is
>> >> little/no difference between the day/night temperature I doubt that
>> >> you
>> >> would see any savings.
>> >>
>> >> Basically, I would expect the water heat sink would help with the
>> >> extreames.
>> >>
>> >> Good growing,
>> >> Gene
>> >>
>> >> P.S. I'd still trade winters with you. I hate to see the days get
> short
>> >> and
>> >> cold.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:m6OdnaaeT78o-MfeRVn-uQ [at] comcast.com...
>> >>
>> >>>I placed 3 55-gallon drums filled with water in my GH when the weather
>> >>>turned cooler. In N calif where I am the winters aren't terribly
>> >>>cold.
>> >>> I wanted to see if the thermal mass of the water would reduce the
>> >>>demand on my heater.
>> >>>
>> >>>Here's my mixed report.
>> >>>
>> >>>As some of you may recall I believed any gas savings I would have
>> >>>received was offset by the cost of the water to fill these 3 drums. I
>> >>>just got my water bill, did the math and the cost for the water was
>> >>>$1.30. So there went that theory, for the better.
>> >>>
>> >>>However, on the bad side, the weather here has been very mild.
>> >>>Night's
>> >>>falling to about 56F. According to my min/max mercury thermometer
>> >>>the
>> >>>GH stayed about 61-62F at night. We did have one cold night, it got
>> >>>to
>> >>>42F and (!) the heater came on. When I awoke in the AM the the GH was
>> >>>68!!! There went that savings, LOL!! I reset the thermostat.
>> >>>
>> >>>Mulligans
>> >>>
>> >>>K Barrett
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>
>

Ray wrote:
> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived in
> SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>
> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold, there
> were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop below
> 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>

I remember you saying that, which is why i commented that as far as i
knew you were the only person to have the 55 gallon drum idea work. and
too well, becasue you thought it delayed flowering in your orchids.

K

I went for a whole year without a single phal spike.....

Remember that I had over 600 gallons of water trapped. That's over 5000# to
hold heat, and SC is nice and sunny.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"K Barrett" <mormodes [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:N_mdne0Xi9gebsHenZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d [at] comcast.com...
> Ray wrote:
>> For what it's worth, I had a 14' x 14', double-layer poly GH when I lived
>> in SC. Each of the two benches consisted of bread trays on top of six
>> 55-gallon steel drums that had been filled with water (and a bit of
>> antifreeze as a rust inhibitor) and painted flat black.
>>
>> Keeping in mind that it's real sunny down there, even when it's cold,
>> there were times that the nighttime temp in the greenhouse wouldn't drop
>> below 68°F when it was in the upper teens or 20's outside.
>>
>
> I remember you saying that, which is why i commented that as far as i knew
> you were the only person to have the 55 gallon drum idea work. and too
> well, becasue you thought it delayed flowering in your orchids.
>
> K