Concrete Thermal Mass is in! Deep Winter, Passive Solar, Super Insulated Greenhouse

[@CanadianPrepper]

Impressive can't wait to see it in person!

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

It’s very nice. We’ll get you one built when you’re ready. Or come live by me. 🤔👊✌️

[@gabrielarcari4460]

Shake off the Zombies before you come... 😉

[@suzanneeckstein13]

Canadian Prepper turned me onto your channel and I have been a customer of your smoothies for over a year now

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Thanks so much. ☺️🙏

[@reeblesnarfle4519]

Amazing amazing ingenuity. ... always wanted to live in a warehouse/ greenhouse, basicly one open big space. Like a studio warehouse, where they live, have a studio, and a working area. Openess. I even looked in commercial areas for a good deal. Settled for 1.78ac fenced w/ 85yr old 3 room house. 700sq ft.🙄 2 3' closets, no kichen cabinets. Old. 100amp panel! Whoo Hoo! More than a fixer upper...🤪 45 mi. South of Atlanta in outskirts of then 22k ppl, now 36k. Although I'm very heavily landscaped it, for privacy, don't feel like I'm far enuf out though. But at 75, will most likely take my dream of a warehouse with me. (Or an old post office, church, gas station, general store) YOU however, spark my brain, DOING what you imagined. I have 'others' I watch on the tube, barndominiums, to tiny house, to homesteading, to van life. But YOU clipped that special spark off in me. Your offerings were science and practical influences, with hints of rationale and sheer brilliance. And alot of work and study. Even your videos pass along the fire and passion you have for your vision. Youf vids are technologicly intricate to hold attention, and complexity to hzve figure out how to do it YOUR way. You want efficiency and control. And your outcome has become predictable. Sucessful. God's speed and grace be upon you in a most intreaguing and intresting project on such a grand scale. The one thing you openly possess evidently is VISION. MUCH SUCESS TO YOU. 10mins into your first vid, I subbed. I know what Iike. I was taught to appreciate the good things in life; Which, apparently, you are one of ...

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Wow. I really appreciate that. 🙏Comments like that keep me super motivated. I keep trying to tell everyone that it is totally doable. So glad I decided to come out into the public space; just extending out my little olive branch. Thanks again for all the kind words. 🙏

[@marvettebarkerthompson455]

You are really a smart man. I see definite preparations for regular life in terms of winter problems and the crisis that is imminent. Good job.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Thanks for that. It really works well in the summer too. Weed suppression in particular I notice big time.

[@joannekeith9430]

Your smile says it all!

[@acanadianineurope814]

I have had a portable hot tub inside the house for several years. Have to be really careful with the chemicals or it could smell like a public pool. Also the humidity, but I think you want that in the greenhouse. Very good job on the floor, congrats !

[@delraydan1939]

This is so awesome.... I will need this in the new place ...

[@TheBackinblack333]

You're full of awesome ideas. Love your concept, business concept too. Like you said, "it's not prepping, it's Thriving!" Saved this video and your others. We're thinking of doing one with a salt pool, since my wife loves swimming. We're moving in October in the country. I'm definitely staying posted. Thanks again for another great video.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Awesome. This building would be really nice for a pool. And would work excellent. 👍 Make sure you produce food though too.

[@TheBackinblack333]

@@ArkopiaKZbin of course! Citrus and tropical fruits are the idea behind this. 😁 a few other varieties. Got ourselves some sea buckthorn for the outside of the property. Did it take you 8 weeks with your seeds stratification in a cold area for them to afterwards germinate? Just curious. Thanks again.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

@@TheBackinblack333 We actually got the sea buckthorn plugs from a tree company. So they had established roots. Every single one took, planted in plastic mulch row. ✌️

[@happyhobbit8450]

@@ArkopiaKZbin What tree company ... maybe I can order from them too. I'm in BC

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

@@happyhobbit8450 Shand Greenhouse is combination with Sask Power sometimes gives them free for farm shelter belts in Saskatchewan. Or Treetime.ca. 👍✌️

[@thomasholden1974]

Setting the standards love it 🌞🌱❤️ Sending love from scotland glasgow 👍🏼🍻

[@hughjair133]

I like the hot tub idea, you should put in a little koi pond also👍

[@christianlove420]

Good work. Look great.. Sippin lemon tea from your hotub eatin jerky.. ya buddieeeee

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Not prepping….. it’s “Thriving” 👍✌️👊

[@247VillainStatus]

You're looking like a kid in a candy store! Congrats

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I totally am. So much work to get it here. 🙏✌️

[@Chris153758]

Congratulations, it looks great! All your hard work is coming to fruition, literally...

[@dragalochta4531]

Hiya... hope you are well man. Blessings to you and yours. Roll on the winter... be nice seeing the arkopia operating full swing. I'd love to visit, but it's a long swim from Scotland. 😂

[@garyziegler2433]

Looks really great! I am planning to move to Alaska and would love to do the same thing. I have watched many of your previous videos and thing your design has many benefits and the design has been well thought out. I look forward to updates on how it performs! Well done!

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Thanks. Just check how much sun you’ve got where you are in Alaska. I haven’t really looked into how this design would work that much further north. Likely fairly well. 👍✌️🙏

[@ge2719]

i've been thinking about a crazy idea of making a wood stove sauna that also doubles as a smoker :P, so the smoker is on the outside of the sauna, but you can engage heat pipes with the airflow plates in the smoker so they act as a heat sync into the sauna when you want to heat that up. I have no way to build it but i think it would be a good way to reuse heat and make some tasty food while getting a sweat on. 😂

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I totally thought about the same thing. 😂✌️

[@theuglykwan]

Eagerly awaited this update.

[@rayenns751]

Great concept, good luck in your venture.

[@ericfaulk8501]

Thanks. Love the thought that you put into it. Making your own ecosystem.

[@Christopherjames1B2G]

That’s awesome, I could use some of your ideas to keep my greenhouse growing year round :)

[@durtisdanger]

Love it! Stay hard brother! Love from over here in Albertastan!

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Always! You too.

[@offgridwanabe]

Looks pretty dry for curing of new concrete. But I love the look. Congrats I can see the smile trying to get out.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Made the video a few days after to pour. 👍✌️

[@markrivera88]

Your work is incredible dude. Keep it up!

[@harrietmartens742]

The greenhouse is looking absolutely wonderful. Very impressive

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

So nice of you. :)

[@AshleyMillsTube]

Congratulations! One thing I notice you are missing (haha, as if you didn't have enough going on), is a mushroom growing room. If you implemented one of those you could use the autoclave to steam-pasteurise the fresh mulch before adding it to your existing mulch. There is also a strategy which might work where you put the mulch in water so it kills the aerobic bacteria and it causes anaerobic organisms to colonise, then after a while you take it out of water to kill off the anaerobic bacteria. Not sure if that would help with insect eggs etc, but steam pasteurising would definitely work. Mushroom room would be great, wouldn't need to be in the greenhouse and wouldn't take up too much space.

[@audhildhekland4979]

For those who consider building something like this as home extension I suppose polishing the concrete would make it look very appealing. It looks cool in bathrooms, and is longer lived than ceramic tiles..

[@dlcarbonneau3750]

amazing video, thanks so much for jam packed info.

[@i_am_a_freespirit]

Looking Good. You even got the under floor water heater hoses... that'll keep your floor warm in Winter

[@kathyignasiak275]

Been watching Canadian Prepper and he brought you to us. So excited for your journey, what you're doing is fantastic. We have a greenhouse getting installed shortly. We are in Michigan and decided to dig down 4 ft to put it on. I'm still learning a lot about growing food this way. I'm thinking I will be learning my whole life. 😊

[@happyhobbit8450]

I really want to build a greenhouse/house -- you have such wonderful ideas!!! Thank you for the inspiration :)

[@jrose353]

Damn that whole setup you have is amazing. Like seriously if this house ever burnt down… 👀 I’d build a passive solar greenhouse/house together. I like the idea of earth ships, but I’m really not for myself or anyone else pounding tires for that.. I would 100% subscribe to that, but I live in Michigan! 😭😭😭

[@theuglykwan]

You can skip the tires and use earthbags or just just cinder blocks and concrete. There's also mechanical pounders that can reduce some of the muscle work. My lottery home is also an earthship combined with a greenhouse this size. The standard earthship greenhouse isn't going to cut it for me. Even the size of this one is probably insufficient for my dreams! This guy lives in Canada.

[@goofyroofy]

Good stuff, love seeing it coming along, the concerte in the back will let you have the trees in pots which can help limit them getting too high in there, so thats a plus. The saunas a good idea the greenhouse in Colorado at the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute has a sauna inside, free heat after using it and the dryness will help in winter, so will that wood stove as well XD

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I watched all his stuff, and loved his sauna filled with all those slabs of granite and stone pieces, if I recall correctly. 👍

[@goofyroofy]

@@ArkopiaKZbin Yeah, I mean it's a bit limited in terms of what he was able to build at the time compared to what we have now, but I think his concept of making the greenhouse livable and able to be used for more than growing plants was a game changer, although the archery area would need some supervision with little ones LOL XD

[@millennialmindset3624]

This is incredible. Cool

[@calysagora3615]

Hey Dean! I don't think you want glossy white, unless that's all you can get. Matte white reflects significantly more light and diffuses any hot spots. Interesting fact: matte white reflects more light than a mirror. Similarly, matte black absorbs way more than gloss black.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Thanks for that info. I’m going to look that up but you’re likely correct. 🙏

[@foodsciencechannel]

My experiences with black stuff like black slate…black paint…in a greenhouse in winter in northern Wisconsin is way less than summer anything…so don’t spend a lot of money and time on black concrete …you’ll likely be disappointed…..maybe do some kind of testing first…great work so far …you overdo everything you know..

[@craighansen7594]

Inspiring! I will try to scale down some of your designs into my little greenhouse.

[@abefehr6155]

Wow looks amazing worth the money and wait

[@darthgbc363]

I highly recommend an automated wood chip boiler system. Auger fed wood chips into the firebox.

[@calysagora3615]

I'm been looking a lot at "the GEK" from AllPower Labs. It stands for Gasifier Experimental Kit, a modular automated and wildly configurable open source wood gas station, that runs on wood chips or pellets, to produce household gas, heat, hot water, and can be configured to produce biochar, active filter carbon and/or tar as bi-products. They have commercial units with pallet size footprint, called Power Pallet, that has an industrial petrol engine running off of the wood gas, with a generator producing 25kW.

[@marlaconry6341]

So nice! You are an impressive, innovative and visionary young man! Best wishes to you and your family. I find my heart swelling with pride and hope for the future of humanity - thanks to people like you.

[@AboveandBeyond44]

Well done. . All of it. 😃👍

[@joshuaallen8987]

Dude thats awesome, need a roommate lol. Would absolutely love to have a setup like this is Minnesota.

[@agentk943]

I'm super cheap I'd probably just throw down black landscape fabric But absolutely amazing greenhouse

[@mirkopg69]

I like how u think....like my brother in law, he make a similar job (geothermal) all home 👍😊

[@louiealbedi7697]

I plan on doing something similar but putting a in ground aquaponics system instead of dirt grow beds... love what you did here amazing work

[@joannekeith9430]

So exciting! Looks great!

[@kevinrowbotham545]

That is a big job done well!

[@risl1313]

looks fantastic, great job, congratulations 👍😊

[@arenawoodworks]

AWESOME!

[@waylonhartwell]

Too bad I can't just drop by when I'm popping up to Saskatoon in the middle of August LOL I'd love to see the whole thing in person

[@jaretolson3022]

nice work!

[@kevinrowbotham545]

Way better value than a new truck!

[@suzanneeckstein13]

Looks amazing

[@ScottAuch]

You could do a stenciled hex pattern that graduates from your black to white, based on the solar line.

[@elisaturse4777]

Awesome 🤩

[@Junzar56]

Wow! That is amazing!

[@PAINFOOL13]

Nice 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@JB-co1br]

Nice!

[@fabiancanada8876]

Hey, greetings from Nova Scotia! I find your thoughts and ideas very interesting (I think we kind of think alike). I am currently building a barn (I am taking down an old barn and reclaiming the wood..) and would love to add a greenhouse that never freezes (frost wall, heated) and to grow more of our own food.. Looking forward to your next video.

[@jeanniesnider1721]

Have you ever done a video explaining and hooking up the concrete thermal mass function or functioning. I’d be very interested in this.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Haven’t even hooked it up yet. This summers project of if I finish the barn and have time. Solar PV direct water heating. Going to reduce my little heating bill to zero. 👍

[@samMTL514]

I was able to get jet black finish on my concrete by using black stain in the epoxy AND black Aluminum Oxide (special order). It’s been two years since I did it and it’s still perfect. The concrete slab is just outside my garage door. Hence, it’s exposed to outdoor Montreal weather.

[@TeracloudUs]

Love it!

[@Wild_Alien]

Hopefully all the prep work pays off, maybe it would also pay to test the concrete moisture before painting it, I didn't hear you mention a vapor barrier. i hope it works out

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

The sunny part is curing quick. It was hard to finish as the front part was quick, and the back took a while. No vapour barrier or insulation under pad. I did both in shop. 👍

[@Wild_Alien]

If any moisture could potentially travel through the concrete, may it cause paint peeling?, You said it had gotten quite humid in there. I want to see this project work out can't wait for the future vids 👌

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

@@Wild_Alien The finisher thought the epoxy paint was the best idea and product, and that it sticks really good. So hopefully it’ll be good. ✌️

[@Wild_Alien]

@@ArkopiaKZbin 🤞 🙏

[@Wild_Alien]

@@ArkopiaKZbin Hell yeah

[@timyates807]

Congrats man , you have a real dream set up there ! concrete looks amazing , having done my fair share over the years thats a big job theres no way in hell youd have gotten that done by yourself and survived to enjoy it hehe or still had it look that good lol. All in all Its pretty incredible so enjoy it bud , you certainly deserve it . Thanks for sharing and take care

[@jeanniesnider1721]

I noticed in a different video you showed the infloor heat pipes up by the door but not hooked up

[@allmedcom]

Congratulations Dean for the great job. Did you consider expansion slots/spaces ( 1 centimeter /1-2 meters ) in the concrete every 4-5 meters as the concrete temperature and hence expansion/ retraction will swing a lot? What about utilizing strips of cheaper colored ( black and white) mat that can be moved, rolled washed and replaced when needed instead of the fixed and expensive Epoxy paint that may not stand the humidity? Please keep up the good work and posting updates.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Good ideas thank you. 🙏✌️

[@nicholasmatouk4443]

you can buy cooked mulch oven treated.. grow squash corn and beans get microbes for soil.. maybe a fun project to see how much calories you can grow in the greenhouse on its own make it low maintenance

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I’m looking at some rather pricy-for-my-area cedar mulch too at the moment. Imagining the smell of cedar all winter long. 🙂✌️🙏

[@flowercats8106]

Looks great!!!

[@jays7318]

Very very nice. I wish I could afford to do that

[@barryjsamson]

love it

[@Kristin5059]

Really jealous here in AK

[@ShenZhouGaiacoin]

You should use black iron oxide powder mix with top layer of cement, it's dirt cheap and last forever no colour fading

[@waylonhartwell]

Right at the transition you've got to sneak in a small yin and yang painting down a pathway between the White and the black

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

That is a fantastic idea. 👊🙏 Love it

[@ZackBadCompany1234]

I'm going to go roll one out as well 🍻

[@MrBabs4242]

I really enjoy following your journey. Do you have any plans for a root cellar construction this year or did that get pushed to next year?

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Didn’t get to that project. Barn build this fall is the project this year. 👍✌️

[@neilvaniderstine3515]

Just curious if the lines in the concrete could be run on the 45° greenhouse rafters where the sun heats the glycol/water then heats your concrete? Also curious if you looked into a huge sand battery silo? Heat it with your wood stove then retract the heat at night? Thoughts??

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I’ve sort of decided on the evacuated solar tubes just on the roof, on a strong frame. For a sand battery, Im no expert but I have trouble seeing that heat being used for a whole season. Water for inter-day heating I think is the answer. And super insulation of course. ✌️

[@caninetherapyinc9031]

Looks Heavenly! Probably a dumb question but I am wondering how do fruit trees and plants get pollinated in the winter time?

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Little paint brushes. It’s also big enough that there are some mason bees and bugs hanging out all winter too though. But paint brushes. 👍

[@cookingsherry8784]

I've heard that electric toothbrushes work well, too.

[@philtimmons722]

Did you choose to not insulate below the concrete thermal slab? Was that because you figured there would not be much loss downward?

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Made the entire ground a heat sink of sorts. Insulated perimeter. 👍 Hot all summer in there. Passive geothermal

[@NWforager]

curious if you think biochar is god for indoor operations . i think it could also darken the soil a bit plus no bugs ,fungus or anything are harbored in biochar .

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

I’ll have to look into that, as I’m not familiar. Thanks. ✌️

[@vesc1389]

Check related vids on Living Web farm channel. Very good info on making it and properly inoculating it prior to use.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

@@vesc1389 I’ll do that. Thank you. 🙏

[@NWforager]

​@@vesc1389 just sent me down a youtube rabbit hole . lol with sanctions its time the globe took another look at better options . terra preta seems like lost ancient alien tech but its just specialized carbonized wood . .(incoming shou sugi ban rabbit hole :)

[@vesc1389]

@@NWforager lol, lots there, for the quick ‘n dirty approach check out David the Good’s take on terra preta.

[@FlinFarmer]

Hutterite colony of one. hahaha Im so gonna use that one

[@szajsjem]

You could have used a bunch of graphite powder to color the concrete, might have been cheaper.

[@eltonshamblen9766]

Any chance the concrete will do the job as is? Painting is way more fun than unpainting. On local customers. I read there were no grocery stores in US until the 40s pr 50s. Now, like hamsters, we're trained to run to the store for food. All the "almost" food in the grocery, has the fossil energy cost of the "fertilizer",all the "cides" (i.e. pest, fungi, herb, insect, sui) and fossil cost of xportation and extended refrigeration, plus the hidden costs of the runoff into waterways etc,. Does it even make sense? The current food distribution system? I ain't pickin up what the system is layin down for logic on that. I'm sensing a tectonic shift to decentralization with food production an all star. But other areas as well.

[@grzmil1]

I have bad news, concrete is not much better then soil, similar density, heat capacity and lambda. If black pigment was to absorb more light, then soil has similar absorbtivity. Otherwise, awesome place 👌👍😀

[@bobunleashed.io4u]

Noice!

[@hildebertocarreiro9232]

Try mirrors fr light

[@frankpohl4377]

If you would paint the floor black it would be better. Bricks or clay are also a better material then contrete

[@jamess1787]

"I did a thing".... Please don't, they brought lawnmower blades to a growop.... Very scary.

[@leifhietala8074]

22 cu. meters = about 29 cubic yards

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Yup. Misspoke a couple times. 👍✌️

[@arenawoodworks]

isn't it possible to poor a pigment (like powdered charcoal) mixed in a thin concrete top layer. Or use 'Vanta black' or 'Singularity black' both substances use carbon nanotubes that catch every beam of light and looks pitch black. Than you only need to poor cheap epoxy rasin to seal and protect it.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Very interesting. I don’t know enough about it. I’ll see if I can Google what you mentioned. Thanke

[@johnwilliams-ni8cn]

the epoxy will seal it like plastic

[@yohjokromwood2327]

the smal bed ad the door could be naturel swimming pool you just need a plant filter on it thats it no maintaince

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Takes away from precious production space. If anything, I’ll do a hot tub. And fish tanks. 👍✌️

[@ALL4TRUTHANDFREEDOM]

Do you have any chickens?

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

Of course. 👍

[@quienvive675]

🐮👍

[@jeffpenn329]

Put tile down. Epoxy will not last in the sun.

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

This epoxy paint is kinda holding up so far. I’ll probably just give it a cost of paint every few years. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@chrismullin8304]

I can tell you are not excited about the slab, whatsoever!

[@ArkopiaYouTube]

😂😂😂 Just a little maybe. 😂

[@ohhheggsno1068]

Nice! Stay high!!