Greenhouse New Thermal Mass Tank 275 Gallon IBC Tote Hydronic Heat Exchanger Raspberry Pi Controlled

In this video I show and explain my new 275 gallon tank as thermal mass. I use a low power 12 volt circulator pump, a Raspberry Pi, thermal sensors, and some python code to turn the circulator on and off. The circulator uses a copper coil as a hydronic heat exchanger to capture heat from the pot on the wood stove to the thermal mass storage tank. The thermal mass storage tank releases it's heat over time, thus regulating the greenhouse environment especially for cold nights in the winter. The Raspberry Pi also acts as a data collector to collect data from the greenhouse which is captured to a database and charted on my home computer via MySQL and PHP.

[@redsquirrelftw]

Been toying with this for my house with the crazy natural gas prices now days. I'm thinking if I build a big insulated box for 2 IBC totes and put them behind my shed I could run some insulated lines to the house for radiant floor heat. Idea would be to use solar power or if I get a wood stove, could use that too, and heat the water. I mostly need heat in the morning when I get up to shower, so I would set it up to heat the bathroom just in time for when I have to get up. Though I could go a step further and do radiant floor heat throughout the whole house.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Sounds awesome! If you do it please share with us!

[@JackButlerVideos]

interesting video! thanks a lot for posting! I think the working range of the IBC tanks is -40c to 60c

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Thanks for the kind words! Hmm 60 c is 140... Yeah I don't expect to reach 140 in there anyway.. takes a long time to heat 285 (overfilled) gallons to 140... but thanks for the heads up. I DEF wouldn't want to exceed that and have a hot water flood! lol

[@richardturner6340]

So, now you have over-wintered. Any feedback, any data you would share with us about the effectiveness of your system? I'm working with a similar idea, but to bury 2 IBC totes under the greenhouse. They would be encased in 3" foam, and surrounded by aircrete, sides and bottom... I plan to use vacuum tubes and solar to heat the water, and run the water through PEX under an attached studio for supplemental heat. Your reflections would be greatly appreciated. I'm in southern PA.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Hmmm... I would say use insulated walls on anything that won't be letting light in. Buried under the greenhouse sounds great! Put lots and lots of solar collectors up! I'm curious to see how your setup does. Please share with us!

[@aranscutcher6994]

Good video and interesting concept. What is your heat source and cost of same? How is the heat radiated back into the greenhouse? Thanks

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

I heat with a wood stove. I don't have an itemized cost, but I use a tractor and chainsaw and cut and skid my own wood. Prob $100 - $200 for the season with fuel, chainsaw chains etc. Here's a playlist with more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6ispaSoaq6nosU's more details about how heat exchanges: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZLElWpufJ5lj9EBasically it just radiates back from the thermal mass tanks. Thanks for your interest!

[@icolak]

So this is from October, How is now? what is the temperature difference between outside and inside the greenhouse? also I do not understand the last part of the calculation, why are you multiplying it with 120 (I think I did not understand the working range thing) Thank you.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Working well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpi7kKCYjK97a7Nl20 because that is about what I expected to be able to reach temperature wise without being concerned about melting the plastic. I chose 60 as the bottom temp because not much heat will radiate below that temp and 180 so the plastic wouldn't melt... so the difference is 120 and therefor the "storage range" of the tank. Hope this helps... Thanks for watching!

[@icolak]

@@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork Thank you, I'm planning to build a greenhouse for double purposes. First I will put a series of IBC tanks for wastewater treatment coming from my tiny house. Second grow stuff there and use the treated water for them. My initial plan is to put 4 tanks, and later stack four more on top of them for more water. I believe they will absorb some solar heat without heating but later I'm planning to add a solar water heater to heat the waters in the tank. I hope this will work.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

sounds like a good plan to me... I want to add more tanks and build a bigger greenhouse in the future. I'm sure you can find other creative ways to capture heat to the tanks, but that much water will definitely help you buffer out your heating needs. What part of the country (climate) are you in?

[@icolak]

@@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork Northeast Pennsylvania

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Ahh ok... very similar climate. Well let me know if I can help answer any engineering questions for you.

[@crazyrees23]

How hot was it inside your greenhouse because of your heated tank?

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Well I usually never let it below 60F.. but thats using the stove and multiple thermal mass tanks to manage it. Here's a video with some charting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZ3CaHqGgseioJI cheers!

[@nuggetsyl]

What about using solar vacuum tubes? This would make heating water even in the winter very efficient.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

I would need a football field of them.. and tanks to match... the greenhouse is VERY low insulation. I have one panel like that, but when i did the calcs... 6 hours sun would only be about 15,000 BTUS. Wood is cheap and readily available here. Eventually I'd like to build a greenhouse recessed into the ground, then solar could provide all the heat.

[@nuggetsyl]

@@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork you would need 4-5x less area with water over clay. Also you can keep any area of land at 50 degrees just doing geothermal by itself. They question is how much the initial build is vs crops produced in that time to make up the difference

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

@@nuggetsyl Yeah, it's a lot of digging for land I don't own. Water over clay? Can you clarify?

[@nuggetsyl]

@@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork water hold heats better then clay or soil. About 4-5 times better. It's the reason why you see frozen soil at winter time and the water is still liquid.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

@@nuggetsyl oh yes i see what you're saying. water at specific heat of 1.00 vs soil / rock round .3 -.5 ... yep!