Energy Efficient Greenhouses For Growing Food

What Kind of Greenhouse Do You Want To Build?

There are all kinds of different styled greenhouses people can build to house their aquaponics systems and grow healthy foods. Winter can be a challenging time for many people who live in the Northern Hemisphere. We have to deal with maintaining a good water temperature, heating the greenhouse and keeping the cold out to grow food. 

Our family live at 8000 feet in the Colorado mountains. That means freezing temperatures and high winds during winter. In our area we need a greenhouse that can take the winds and believe me it can get pretty rough here at times. Our family already tried the hoop house build (below) and the wind tore it to shreds after a few months. 

Maintaining natural heat throughout the greenhouse is also important. I want to have a greenhouse that will not break the bank but allow me to grow throughout the year. The picture below shows the winter sun position in our area. As you can see the sun is fairly low in the sky on a southerly aspect. We took this picture in January when the lake was totally frozen over.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere growers will need a Southerly aspect for their greenhouse position to maintain the best heating. The longest side of the greenhouse should get the most exposure. For anyone living in the Southern Hemisphere, you will want to place the greenhouse towards the North. 

The graphic image above gives people a good idea of the sun's position during winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Walipini's And Earth Sheltered Greenhouses

Walipini means place of warmth and these types of natural earth style Greenhouses have been built in South America where people were growing bananas at 14,000 feet. That's quite an amazing achievement when you think about it. 

A Walipini is build inside the earth and you may need to hire someone to excavate the long trench. Walipini's are usually built 6 to 8 feet down into the ground and can be as long or short as you need them to be. You can re-use the excavated dirt to create earthbags to reinforce the side walls if you want a secure bunker style.

If you build your walipini correctly it should maintain a healthy temperature of approximately 70 degrees even on those cold wintery days. If you live in an area where space is not a problem check the position of the sun first, then build the length of the Walipini facing the winter sun. The more sun exposure the better it will be for heating purposes. 

Will your Walipini have a plastic or polycarbonate roof? Plastic is obviously cheaper but it will not last as long, so do you put most of your money into a good roof and framework or wait a few years to change it out? I guess that will depend on you and the amount of money you have to spend. I know of a family who used Dura-skrim as a cover for their roofing materials.

In my area of CO, I would much rather go for the secure roof materials (polycarbonate) and framework rather than have a disaster happen and lose plants due to flooding or a cave in.  

Placing a walipini on sloped land is a better idea because it will allow for any rainfall to run away from the walipini instead of flooding it out. Walipini's are ideal builds for people who live in Semi-arid desert conditions like Texas, Utah, New Mexico, California and Colorado. Lower rainfall areas work better because too much water can be a problem. If you live in Florida a walipini is probably not going to work for you. 

I have some plans here for you to keep which will teach you to build a Walipini: 

http://www.the-meal.net/graph/manuel_walipina_benson.pdf

ALSO

Take a look at this great PDF created by the University of Minnesota Extension Service 

On cold climate greenhouses: 

http://www.extension.umn.edu/rsdp/community-and-local-food/production-resources/docs/cold-climate-greenhouse-resource.pdf

Passive Solar Heated Design Greenhouse

Saving money on heating any greenhouse throughout the winter is crucial especially when millions of people are financially strapped for cash. Having a reliable greenhouse to grow food during the cold months is even more important. I would like to offer people the below plans which comes with building materials needed for the above passive solar heated greenhouse design. 

It was put together by the Bradford Research Center College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and I love this design because black water barrels are used to heat this particular greenhouse. 

This type of greenhouse is ideal for people who cannot dig down to build a Walipini but want a passive solar greenhouse. Check out the below link for the plans: 

http://bradford.cafnr.org/passive-solar-greenhouse/

Having an energy efficient greenhouse to grow food can be a lifesaver for a family who wants a more sustainable lifestyle. It can house your AP System, grow smaller tropical plants you normally couldn't grow in the North and even offer a warm shelter for animals.

Warmest Regards

Victoria