Heating Greenhouse With Woodstove....

I have a 16x20 Greenhouse and we are going to heat with woodstove.
Is there anyone else doing this and if so what are the tricks and tips to maintaining the proper heat ratio?

Hi RavenBuck,
We're attempting the same thing this season.
Our green house is 12 x 30.
We have a "furnace add-on" wood burning stove
that has it's own blower. The wood burning stove was a "freebie" to us,
so we thought that we'd give it a try.
It uses the heated air from around the outer sides
of the stove and blows it out through a vent
in the top. This way, we don't have any of the wood
smoke/fumes in the greenhouse. The fumes, smoke etc. get carried up and out the chimney. That sounds a little confusing (hey, it's me you'e talking to...) but, we've
already (successfully) tested it out, figured out the approximate number of times (and when) we're going to have to load it, etc.
We figured that we'll give it a try this year, and see how
it does. We're already looking for a used fuel-oil furnace & tank that we could use for next year, possibly.
There's a greenhouse set up (not too far from us) that has 8 or 9 greenhouses, each heated with its own fuel oil furnace & tank.
They say that that's the system that works great for them,
and they're really happy with it.
Our wood burner actually heats up pretty quickly,
and if we do ever lose electrical power
(due to an ice storm, etc.)
and can't use the blower on it, that stove throws out a lot of heat on its own!
Good luck with yours and
let me know how your stove works for you.
Melissa

green house here used king wood heaters for years in 30 by 100 from now untill they didn't need them in the spring they finally went to gas last year got tierd of midnite feeds if the temp was droping into the teens other wise they feed about 8 pm

The first green house where I worked had wood heaters. He raised all kinds of crops. They did have a gas back-up that was set to 35 or so just in case. These were huge round heaters with a second 'chamber" on top that kept the heat from all going out the chimney.

We have been heating our new greenhouse 12 x 20 (2 years old) with a wood stove. What a hassel the wood stove has turned out to be.

1. Hubby got sick the first year and as I would not light the wood stove, had to bring inside all his orchids (nearly killed them, but had more blooming than he ever had before! Poor things thought their last days had arrived)

2. We have figured out that a 'cord' of wood costs $180.00 and we have been using 1 1/2 cords this winter.

3. We are totally tied to the greenhouse with this dammed wood stove, cannot go south for the winter!

4. This summer he is having electrical baseboards installed so we can go away for more than 1 day!

WE are heating witht his woodstove and a headache is the least I can say about it.
I thought stoves were to hold a fire better but running out in the cold and tending the fire is a pain,lol.
I would recomend using hot water heating as it is great on the plants and a whole lot less a pain on the gardener,lol.
I can see that this stove is gone after this year.

I agree, wood stoves really tie one to the green house. Someone has to get up during the night and "refuel" the stove. We have natural gas, and as long as the power doesn't go out, we are fine. A back up generator would be nice.

Hi, I'm just beginning to pplan my greenhouse and I have considered using a small wood stove just to heat for esthetic purposes. I'd just build a small fire in the spring to keep me warm as I begin to clean and plant before the sun is up and hot enough for me to keep warm under the glass. What did you ever decide to do. Can I do it just to be pretty and cute?! Sherry.

I have heated with wood--it is a pain--but I cut my own wood so-- the price was right-and there is something about it that feels right,and it is nice to work by a wood stove -I do recomend drawing the make-up air from outside.and making sure there are no exhost leaks.[Smoke is real hard on Tomatoes].

we have a l6 x32 greenhouse and a woodstove on an addon, first year, so we're hoping it goes well as well. we're blowing the heat in with a circulation fan, one of those blower fans, but it's small

The first thing I notice about this thread is that there is NO mention of using really efficient woodstoves capable of keeping a fire overnight. Plus, there are some massive stoves (massive only in the building, not the fire pit) from the Scandanavian countries that only require a fire for about 1-2 hours and retain and radiate heat for 12 hours in the masonry.

I find the same thing in home woodstoves. A cheap one may hold a fire 2-3 hours at best whereas one rated for high efficiency may burn the same amount of wood but keep radiating heat for 12 hours.

in most cases Darius, a greenhouse woodstove serves the purpose of being cheap.... not neccesarily efficient.

Thus my 55gallon drum stove.
they throw out a hellish amount of heat and when the times get tough I can burn anything I can find...

dp

A double 55 gal. drum wood stove is over 90% efficient .and will burn all night ,depending on just how much heat you need at one time.A large greenhouse may need all 200,000 btu/hr and therefore will not hold enough wood to burn all night.

well, also the wood here is of low quality.
We are in such a wet area that the wood is very moist, and curing it only makes the stacked wood a home for fire ants.

when i lived up north we may have been able to get that kinda btu rate.
here i'd guess it is 100-150k at the most

Now that I live in Florida I know what you mean.

When I have my greenhouse constructed it will be 4-5 feet below grade level in order to conserve energy. I have a wooden hottub that has a woodburner built in which I plan to use for heat. The water should retain the heat through the night. Also the building block walls should also retain some solar heat. The hottub will serve a dual purpose-entertainment and a heat source. I am looking forward to moving to cold country where I should be able to garden year round with the aid of my underground greenhouse.

shinny, sounds like you have been reading Helen and Scott Nearing's books!

hehe i'd do the same but our water table is like 6inches under the dirt

Are you aware that setting the GH 4 or 5 feet into the soil will give you great conditions for growing alpine plants (provided the GH isn't heated too much)? Alpines are very testy little guys, but will reward you with incredible, delicate flowers. Think about it!

- Kathleen (Zone 6 - Rhode Island)