Three weeks ago we had temp in the low 20. The water bottles for my rabbits would freeze.
I was out at 2am refilling them, none cracked.
So as I was completing the addition on the GH I moved the rabbits inside.
They have been inside for 3 nights now and no freezing water, ( I have no heat in the GH as yet)
Well the outside temp would be 24 and the inside temp 32.
Now we're talking heat. ^_^
hmmm, I wonder if two chihuahuas would work? ;) Seriously, it makes sense. Warm bodies putting out heat. It is amazing how much though.
Kinda like a 3 dog night?
And here I've been keeping my [7] dogs OUT of my greenhouse....
I will be heating the GH but as yet do not have it set up. I was surprised how much heat they put out. Only 2 adults 7 lbs and 5 teens less than 3 lbs each.
They will come back out in the spring.
Sheryl., that is to funny, three dog night..lol
I'm surprised how much heat they put out too. I use a propane heater. I don't have any hot blooded animals accept my Chis and they wear sweaters when it gets cold.
Biiiig sweaters!
Rentman, your GH extention turned out great! Did you set up a compost box under the bunnies?
Sheryl, congrats on your new GH! What are you planning on growing in it?
Oh yes Robin, the poo goes through the composter, although not much composting with this weather. The rabbit poo can be put directly on the garden, it does not burn like other poo but it needs to be covered. Right now I am just putting it on the garden plot and will till it in this spring. I make compost tea with it for the few plants I have now.
One person said she would love to have some so I told her I would ship it 'Junk Mail' ^_^
Hi Texas, I used to raise chihuahuas, long ago in a far away place, 'FL.'
their poo is much like rabbits.
Santa brought me a Gas heater, which works on either propane or natural gas (last winter I heated with 2 small elect heaters) I'm running it on propane now but will run a natural gas line this summer, along with a water line.
The rabbits will go back out into the red shed at the end of the GH.
Happy New Year to All
I can't get over how great your GH looks! You might consider gutters (front and back) to collect rain water and snow melt in rain barrels.
Robin, I'll turn 71 in a few months and if I live to 100 I may not get all my wish list complete. ^_^
I've had these barrels for a while, planning to let the house water run into them, but maybe
I could use them with water off the GH, maybe I could put a couple inside the GH and use
them as a heat sink ??
Oh and then I would have water for the plants .
Yes today I will put one inside, fill it and see if it will retain some heat.
I love my propane heater. It is good you have a heater that can be so versatile. I also have read that water in a GH does retain heat and releases it to heat the GH. I would try it but I have a problem with condensation since my vents haven't been put in yet. I sometimes get a rainforest from just the moisture from the plants.
These two Chihuahuas are our first. We had Labs before that. You're right. They do have rabbit sized poo.
Maybe someday I can have a GH like yours. You've done well.
Oh Chihuahuas...for some reason I read that as Chinchilla...
The old mans eyes are going...WOW
I have one barrel in the GH, on the south side and will keep an eye on the temp.
Might take several to see any difference in heat. Lucky you they are already black.
We made several rain barrels for the corners of the house last year with spigots on them, that I attach a hose to, to water the flower beds. Haven't done them for the shed yet (by the garden and GH), but it's amazing how much water you can collect with a little bit of rain. Suppose to be better for the plants too...no chlorine.
My kids just got me two rain barrels for Christmas. My S-I-L is going to put guttering on the back of the workshop to catch water in one and then at the corner of the house. I can hardly wait to use them. Come on rain.
Chinchillas? Well there is a Chi in chinchilla and chihuahua.
RentMan, That greenhouse is so CUTE. Love the color. So Cheerful.
My grandfather , whom is 78 years old , keeps Adding to his wish list and says he cannot die until everything is accomplished. He lives next door to me 15 feet away and I wouldn't trade him for anything.
Happy Gardening
Cricket
Rentman,
Please check you heater isntructions before you hook up to natural gas. If I understand correctly, different orfices are required on most heater that are adapted to either us. Hate to see your GH in orbit.
Thanks Columbia for the warning....this unit is fool proof, it has two inlets for the gas, one natural, one propane and one plug to close the inlet not used....also it has two pilot lights, one for each gas, to keep the 'thurmal thingie' hot. hope you can understand ????
I just got back home from a short vacation in South Florida.
There was a big Ice storm that hit Kentucky and the Ohio Valley, little damage to our home, but many are out of power.
When I wanted bunny poop for my compost, I just put an ad on Craiglist. Had as much poop as I could haul, and free.
I can always use more bunny poop... what is the Craiglist ?
Rentman, how'd your GH hold up while you were out of town? Did you have any plants in it?
Craigslist is an online advertising site where you can buy or sell stuff, with some free stuff available or make a post if you want something free. Google it to get to the home page, then locate the chapter that services your area.
The Rabbit God was good to us, some lost power for a few hours, minor damage from limbs falling, one limb pulled the telephone line from the side of the house but it did not brake so we still have internet and phone service. On the way back I passed 9 Electric repair trucks heading north up I 75, I'm sure they were coming up to help with repairs.
Hope you and yours did well, HUGS
No plants in the GH yet, recieved more bobble wrap to finish the insulation.
Working on a 'bottom heat system', know I will need it. Planning on growing lots of 'greens' before the spring. I have all my plants in the sun room of the house.
Only have 3 adults rabbits (not counting the ones in the freezer) ^_^ with more due Feb 5
I will check out Craigslist, may find something I need.
Nice pic! Glad you're doing okay.
Rentman, those black barrels should work great for your greenhouse. I have a new-this-winter small greenhouse (6x8) and I have about 60 or 70 gallons of water inside, in plastic milk jugs that I've saved, that really heat up during the day and release the heat during the night. Yes, it works! According to what I have read, for a GH this size I should have 200 gallons of water. I'm drinking milk as fast as I can! Plus my DIL brings me empties from my son's restaurant. Meanwhile, I have only had to use auxiliary heat when the temperature is supposed to get below 20 or so. I use a 12Vdc automobile blanket to cover the plants with on those nights. Its power comes from batteries connected to a couple of solar panels. My whole house is on solar power, but the greenhouse is set up separately. So far so good, but we are expecting some weather that might get down to 10 or less this weekend. We shall see!
I put all three barrels in the GH, filled with water, drilled a small hole in the top lid and put in a thermometer. Checking the temp for a week I found the water would raise and lower 10 to 14 degrees over a 24 hour period. One sunny day the GH 'Air temp' was almost 80 while the outside temp was 41, so I still have to watch it. The rabbits were really that heat.
I have all the glass, top and sides covered with two layers of bubble wrap.
Work on build some bottom heaters top start some seeds with.
This picture was taken 12-16-09, not as cold then, as it has been for the last two weeks.
Should have some new bunnies in a day or two, keeping the inside heat around 35 for them.
Nice trick with the thermometers. Can't really test my milk bottles but they are warm in the evening and cool in the morning. The promised stormy weather of last week didn't materialize, but we are expecting snow tonight with cloudy weather for the next few days, so I hope things stay warm in the gh. BTW, using the bunnies for heat was brilliant. Are you still using the other forms of heat, or just the rabbits & water barrels?
Grammie ,
The temp went above freezing thursday and thursday & friday the sun was out all day so the snow has almost melted. Friday the GH air temp was up to 77. Heat from the sun and a little from the rabbits.
No new bunnies yet, this mama is always late. ^_^
I'm thinking of your Idea about gallon milk bottles, think I may build a shelf around the inside top of the GH and put jugs up there.
They would be out of the way and give a little more heat.
Rentman........warm air rise's. If you put those water jugs near the top of your greenhouse the warm air around them will immediately rise to the top of the greenhouse and either lay there or leak out any small openings there. That would actually cause cool air to be sucked in at ground level through any little tiny air holes that always exist in any structure and make the green house at plant level cooler. Water jugs should be at a lower level than plants where the heat they may create would rise up through the plants. If near the ceiling is the only space available to put the water jugs, some realitively small cheap fans at slow speeds near the ceiling would tend to move the warmer air at that level down toward the plant area. Or one of those floor fans that blows straight up in the center of the room and forces the warmer upper air to wash down the walls and bring the warmer air down toward plant level. Something like ceiling fans rotating at slow speeds in a house can result in more even temperature distribution. Have you ever been in some of the older poorly insulated homes where your upper body felt comfortable but your lower body, especially your feet always seemed to be colder?
Cool air falls and warmer air rises. Stand barefoot in front of your refrigerator and open the door and you will feel all that cold air from you frige flow down and around your feet. Sorry if Im sounding preachy here but I used to do air conditioning work in my younger days (a long time ago).
Thanks for the info, Jay, that's the great thing about Daves Garden.
I do have a fan, round that blows up, I will try it.
The lower 18" of the GH is wood so no sun down there, I'll work out something.
Keep on Gardening
