SO, your thinking of moving to Wyoming, probably should read this first. (Cheyenne: homes, water heater)

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I started a greenhouse business and beside it is a produce warehouse that I sell produce out of my 3/4 acre garden with produce supplimented with Mennonite produce from Kentucky. I broke even the last year. I think I will do better this year.

About 15 years ago, a guy started harnessing power up here. If you've ever seen oil wells, you've noticed the stack burning off the natural gasses coming out of the well.

His plan was to build a green house next to the site and then harness that fire to warm his green house. For a year or so we had fresh vegies at the local store. But that went away and I'm not sure what happened to him and his plans.

[shadowwalker]

Jgussler, That sounds cool. I wonderded if I could drill a water well around thermopolis and use it to heat a greenhouse. I see two or three ditches with water in them around thermop has heated water just running down the ditch. I think the smell might be something to contend with though.
I have seen a oil well .I have worked in the patch in U.S. and 7 other countries. I retired after 24 years.
Tennesseegirl, I came to tenessee to start this business and learn as much as I could on plants and greenhouses. Yes there are a few business greenhouses in Wyoming. Some are doing real good. I see the long winter as the drawback up there. I figure I have alittle over 4 1/2 years to figure it out here. Right now I have wood heat with propane backup. It's working good. But a hassel. Up in wyoming there is no hardwoods. They burn the best for sure.

[sunsprit]

shadowalker ... it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to obtain a well/water use permit other than a 25 gpm (maximum) Domestic use only permit on a 40 acre (minimum) parcel.

due to the drought and existing senior water rights, coupled with increasing domestic use, the state engineers have rarely approved any new water use except required domestic wells over the past few years.

even if Wyoming got "normal" moisture levels for awhile and replenished the acquifers and surface water .... there's the lawsuits from adjacent states about water delivery shortages which prevent supplying new Wyoming uses for the foreseeable future.

groundwater that's running in the Thermopolis area most likely was adjudicated or agreed upon it's use back in the 1880's by the state courts or by agreement with the tribes. in Wyoming, water rights run with the land they're assigned to, and cannot be sold apart from the land; a senior right holder must put the "state owned" water (when available) to beneficial use on his land strictly for the purpose it was adjudicated or allow it to remain in the state's ownership to satisfy junior water right holders.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

Jgussler, That sounds cool. I wonderded if I could drill a water well around thermopolis and use it to heat a greenhouse. I see two or three ditches with water in them around thermop has heated water just running down the ditch. I think the smell might be something to contend with though.
I have seen a oil well .I have worked in the patch in U.S. and 7 other countries. I retired after 24 years.
Tennesseegirl, I came to tenessee to start this business and learn as much as I could on plants and greenhouses. Yes there are a few business greenhouses in Wyoming. Some are doing real good. I see the long winter as the drawback up there. I figure I have alittle over 4 1/2 years to figure it out here. Right now I have wood heat with propane backup. It's working good. But a hassel. Up in wyoming there is no hardwoods. They burn the best for sure.

Don't know if you have them where you are at, but a lot of people here have went to Pellet stoves. In case your not familiar with it, it's a stove that has a highspeed fan that swirls your pellets in a circle while they are burning. Makes for a real warm stove. Plus, lately they've been running an add. If you buy a stove, you get 1000 lbs of pellets for free. Pellets are made from sawdust and look much like rabbit pellets but a little larger.

Most everybody here still burns coal. The house that I rented when I moved back up here, had a coal/wood stove. Real nice. Burn wood in the evening for nostalgic purposes and the wonderful smell, then about 9 put in 3 or 4 good lups of coal and she'd burn all night.

[Tennessee gal]

You may want to research the Windstar Foundation which was co-founded byt he late singer John Denver. They have bio-domes that grow all winter long without gas or wood and using some small solar. The solar is not used for heating but for small amount of electic power. They have an above ground swimming pool in the center that collected heat in the day and gives off heat at night; as well as the design to collect heat. They also grow fish in the swimming pool and serves as a duel purpose. I thought about building a bio-dome when I was in the greenhouse businees because you wouldn't believe the amount of propane I used in the sunshine state in the winter months. Anyway, just a thought it might work in Wy too.

[Tennessee gal]

To add more info, some the the bio-domes are 3 stories tall, with the above ground pool in the center. The water from the pool, which is fertilized by living fish, is also used to water plants at times. Being a bio-dome, the sun passes though each floor, with small amounts of shade during mid day. The small solar panel is to operate the pool pump and also opens up the top of the dome during hot weather. Most have plant beds on the ground around the pool, with steps leading to another floor that allows beds that follow the outer edge of the dome, with more steps leading to the top floor, which is much smaller. Is you greenhouses located in the mountains of Tn?

[siouxcrow]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I would like to add my thoughts to this. My family moved to Wyoming in the winter of 1974. In the Oil Boom and the end of the Uranium Boom. We got there and did enjoy the boom. Good money, housing shortage, everybody had fun and did well. In 1982 when the Bust was really going strong.With company closing, bankruptcys, ect. I witnessed people with no jobs leaving the state by the hundreds. We had a joke going around then. With the closing of companies, mines, stores, ect. "Don't lend nobody money, they will lose their job and use it to leave." Towns in the state had thousands of empty houses. Just like in the movies. In casper the unemployment reached 14% at it's worst. The state barely existed, uranium mining died, oilpatch was on it's knees, coal was doing o.k. But the rest of the jobs of the state did horrible. The state mainly exists on the mineral industry, ranching, tourists. Companies looked past Wyoming as a place to open new projects in. The state did as best as it could and the new boom that started a couple of years ago is on. Remember this. There will be a bust. The mineral industry will go back in survival mode and people will lose incomes. The trickle down effect will happen to all jobs, in the state.The world will have a temporary answer to the energy shortage again. You will have better opportunities in other parts of the U.S. So you can go. You will not have any way to survive at the high paying jobs you will be used to. But you will heve the bills for sure.
I was good enough to have a job through the bust. It meant moving at my employers whim, taking a lesser paying/position at the company, working overseas, or whatever I had to do to keep the job.Through buyouts, mergers, takeovers, ect. I finally got tired of the work ethics of companies that I had been with and seen other people work for. I left in late 2004. I will be back in the state when I can afford to live on either lesser wages. Meaning paid off house, vehicle, ect. When I get there. Or my own business like I have in Tennessee. I plan on moving back in the bust, it should be in about 8 years. Unless the state legislatures get their heads out of their butts. And diverisfy the state to spread out the dependence of monies from the mineral industry. To other parts of it's economy. The ranchers and mineral industry have had a strangle hold on the legislative people of Wyoming forever. So that will probably continue. Good Luck! I will see what's left when I get back.
I'm sure this will envoke alot of replies. Great! I been there and done that!!! My friends and the people of Wyoming before you got there will agree with ME.
Most of you are used to things like medical care, 24 hour gas stations, going only 10 or 20 miles to get to the next town, shopping malls within easy driving, concerts, and such as life can be in more populated parts of the country. If you don't find what you want you just go to the next town and find it. Well in wyoming you won't find medical care at every town, sometimes you may have to drive for hours to get it. Gas stations 24 hour maybe but don't count on it. Have gas in the tank to get where your going and then some,oh take a spare tire, keep it full of air. Shopping malls, maybe. It may also be at the whim of the local merchants, ha ha. This can be terrible. Most malls are in large wyoming towns, can be hours away for the drive. Concerts, bands are going between denver and billings and saltlake. Catch them while you can. Your going to have to learn to think for yourselves.
Some of you will not like this letter, o.k. Some will think it's a personal attack, o.k. Some will just think I'm trying to keep you out of the state, o.k. Some will like it, here too o.k.
But remember it is a state like no other, has grand things, great places to see and go. Great people and animals. Don't spoil it, try to meld to the natives already there. Don't show up and change it to what your leaving behind in your state.

Unfortunately, those moving here are not listening to your wonderful words.

Huge homes are going up on farmland, we have more people moving in than is comfortable. They want the towns to be glitzy - heah, our way of living is why tourists come here. They are driving our taxes up and our farmers out. It is sad!

[shadowwalker]

Wow, thanks for all the ideas and info on water. I had a pellet stove in Mills, Wyoming and it heated the lower half of the house. I have seen them here but last year the bag of pellets got to $5. 95 cents here. And the humitity is another factor. I didn't have problems in wyoming but here it's very high and gets in the clothes, leather shoes, just about everything you don't expect it in. I had it get in a open bag of pellets for the stove and they couldn't be used. Here I have been trying to find someone that has one to ask questions.
I dug a well at my house in mills, I sent for the paper work filled it out and got permission all about in 20 days. But that is for a garden so that is why it might have been approved. Out here in some of the states the state is permitting and some places metering YOUR water well. The one on your property that may have been here for years and you upkeep!!! How can they do this. I have never seen the control the counties and states have over the people out here. It is unbelievable. I am not used to it at all. Later.

[StealthRabbit]

for your Idea on geo-thermal wells, do a search on that subject + idaho. I just returned from 'Harvesting Clean Energy' conference in Boise, there is a lot of geothermal activity going on, especially in remote communties (like in AK) and there are low temp turbines that can make power with 130F heat ! Often you have to go pretty deep (~1 mile) but... if you could combine a rural economic development project (community power) with your green house idea maybe there is some fedral help out there.

[imbobbbb]

i remember reading about someone heating a greenhouse in manley hotsprings,alaska using just the hot water from the ground.ive also read something to this effect in elko co. nevada