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Hi guys, not sure where to post this on the internet, so I turned to my trusty city-data fellows.
We have always dreamed of living in a greenhouse, and we are wondering where we can buy a kit for a large greenhouse? We want to be able to build some structures inside of it, as well.
So it's hard to describe, but we are thinking of putting a few building inside of the greenhouse, all about the size of a tiny vacation rental cabin, which will all be individually heated. The greenhouse itself will not be heated, but we would like to maintain a temperature of at least 45 degrees inside of it.
We can easily accomplish this by having small pond inside of it, acting as a thermal mass, which in turn is heated through normal hot water tubes. Each little room will have it's own solar powered electric heater. I am not sure how else to explain this without a CAD drawing of some sort, but we are looking to have about 5,000 sq ft of floor space, with around 4-8 little inter-connected buildings functioning as our indoor space of no more than 1,200 sq ft, footprint. The pond will also be our greywater system
Does anyone have any advice regarding this type of building? We did our research on energy costs, and it will actually much more efficient than a traditional stick built home, but we are worried about maintenance costs. Anyone out there own a greenhouse? What are some costs associated with maintaining a building like this? Any thoughts, or improvements you can think of would be much appreciated!
Advice? Don't do it. A greenhouse naturally has extremes in temperature and is a bear to heat. In the summer with the sun beating down, imagine living in your car and not being able to roll the windows down. In the winter in the middle of the night, temps can fall to almost the outside temperatures. Moisture can collect on the plastic and "rain" on whatever is inside. A greenhouse is also not a storm-sturdy structure.
We'll likely downsize our greenhouse significantly in the next few years.
Moisture is definitely going to be a problem with any livible structure inside a greenhouse. Never the less, I saw something similar to what you describe though it was not a greenhouse and was built in the desert southwest. It was a large steel framed structure with a half wall running the perimeter and the living area rooms built inside with planted garden paths leading from room to room and a "yard area" all below the main structure. Really quite neat. Pretty sure it was custom designed and constructed. Good luck on your project.
Hey guys, thanks for the responses. I should emphasize, that we will be living in a house inside a greenhouse, so the temperature will not be much of a factor. It will be a straw bale home. We also plan on using a geothermal exchange to condition a thermal mass, which will be a pond around the house. A small gravity fed waterfall with a fan behind it will help keep it cooler as well in the summers. This same system will help de-humidify the dome, through condensation.
I am wondering is there are any maintenance issues with a steel and glass dome greenhouse? I am guessing cleaning will be an issue. And does anyone know where someone would shop for a large steel dome like this? I am not finding too much on the internet.
Poltracker, that design is exactly what we want to build. Do you know if they have a website, or any info on the building?
You're missing the point that the constant moisture inside the greenhouse will cause structural problems for your house that's inside the greenhouse. A straw bale home would have even bigger problems with the constant moisture. You're asking for major mold issues.
You'd do much better to create your utopia ATTACHED to the greenhouse instead of inside the greenhouse---like maybe your entire front or back of your house is in the greenhouse with three remaining sides outside of it. But the house would have to be a brick structure to avoid the moisture problems.
We've got several "tunnel" structures that we use seasonally for fruit and vegetable production.
While they are not as efficient as a true greenhouse, even in our 65F days (after 30F overnight low temps), they can reach 100F-110F air temp at close to the ground level where we have our temp sensor within a hour or two of sunrise. By 10AM, if we don't roll up the sides for ventilation, the temps will go even higher than that and we can lose plants very quickly in the heat.
During the summer months, we've got the sides rolled up almost full time and hope there's enough airflow going through the structure to keep the temps in a usable range.
We are at 6,000' elevation and just North of the 41st parallel, so we have some serious extremes in our climate from winter to summer ... but most of the year is cooler to cold temps.
I'd think that air conditioning a house inside such a structure would be a very difficult and expensive prospect for 4-6 months of the year. You might mitigate some of the heating cost during the winter months, but it would be more than offset by the cooling costs.
There's also the concerns about zoning/structure. Most greenhouses (and certainly the tunnel structures) wouldn't qualify for an occupancy permit under building codes in effect in most of the country.
Perhaps an "envelope" house structure would be a satisfactory choice. With passive heating/cooling design around the livable structure, you could achieve the energy savings and comfort you want.
You're missing the point that the constant moisture inside the greenhouse will cause structural problems for your house that's inside the greenhouse. A straw bale home would have even bigger problems with the constant moisture. You're asking for major mold issues.
You'd do much better to create your utopia ATTACHED to the greenhouse instead of inside the greenhouse---like maybe your entire front or back of your house is in the greenhouse with three remaining sides outside of it. But the house would have to be a brick structure to avoid the moisture problems.
Come on, I can think of a dozen ways to decrease the humidity in a greenhouse. Just google it. We are using a system similar to this, altered to also decrease humidity, as well as heat in the winter, and cool in the summer.
This was the first consideration we took when planning this house. We are using load bearing "construction" hay bales. There is no structure, and it is sealed with an impermeable "mud". Our humidity will not get over the general outside humidity.
After doing some research as to energy savings, we found that it would be more expensive to have a wall exposed to the elements, as opposed to having it fully enclosed in the dome. The summers in my climate are the most humid, and if need be, we have plenty of ventilation to kick up the fight against humidity.
Home Theater Design: The Greenhouse Effect (http://www.hometheaterdesignmag.com/prointeriors/807green/ - broken link)
You really have NO IDEA how hot it gets inside a greenhouse in the summer.
Excellent link, I bookmarked it. I have done a lot of work in greenhouses, hence the dream of living in one. I am aware it gets hot, but I have about a half mile of pipe which will be cooling, heating, and dehumidifying the dome through a geothermal exchange system. The home itself is also super insulated with 16" walls, sealed with impermeable mud. The windows of the dome are operable, and there is an adequate ventilation system. There is also a 10,000 gallon (37.5 sq mt) pond which will be acting as a thermal mass, and a gravity fed waterfall (no pump or motor) helping cool incoming air.
I think I have my bases covered when it comes to temperature. Humidity was our biggest worry, but the piping we have under the dome should provide enough surface area to condense most of the water, and then ventilation should take care of the rest.
Half of my cost of this whole setup is the geothermal exchange, and that includes the land, and the cost/ft to build the house. We will be burying the pipe ourselves with a Ditch Witch, to try to save on the labor.
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