Greenhouse 2.0 – Geothermal AND Compost Heating (Part 1: Design)

4:22 I have a way to dig such a large and wide "U" shaped hole. You will first need to raise and train at least one or more burrowing animals. Prairie dogs come to mind, for a few good reasons. They are already accustomed to working together in groups, and can also climb their way back out of a vertical shaft, plus they are natural guardians at keeping cobras and pit-vipers etc. from occupying your heating/cooling shafts. This will undoubtedly be a challenge, and may require back-filling certain parts of the system, but I'm confident with proper guidance and equipment, along with the benefit of selective breeding, I think you could have a decent chance of having a workable tunnel system to meet all your heating cooling needs within a few generations or so. Best of luck, and please share any upcoming videos showing the progress of your work! 🙂

What if you ran 4 foot of pvc attached to your ground pipes threw your 4×4 composter box??
Wouldn't that increase your heat output???

Hello Sir, how well did the geothermal work? ? And …. how many square feet is your age house

I have a question… The two holes you dug next to each other, couldn't you have just dug a single hole the size of the two, pushed the pipe down and then filled it with dirt? The PVC bit was ingenious for what you are doing but it seems like a lot of extra work that could be done easier; unless I'm missing something or course. Thanks for sharing!

I have done a lot of temperature measurements at various underground depths, and many experiments. I have a different way of thinking about the heat which exists underground. The heat just naturally rises up out of the ground ALL WINTER LONG. No tubes are necessary. The problem is that the heat of 60 degrees F will dissipate QUICKLY on a cold winter day, and it is as if it doesn't exist at all. The solution is to insulate the greenhouse as much as possible to stop the heat loss. If the sidewalls of the greenhouse was earth-bermed… or buried, that would eliminate much of the heatloss. Many people are building underground greenhouses and are growing vegetables all winter. check out this guy in nebraska growing ORANGES all year… even in the snow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_3_gsgsnk His underground tubes extend way OUTSIDE his greenhouse. It makes no sense to put the tubes under the greenhouse because that heat would rise up anyway into your greenhouse. The man in Nebraska has several horizontal tubes outside his greenhouse which brings additional 52F warmth into the greenhouse.

Subscribed and give you a thumbs-up thanks bro I appreciate the feedback

I have a few ideas you mite try. First, your pipes are too big with too much airflow. If you eliminate the fans and use natural convection it should be more than adequate. Just cut of one end of the existing pipe at ground level, maybe extend the other end a bit. The slower movement will give more time for the ground to heat the air. This should be very easy to test next winter.

When the soil is firm or wet you could dig a trench to make your u shape design

Interesting method with vertical tubes occupying less space. But studying the subject, I have found that in several systems installed it needs to have a way of draining the water that can form by condensation or infiltration over time. Moisture favors the creation of fungi – mold. In this case, the installation of the horizontal tubes may be more practical taking advantage of the gravity. With aluminum gutter pipes you will less space than plastic tubes. Probably over 200 feet.

Thank you for the video! Very well explained with diagrams.
The only way I know to dig a hole in horizontal way would be with very expensive (100k) oil digging drills.

You might want to rethink the compost setup. Pile/heap size plays a crucial role in the overall process. Limiting the volume with multiple stackable bins, although convenient, will prove difficult in getting everything started, up to temp and those conditions maintained. Colder climate exacerbates the issue and the typical outcome is anaerobic is problematic. Using a tumbler is one possible solution given the space you're working with. Meets your "modular" criteria when installed on sliding rails or by adding hinges to the compartment top. Your compost is now entirely contained in one easily accessible bin providing ideal capacity. Icing on the cake: less than half the cost of the stackables. Maybe it's not too late to return them?

I can't have the only partner who thinks their solution to everything is 'dig the hole in an intelligent place to save lots of work and an arrangement of tubes.' 😀