Hello all, this is my first post on the forum. Embarking on an exciting new project that I will detail in a different post soon. My immediate concern is the installation of a climate battery in a greenhouse we are constructing on the farm. The greenhouse is a 90x96 ft gutter connected commercial structure that we have submerged 4 ft in the ground using a concrete block retaining wall. (Pictures will be posted in other thread which I will link to when I get it up). Most of the reading and resources I can find on climate batteries aim for tropical conditions in more extreme climates than my own such as bringing a zone 4 to a 9+ and maintaining 40F nighttime temps. Our goal is to achieve light frost minimum temps and grow hardy cool season vegetables year round. If anyone has some insight into how to calculate for the less ambitious climate goal I would love to discuss further.
Greetings Johny and welcome, Have you seen the climate battery calculator? http://www.ecosystems-design.com/climate-battery-calculator.html Two things I've learned from my greenhouse: 1) Make sure that there is direct solar gain onto your thermal mass(es) within the insulated envelope 2) Take all steps necessary to ensure that the soil banked against your structure stays dry (dry soil is insulative, wet soil is conductive) As a point of reference, my 22 ft x 26 ft earth-bermed greenhouse has never dipped below freezing in our zone 5 winters with no heat input. I am temporarily using a small pellet stove intermittently to keep the temperatures above 40 degrees F during the coldest spells (i.e., near zero degrees F). This is with R-21 ceiling and upper wall batt insulation.
at least where you are at gets plenty of sun. that will help a lot. if anything you can set up a few mirrors to reflect more light if you have to or even have a few hot water generating panels and store the heat in barrels of water inside. that greatly increases your thermal mass.
