A friend shared this with me this evening and I'm impressed!

http://www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=1479

If my water table wasn't so high, I might try it myself!

Hershell?

That is a very impressive set up. He's fortunate to live in an area that won't flood and kill everything. I've been kicking around the idea of a green house for Lychee and Mangos recently. Maybe one day!

Nice article. Thanks for sharing.

Impressive.

Harvey, thanks for sharing. Got to have a chat with heat pump friends.

nice find, it gets one thinking.

Yes, thanks.  The article didn't mention the labor involved in burying ~1100 ft of 6 inch pipe approximately 8-10 feet underground.  I wonder how they went about doing this?  They said it was put in "along the side of the house" but his house isn't that big!  Presumably to contain it all on his property he must have buried it in some sort of grid design.

Hi Harveyc,
The problem is more to have the heat under the dirt ... He was lucky to have that .
I don't see a mention about the lighting system - for the winter time. For such a surface, that could cost an arm !

Here's a different article discussing Russ Finch's setup with more info.  Sort of a Pit Greenhouse with a geo-thermal twist.  
Here's a webpage that specializes on Pit Greenhouses.  

Very cool stuff.

That article is confusing because both his house and greenhouse are engineered into the system. I've read other articles about his greenhouse. My reservations are that the design is all about energy efficiency. IMO a greenhouse should be designed around the crop or crops that one wishes to grow.

His greenhouse provides an environment largely dependent on climate and the limitations of an energy efficient design. You're then left to search for a crop or crops that flourish in whatever environment that emerges. If it's a good setup for any one crop it's more luck than design. I've never seen much about yield except for citrus and little about eating quality or pest issues. Humidity control in particular is none existant. That can lead to rot issues on many crops. Light is significantly compromised as it is in all pit greenhouses.

This design is only going to work within a fairly narrow range of deep soil temperature, 50s F are best. Too cold and there won't be enough heat in winter. Too hot and it won't cool enough in summer. Deep soil temperature is about equal to average annual air temperature.

This statement from the second link just above is total BS:

"We have chosen to chill for 900 hours, because most of the trees we are growing require no more than this," says Russel.  "On December 1^st, we start chilling the northern plants by diverting the warming tubes and opening the screened door.  We end the chill on January 12^th.  Within seven to twelve days most of the plants will come into full bloom."


January 12 is about when I end my chilling. I chill from ~Nov 1 until early January. My fruits come into full bloom about 28 to 60 days later. Amazing how much faster it works in NE.

Hint: He's trying to sell you something.

Awesome greenhouse. I'm in the same boat as you Harvey, as in if I start digging, I need a boat. There are springs everywhere in our valley.

I believe there is actually a link somewhere in this forum to a video where he walks you through the green house. It's very interesting.

Thanks for this Harvey! Thought provoking. My limited understanding of heat pumps is that they are 1. Expensive to buy 2. Use a significant amount of electricity to "squeeze" air thereby increasing it a few more degrees above the underground temps. We live in one of the greenhouse capitals of the world (delta bc). It amazes me how big ag can make money burning so much carbon, laying so much concrete and covering farmland in glass while producing the the most bland vegetables. There must be value in throwing money at winter production otherwise the big growers wouldn't keep building 50 acre greenhouses.

Still researching. I like it. I would say, NICE

Found it! Post #38.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/geothermal-fig-hoophouse-6569951?highlight=geothermal&pid=1279918210#post1279918210

They don't really earn money with their operation.

Combination of tax incentives and government subsidies
are what actually create the profit for the corporations.
Without these types of government support, what you see is not economically viable
with current energy rates and produce prices.