|
| Author |
Message |
justins7
Member
|
# Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:30am
Reply
I ordered a 14' x 10' greenhouse kit back in April. It's been on backorder since then (like a lot of things now) but it's finally due to arrive soon. Unfortunately it's starting to get cold so it got me thinking about installing a small woodstove in it, when my wife and I finally put it together. (It may wind up being too cold to anchor it now, though. But that's another discussion.)
I've been looking at portable tent woodstoves — the stainless steel ones are really nice looking. But the steel is lighter than the black powder coated stoves.
I thought the portability would be useful to use in one of my outbuildings or future lean-to as well.
Any opinions and experiences to share would be appreciated, as always. Stainless vs. black, brands, tips, etc.
|
|
Nobadays
Member
|
# Posted: 27 Sep 2020 03:59pm
Reply
We thought about a woodstove for our 10x10 greenhouse but without heating a water tank or some other mass, it didn't seem practical for us. I'm not going down to stoke the fire at night.
We have insulated with rigid foam on the north side/roof and partially on the side walls on the east and west. We just cut foam blocks for the upper/lower vents that can be put in or taken out as needed.
We are getting ready to install a 5,000btu diesel heater. It is an all in one unit with a 5L fuel tank. It will exhaust outside and can draw fresh air from outside...we will probably recirculate inside air.
I'll report back later in the year how it is working or not.
THIS is the one we got.
|
|
Brettny
Member
|
# Posted: 28 Sep 2020 06:23pm
Reply
What are you growing that it's worth drying, splitting, stacking and feeding wood into a stove all times of the day?
|
|
Nobadays
Member
|
# Posted: 28 Sep 2020 07:29pm
Reply
Not a gardener huh?  All veggies are worth keeping alive until the last harvest comes off!
|
|
Brettny
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 09:17am
Reply
What are you growing that it's worth drying, splitting, stacking and feeding wood into a stove all times of the day?
|
|
justins7
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 09:32am
Reply
I thought it would be worth it to try to extend the growing season (since it's so short here in the northeast).
Also, it seemed like it could be a fun little outdoor/indoor winter hangout. I have a nearly unlimited supply of wood (with all the fallen trees in the forest) and I have stacks for my cast iron wood stove in the cabin anyway.
|
|
NorthRick
Member
|
# Posted: 29 Sep 2020 02:21pm
Reply
I have a greenhouse with a heater - propane. I use it at either end of the growing season to protect the plants from frost.
I have camped in tents with a light(er) weight woodstove. It's either too hot or too cold. The fire doesn't last long in those. After the last trip, I told my hunting partner I'd rather just bring a better sleeping bag and leave the woodstove off until it is time to get out of the bag in the morning.
|
|
Aklogcabin
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 11:53am
Reply
The stainless is probably better metal as it shouldn’t rust. But I suspect more expensive. Your price point comforts from there. You may be able to put a small hobo stove inside or on top the woodstove and just use sticks to warm it a bit . I like to keep a barrel of water in our greenhouse to act as a heat sink. This allows us to water with warmer ambient temperature water to reduce shock to the roots of young plants I feel. I have also used it to achieve a balanced ph by using a fertilizer like miracle grow that dissolves in the water. And add teas that I make from organic fertilizers like rabbit poo. Warms from solar but would also absorb the heat from the woodstove. It may also help to add a layer of plastic over your greenhouse on each end of the season but particularly in the spring. Good place to warm n thaw your soil . You probably know this as a gardener but maybe someone else could use the tips. Plants can tolerate cold better than hot. Just don’t freeze them. You should be able to move starter plants around.
I put a rain gutter on on side to catch rain water to fill barrels. Attach soaker hoses to run to berry bushes. And watering.
Extending your growing season by 10 days can matter significantly. Particularly in the spring when you can’t hold yourself back anyhow.
Great way to involve the kids. Gardening is a real science. Good luck. Have fun n stay safe.
|
|
|
Nobadays
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 06:54pm
Reply
I got the diesel heater installed yesterday. Of course being a cheap Chinese unit (though I read the main components are nearly identical to Wabasto) it didn't work until I fiddled with it. A little plastic doohickey of no noticable function had jiggled loose in shipping and jammed up the fan. Once that was put right away it went!
It was 35* in the greenhouse this morning at 6am so using the remote I stepped onto the back deck and switched it on. I have it set on the lowest setting... 9* C... it always kicks on high until it reaches the desired temp then drops to low. It raised the temp from 35* to 42* in a 10x10 plastic covered greenhouse.... (N, E, W and north roof are covered with 1" foam...) in roughly 30 minutes then set there purring away until I shut it off. I'm going to set the timer tonight to come on by itself at around 6:15am so I can check that this function works, then probably set it to kick on in the early morning hours when we start freezing hard at night.
So far so good!
|
|
Nobadays
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Oct 2020 11:35am
Reply
Well the diesel heater is working pretty well in the greenhouse. The only problem was two mornings ago I got up at 6:15 and checked the greenhouse temperature... 26F, burnt the tomatoes back pretty badly. I fired up the heater- it has a remote so I can do that from the house, it took the temperature from 26F to 40F in less than an hour and then held it there. I was up this morning at 2AM and looked at the thermometer for the greenhouse, it was 34F so turned on the heater. When I got up this morning at 7AM (I never sleep that late... it was nice!) The greenhouse was 40F and it was 29F outside... was supposed to be between 13F and 20F... I guess it decided to be warmer. Anyway I do think these heaters will keep a greenhouse warm and extend the season, but there is one problem...
The controller that comes with them. Some are programmed with a timer that can be set to come on/go off at specified times, this can repeat daily. Great! However, some come programmed with a countdown timer... you set it to come on at the end of the specified countdown, you have to do that every day. Yuck.... and yes that is what mine came with. So I looked on Amazon, found one that someone in the reviews said they could set specific on/off times (they are not specific in the product description as to how it is programmed)... ordered it. Yes $25 later I have another countdown timer. Crap! The biggest problem here is they are random... there are 2 main LCD controllers and neither one of them has a guaranteed on/off timer programmed in. Either one of them could be countdown OR on/off timer... no one seems to know how you can tell which you will get until you plug it in. Crazy!
There is an aftermarket controller built by a guy in Australia that is the bomb! It does everything but back flips. It has several timers built in, altitude adjustments, and a frost protection function. But it is about $130.00... and I paid $139.00 for the heater! That said, Wabasto and Esparr diesel heater are like $600.00+ and I read the controllers they come with are very limited... the Australian made controller - called the Afterburner- is far better. So, since the cheap Chinese heaters are basically an exact copy of the high dollar heaters... even if you bought the Afterburner controller and a Chinese heater you would still be into it for around a third of the cost. Looks like I'm going to end up getting an Afterburner controller for next spring... too late this year, the tomatoes look pretty rough as do the squash and cucumbers. Next year will be different!
|
|
justins7
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Oct 2020 11:44am
Reply
Thanks for posting so much interesting information on your experience!
I still have not had the time to put together my greenhouse kit, which finally arrived a week ago. Plus the weather's been bad, so I am not sure my wife and I will get to do it before the winter anyway. It may just sit under a tarp until the Spring. 
I did end up buying a Winnerwell tent stove, which I may put in the greenhouse at some point. But I also may use it in my barn instead. These things are great because you can move them around, unlike a heavy cast iron stove. The Winnerwell stove is really nice looking too, and it's great to be able to just disconnect the pipes and move it to another location (with the right fittings obviously).
That being said, none of that is really practical when it comes to heating a greenhouse continuously. Your setup seems to make much more sense — with a remote control or timer, versus getting up and refueling a wood stove every few hours.
|
|
NorthRick
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Oct 2020 01:59pm
Reply
Can you not control it with a thermostat? That's what I do. I bought a thermostat and mounted it to the wall in the middle of the greenhouse (the heater is at one end). I set it so the heater will kick on when the temperature in the greenhouse gets to around 40 degrees.
|
|
Nobadays
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Oct 2020 03:15pm
Reply
Justin..... get it ready for spring, that is when all us gardeners are itching to get plants in the ground... usually before the ground/weather is ready for plants. A tip I got from a permaculture commercial grower in our area... he plants carrots around his tomatoes, says they loosen the ground and will suck up excess moisture.
North.... yes and no on a thermostat. The Chinese diesel heaters have a thermostat of sorts in their LCD controllers, but, they are designed to be on continuously. When they hit your set temp they then idle to maintain the set temp. They are turned on or off manually. The Afterburner, aftermarket controller does have a thermostat that will turn it off and on. The frost feature/thermostat of the Afterburner and the altitude adjustments make it appealing to me. Living at 9,500 feet we do not get a clean burn with any petroleum burning stove unless you can adjust the air/fuel mixture. I have done this by decreasing the fuel at the idle setting while increasing the air intake speed.... but I'm just guessing at it. I have over 15 hours of burn time on it so I think I have it set ok... i read where others have experienced sooting/shut down after just three or four hours.
|
|
Wademartin
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 01:10am - Edited by: Wademartin
Reply
Stainless steel tent stoves are definitely the way to go if you're looking for a lightweight and durable option. They may be more expensive upfront, but they'll last much longer than black powder coated stoves. And who wants to carry a heavy stove around in their backpack all day anyway.
|
|
|
