For those of you who wanted to know about the gas well-- 50 years ago, my grandparents built a beautiful Farm and house on the property I live at. For energy, they had a gas well put in. The company who built it drilled 1200 feet in the ground and ran piping down into it. As the gas comes up the pipe by natural pressure down there, some of it is liquid, and some is a gas. It runs through various different valves in which the liquid is siphoned off into a 14 ft tall, 8-10 ft diameter steel drum. The remaining gas is run through piping to our house. Once or twice a year (I don't know exactly how often) a truck comes from the company and switches tanks. We then recieve a check for 100-150$ for the liquid gas that they take. They refine it and sell it to local power companies and such. There are a few downsides- 1. There is a huge green steel drum half a mile down the field. 2. Once in awhile(every two years or so) a pocket of gas makes its way to the surface around the pipe.....So we get a big brown stain around the well itself. 3. Our neighbors are required to have access to a well because of Mineral Rights- Why? Whose to say the gas pocket we are using ends at the property line. There is a possibility that we are taking gas from there property, so by law they are granted access. Which can be a pain- In the winter gas pressure drops, and its just strong enough to support one house....They run their heating as well....And the gas "goes out". When it goes out we have to go outside where the pipes meet the house and reset the connection to the house, because when pressure drops, the valves close. Not terribly difficult, just annoying! Our township has a regulation about gas wells- if you don't own more than 4 acres of property, you can not have one. We have 36 acres, and two gas wells. Right now, a company is going to drill a new well for commercial use. The well will be a little more than a mile into the ground, and they'll bottle it and sell it. We'll recieve between $1200 and $5000 a month depending on how much they collect. We are planning to have pipe laid from the rear gas well(about 7/8ths of a mile from our house) to bring gas from there. All our winter difficulties will no longer exist. My grandparents' house and farm burnt to the ground 20 years ago, and they rebuilt a small house. Then they passed away and my father inherited 36 of the original 60 acres, and my parents built a house here. Just a little history for you. The gas well has its good points and bad, and we like it, but I am starting to think Thermal energy may be the way to go. Feel free to ask questions- I don't know everything about it, but I'll try. Thanks, Kenny

The VERY approximate rule of thumb is one zone per layer of protection, but this is pretty variable as you said. Besides, zones are not that important unless you have perennials or plan to grow vegetables through the winter. Even in this case, it's complicated by the issue that a hoophouse won't have protective snow cover inside, therefore cancelling out zone benefits in mid-winter. If you want to maximize your warmth at night as well as winter protection, use heavy row cover (winter) or light row cover (spring/fall) for the low tunnels, instead of regular plastic. Optionally, plastic can go on over the row cover (only in winter, otherwise you can cook the plants). In a hoop house, water drums are fairly insignificant. Much better to rely on the ground as a heat sink and insulate the ground + plant system from outside. I have a single layer PC GH (behaves like a hoophouse) with low tunnels made up of double layer light row cover and 4 mil poly. Kale, radishes and turnips planted in there. Lowest temp. outside this winter was 15 below zero F. Lowest inside was +19 F. Daytime temps. are 10 to 40 degrees F above outside, depending on how sunny it is and how strong the sun is. Beware of bugs (aphids, scale, mealybugs) that thrive in the warm damp environment in a hoophouse in fall/early winter.

The answer to your question about painting the metal hoops can be found at your neighbors hoophouse (unpainted metal)that has been up a few months. The plastic will be discolored and brittle where it touches the hoops. It you paint it white,( or use commercial stick-on white tape), the hoop top stays cooler and the plastic degrades more slowly. If appearance is not a factor for you, some people paint a narrow strip of white latex along each hoop line, right onto the plastic from the outside. This keeps both the plastic and hoops cooler, but is weird to look at. The nail/batten strip is basically holding the plastic down at each nail. The wiggle wire, or some of the other extruded metal commercial products, holds the plastic all along the edge. This spreads out the pulling/pushing force on the plastic and results in much longer plastic life. Finally, metal studs will work, but may be harder to attach fans, doors, vents, polyethylene, etc than with wood. CR

My ground posts were pre-drilled (two holes) and I simply lined up the holes with the frame tubing, slid bolts through with nuts on the inside .. If I could give you any tips in regards to the film I'd say the most important part is to get it completely centered over the frame (both length and width wise). It may not be as important for you but for me with the roll up sides (not sure if you have them) it became a real pain in the butt because I had to cut a perfectly straight line along the length of the structure in order to roll up the sides evenly.. Forgot this: before we started I doubled up the fabric along the long edge, cut holes and tied ropes to it - 3 evenly spaced.. We then threw the ropes over the frame and pulled from the other side.. Just be careful when you're pulling not to snag the film on a clamp or screw of any sort.. It helped to have my buddy pull one side, tie it off and then the other side - as I was inside with a ladder helping it over the clamps etc.. Also be certain that your happy with the position and tightness of the film before installing the channel spring (wiggle wire) as it makes indents and a few little holes in the film.. I tightened the film length wise first; installed the springs above the doors. You can work the spring in from either the ground up or you can start at the center peak and work downward in each direction.. I personally liked working from the center and then down.. Be sure to pull the film taunt in the direction that you are working as to keep ridges or wrinkles from forming. Once you are satisfied with the tightness lengthwise proceed with tightening the film width wise.. Start from one end and work the spring in all the way down and then proceed to the other .. I will say this.. When all was said I done I had to take a few springs out from above the door sides to pull out some bumps and loose spots that it didn't like .. So you can always make adjustments.. And above all - GOOD LUCK! Ps: my friends call me Mike =)