Comments from Lowe's website: "Not as described. This pump would only work under siphon conditions i.e. if the water source was far higher than the drainage location. I returned it and purchased a higher quality pump that would pump up a few feet." and... "Piece of junk! Operates erratically. I've tried to contact the maker twice but they've never responded. The hose that comes with it collapses from the suction. You have to put vegetable oil (or mineral oil) in the thing everytime you use it. This thing is definitely going back!" Your problem with such an arrangement as you describe is loss of head pressure/flow trying to get water to your misters. In order to maintain the pressure you need to operate the misters so they perform up-to-spec, you'd need a much larger, heavier-duty pump...that'd cost hundreds. Most misting heads need 30-50psi to operate properly...the more, the better. The best you'd get with that pump from Lowe's is maybe a bit of dribbling. I wouldn't know how to do it, but it may be possible to run a water line from your house to a pressure tank, and have the pressure tank move the water from your barrel. But this is additional expense, and I'm not sure it's worth it. -Bruce

One idea would be to just put a layer of polyethylene sheet down in the greenhouse floor, with a drain hole between two slats in your deck. That would keep the wind from blowing up, send the drainage water where you want it to go, and prevent any damage to the deck. You may want to add another layer of some non-slippery fabric, such as "remay" or "weed barrier", to make it easier to walk on and still let the water out. Since the amount of heat lost through a greenhouse floor in the winter is almost insignificant, there is no need for any other insulation.

At about 48 degrees North latitude, I'm about 8 degrees further north than Denver. I am at 2,000 feet elevation. Since 1 degrees of latitude = 69 miles or 364,320 feet), I am 2,914,560 feet north and at an equivalent elevation of 5,643 feet (2914560/800 = 3643 + 2000 = 5643). What was the question? Oh! When I built my 180 square foot backyard greenhouse 20 years ago it was with the intention of running it thru the winter months. The greenhouse could be called by some, a "sunshed." It has an insulated north wall and roof, half of both the east and west wall are insulated. The south wall is UV-resistant plastic film set at an angle to best admit mid-winter sunlight. I had a natural gas ceiling heater installed. This kind of heater is often found in heated garages. Before I did this, I checked with the engineers at the local utility and talked about solar-gain. They told me that heating costs should average about $20/month thru the winter. That was 20 years ago. Plans change. I have never run the heater thru the winter and don't know if the engineers' estimate was accurate or not. It doesn't seem to burn much gas during March and April when I do run the furnace. I forget what the angle of the south wall is. It would be different for a place 8 degrees south of here. Your hours of winter sun in Colorado are a good deal greater than here not only because of more hours of daylight but because of greater chance of cloudless days thru the winter. I purchased 6, double-tube, 8' fluorescent fixtures for supplemental lighting. You may not feel that this is necessary. Somewhere, I found information about sunlight at various locations throughout the US. The solar power advocates use that info to assess the value of solar power. Sunlight is very important to someone who has a greenhouse. I will see if I can come across that again. One thing I learned is that this area is abysmal in this regard. Colorado fairs better. Nevertheless, leaving aside ideas about heat sinks etc., etc. - greenhouse glazing of any sort has little insulation value. And yet, sunlight cannot enter the greenhouse at a high angle nor from the north during the winter months. Maybe there will be more thoughts later. The math may have sprained a brain cell, for no good apparent purpose. Steve

One way to overcome the load is to have the heaters on separate circuits. I have a 100 amp sub-panel in the greenhouse, so it's easy to add a circuit - which I did right after the two heaters (with thermostats) on the same circuit switched on at the same second - and popped the breaker.. The 35F reading on the recording thermometer after a 20F night was reason enough. But the key to greenhouse temperature management is thermal mass. Paving stones, gravel or somesuch for a floor, closed containers of water - or better yet, phase-change chemicals - in barrels. I've found that the translucent plastic containers that kitty litter comes in work well. Cheap - as in free - and easy to stash wherever you have room. In regards to thermal mass, more is better.