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Greenhouses & Garden Structures

Heating a GH with Electric heater

9 years ago

I have a 12x16 GH heater with a 240 volt electric heater, working pretty well. I am thinking about building a stone tunnel in front of the heater to absorb some of the heat and slowly releasing it hopefully making it more efficient like a ceramic heater.

Any ideas???

Hans

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Comments (5)

trianglejohn
9 years ago
When I looked into rocket stoves and similar heaters for my greenhouse I found that they work wonderfully but require a lot of management in order to build up the heat enough to release heat for a long period. A lot of the info was from further north where the daytime highs are much lower than yours or mine and they would need to burn wood most of the day anyway. I live in Raleigh NC and only really need heat at night and it would be hard to build up enough heat by just lighting the fire in the evening. You may find it similar with your ceramic or stone tunnel. I mean, your tunnel will hold on to heat but depending on how long you run your heater the tunnel may not build up a significant amount of heat. You might also look at the plastic tubes they use in commercial greenhouses that act like a leaky pillow across the whole length of the greenhouse - they keep the hot air from quickly rising to the top of the structure.
muscadines978
Original Author
9 years ago
I see your point. I was hoping the stone tunnel to hold the heat longer than the air would as in a ceramic heater.
About the heat rising, I have a ceiling fan going 24/7 pushing the air down, thusly distributing the heat more effectively.
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trianglejohn
9 years ago
You could also build benches with stone or ceramic surfaces and run the heated air under them so that the bench surface heats up. I find that just letting the greenhouse get really hot during the day and keeping lots of soil filled pots stuffed into the space works wonders. Moist potting media can hang on to a lot of heat.
muscadines978
Original Author
9 years ago
I do have (14) 55 gal. drums filled with water on both the South and North side of the Green house, but always looking for new ideas.

Hans
oakhill (zone 9A, Calif.)
9 years ago
"hopefully making it more efficient like a ceramic heater."

If by more efficient you mean less electricity used, the type of electric heater or absorbing structure around it, is not important. One Kw = 3412 Btu/hr, regardless of the type of electric heater used. If your greenhouse looses 3000 btu per hour during the night, then you would need 3000 btu/hr to keep it at your desired temp.
Ceramic heaters are not more efficient than any other type of electric heater. Having ceramic, oil, bricks, etc. may reduce the amount of cycles per hour that the heater operates on/off, but the end result in Kw/hr. is the same, regardless of the electric heater type. The only other difference among electric heaters is the direction of heat that they emit. Some are very directional, others are more general in their heat output, including ones with attached fans.

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