Heya guys,
I've had a bit of a gardening hiatus due to location... But with a new home coming I have my sights set on building a nice big greenhouse. I have a 10' x 16' limit imposed by my better half and a height limit of 12'6" imposed by the municipality.
ZONE 5A 
I figured I'd start a thread to brainstorm and document, I have about a years time to plan. Any insight is welcome as always. This is my first greenhouse.
My wish list:
Twin-wall polycarbonnate exterior.
Wood frame.
Working tap with laundry sink, no drainage.
Drip system.
Buried heatsink.
Thermostat driven vents/fans.
Solar panel system.
Work station.
Shelves for smaller plants.
Floor space for larger plants.
Night time light for me to spend evening time gardening.
Realistically I may not get everything I want but lets hope for the best.
My hope is to use it to extend my season on both sides, start seedlings early, over winter outdoor plants, maybe even get a little hardy veggie crop. I don't know how much heat would/ will come from the heat sink.
Covering
I'm going to use twin-wall polycarbonate for the exterior. I have not worked with it before. I am unsure of the thickness to use for the roof? 6mm? 8mm 10mm?
Frame
I need a permit due to size, so I'm planning to design it out using the google sketchup design program. I don't know what angle will be acceptable for the roof? Laying out a foundation will be totally new to me.
Tub
Just a tub with a working cold water tap and hook up for the drip system. Will drain into bucket under the tub to be used.
Drip system.
No idea what I'm looking at here, just that the lazy man in me wants one, desperately.
Heat sink.
New idea I stumble onto. Bury a bunch of rock or gravel or water or ______ and use fans and piping to geo heat the greenhouse over the winter at night. Not sure what size I'd need or of the best material to use.
Thermostat driven vents.
I see these in all the youtube vids. Be cool to have if I can power them solarly.
Solar.
Enough to run the heat sink fans, vents, thermostats. Don't know what I'm doing here either. If I can't run it on solar it's not getting power. My night light may be run from the house, it wouldn't be bad to have an outlet either. If I was able to run the night light on solar that would be awesome but I think my hopes are getting a bit high for output power I'll have access to.
Workstation.
Mobile maybe like a sturdy cart. Maybe stationary. Unsure. Center table maybe?
Layout.
I would like one side for shorter plants with 2 maybe 3 wide shelves. I would like some space for some taller plants. I will likely hang some plants if height permits. Likely all pots no in ground. Wood like a wood chip floor rather than gravel or dirt.
Opinions appreciated! I'll keep this thread running through completion, hopefully all goes well and something cool turns out.
I've had a bit of a gardening hiatus due to location... But with a new home coming I have my sights set on building a nice big greenhouse. I have a 10' x 16' limit imposed by my better half and a height limit of 12'6" imposed by the municipality.
ZONE 5A I figured I'd start a thread to brainstorm and document, I have about a years time to plan. Any insight is welcome as always. This is my first greenhouse.
My wish list:
Twin-wall polycarbonnate exterior.
Wood frame.
Working tap with laundry sink, no drainage.
Drip system.
Buried heatsink.
Thermostat driven vents/fans.
Solar panel system.
Work station.
Shelves for smaller plants.
Floor space for larger plants.
Night time light for me to spend evening time gardening.
Realistically I may not get everything I want but lets hope for the best.
My hope is to use it to extend my season on both sides, start seedlings early, over winter outdoor plants, maybe even get a little hardy veggie crop. I don't know how much heat would/ will come from the heat sink.
Covering
I'm going to use twin-wall polycarbonate for the exterior. I have not worked with it before. I am unsure of the thickness to use for the roof? 6mm? 8mm 10mm?
Frame
I need a permit due to size, so I'm planning to design it out using the google sketchup design program. I don't know what angle will be acceptable for the roof? Laying out a foundation will be totally new to me.
Tub
Just a tub with a working cold water tap and hook up for the drip system. Will drain into bucket under the tub to be used.
Drip system.
No idea what I'm looking at here, just that the lazy man in me wants one, desperately.
Heat sink.
New idea I stumble onto. Bury a bunch of rock or gravel or water or ______ and use fans and piping to geo heat the greenhouse over the winter at night. Not sure what size I'd need or of the best material to use.
Thermostat driven vents.
I see these in all the youtube vids. Be cool to have if I can power them solarly.
Solar.
Enough to run the heat sink fans, vents, thermostats. Don't know what I'm doing here either. If I can't run it on solar it's not getting power. My night light may be run from the house, it wouldn't be bad to have an outlet either. If I was able to run the night light on solar that would be awesome but I think my hopes are getting a bit high for output power I'll have access to.
Workstation.
Mobile maybe like a sturdy cart. Maybe stationary. Unsure. Center table maybe?
Layout.
I would like one side for shorter plants with 2 maybe 3 wide shelves. I would like some space for some taller plants. I will likely hang some plants if height permits. Likely all pots no in ground. Wood like a wood chip floor rather than gravel or dirt.
Opinions appreciated! I'll keep this thread running through completion, hopefully all goes well and something cool turns out.
