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C N Y

i know Joel Holland does this, but i just wondered if anyone else has any ideas about doing this this year...
the topic is:
heating up some water in 55-gallon barrels
via a solar collector that is mounted on the roof of the house or garage, to alleviate the possibility of frost damage and cold soil in the early season.
there are some BLACK garden hoses, 120 feet long, 5/8,
really good ones, for only about 22 bucks each at the local
Sam's Club, and i am thinking of putting the hose up on the roof of the garage, zig-zagged about, one end of it will reside in one barrel of water, the other end will be attached to a hose that is underground where an AG plant will be transplanted to in a couple weeks at the most.
the other end of THAT hose will go on to the next AG, and the next, and then the water will be returning to the barrel(s) to be re-heated by the solar collector. i am actually thinking that it would run for a few hours during the day, to heat the water, and then at night a different timer would turn-on a solenoid that would allow the water to run through the hoses that are under the plants.....thereby moderating the temperature in the soil...of course, i would be on the watch for any frost and/or be alerted of a power failure! any thoughts, comments or where you have seen this before will be most-anticipated and welcomed! eric

4/19/2005 6:05:43 PM

Eveleth MN

black plastic 55 gallon drums absorb ALOT of heat, probibly wouldn't even need a roof collector just but the barrels in direct sunlight. I also thought about this setup at one time, I just decided to keep using electric heaters and paying the extra 20-30$ on the power bill for the month of may.

4/19/2005 8:22:12 PM

Montoursville, PA

You could have your pie and eat it too........by applying, the same reasoning, to coils, under and in a humungus manure pile.

4/19/2005 8:26:14 PM

Sioux Falls, SD [email protected]

maybe even circulate the warm water through the soil during day. . .if you're doing enough area deep enough the ground could be more of a heat sink than a barrel of water.

you'd still need hoop house or something to trap warm air on a breezy 30 degree situation

4/20/2005 12:07:53 AM

C N Y

ohhhh, yeah!
i forgot to mention the fact that this would be a supplemental, not stand-alone system.
thanks for the replies; my system in the past has been a string of lights, one 40-watter to a plant, each under a large plastic container that turned on at dusk and off at about 8 AM......very interesting to see at night and
kept them alive even at 30 degrees or below----very closely
monitored! i was thinking of about a foot deep;
this is similar to the soil-coil, LOL!!! idea that most people use, but using the sun more diectly. thanks again.

4/20/2005 1:29:07 AM

C N Y

good point about it running in the day as well....

4/20/2005 1:30:33 AM

Canada

Ive got 4 of them black 55 gallon drums set-up on the back of my garage about 5 feet off the ground they all get filled from rain water off the roof of the house, each container is covered to keep the mosquitos out ( well to help anyways) I have them all connected then the center one has the lowest connection with teh garden hose, it works out good because the pressure is enough from being up high to going down so low were the patch is at that it lets out a very nice mist for watering the plants. as for keeping warm there location is in FULL sun. this is my watering system set-up for 2005. because from what I hear the water bans this year are going to be terrible

Dave

4/20/2005 8:10:12 PM

Oz

PUMKIN PAl,,
I took a factory coiled roll of 4in corregated drain tube($20,no holes or slots)and
put it on top of some blueboard insulation.
I wrapped the side in fiber glass insulation and filled the coil up with water(open ends at the top).
I then covered it in clear plastic(bubble plastic?).
The water got hot in winter at mid day(knoxville tn)
you might even run 4in corregated tubing in the ground with a small fluid pump to provide a thermal loop.

4/20/2005 10:02:53 PM

C N Y

thank you, MCPUMPKIN, and everybody....
i've got a lot of thinking to do in the next few days, lol...which plan to follow........>>> eric

i hope this works:

?
? ? ?
?

the world's stupidest emoticon. get it?
me neither! eric

4/22/2005 8:41:44 PM

C N Y

didn't work. pooh!

4/22/2005 8:42:13 PM