Linda Davidson

Think barn shape 2 story surrounded by pines & sweet gum , silver metallic roof, 6 inch walls , no windows on east or west sides(planning expansion), porch on north and south ends for air flow. Currently cooling with window AC x 3, propane cook stove, electric garage ceiling mount heat with backup propane wall heater on first floor. Up stairs stays 10-15 degrees warmer than first floor. I'm in central Arkansas, just on the edge of tornado ally...

having read these posts, I'm still interested in going geothermal, I have a 2 story home where I want to draw the heat from the peak interior down through a PVC pipe out under the ground and then back into the house as cooler air in the summer and warmer air in the winter...yes I'm in Arkansas with relative humidity at 80% today....if the air is filtered through a HEPA filter on the return to house end wouldn't that take care of the mold?...and if a cleanout capped opening is installed at the lowest point and every 50-100ft, thena plumber's snake with cleaning cloth could be run through the system 3-4 times a year or more often as needed...

thanks for the Welcome! my name is Linda and I'm in Central, Arkansas. Temps in the 100-103*F last week with showers the last 2 days so Humidity is in the 80-100% range, hubby and I have 3 acres of woods, totally fenced, some raised beds with peppers and tomatoes, in-ground corn, purple hull peas, a couple of melon plants, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, so I have been making jelly and canning and dehydrating... cutting trees to enlarge the pond. I also have pallet wood interior walls, do mosaic, and stained glass and light catchers(pretty hanging things to decorate with), flowers(daylilies, iris, canna, and flowering shrubs crepe myrtle, Rose of Sharon; fruit trees, apple, and peach; blueberries and blackberries...planning to remove cedar, sweetgum and plant Pecan, almond, pistachio, and plums, and apricots...

having read several threads over the past 2 years, researched, and gathered material, being broke financially, in desperation to grow my own food, I have decided to build a partial earth greenhouse, being in Arkansas (zone 7a, with the water table at  1 foot in the wet season to 6 ft in the dry season) my build will be partially in a sloping hillside. We, hubby and I plan to start with, 4-foot earth walls (with logs stacked to retain the earth(block or rock inside as we can afford), then cover them with steal and plastic dome, using steal pipe and angle welded to support grow lights and one or 2 solar panels to charge 12-volt batteries to power the grow lights.I will have steps going in from the south side and the East end will be open on the downhill end with eventual French doors..my plan is to build a rocket mass heater to heat the greenhouse, insulating under it with the pipe down the center like a raised bed/work station that I can start seedlings on instead of having to use electric heating pads at the end of February but heat the area in December through February. temporary flooring will be free pallets and drainage downhill...any advice, tips, tricks, or ideas are welcome...eventually, I plan on replacing the plastic with more permanent roofing panels and the plastic on the sides with stained glass windows(hobby) and placing a hot tub in 1 end for my old joints... L Davidson