I've posted before about my
greenhouse and it's issues (mainly that I didn't build it and it used to be for a commercial flower operation). After burning through way too much oil trying to heat it last winter (I'm in Upstate NY) I am set on making a few changes this summer so that next winter I don't have to do the same thing.
One thing I know I need to do is insulate the walls, but the ground inside the
greenhouse is another matter. I have a barn full of recycled 3 inch foam insulation board that I am planning on using. Ideally I would build a frost skirt around the whole structure to insulate the inside ground from the frost on the outside. But I have a few issues that I'm going to run into: one of the walls of the greenhouse is on the edge of a pretty steep down slope, and on the other end is a
chicken house and some pretty well established grape vines that I don't want to mess with.
I guess my question is for the downslope - if I lay insulation on top of this slope and then sort of backfill over it (I could only do a few inches though as there is another greenhouse down that slope about five feet away) - do you think that will provide
enough protection from both the frost and the outside air (I will also be insulating up that wall)?
For the
chicken house and grape vines I'm very puzzled. There is a wall and a door that section off that part of the greenhouse and I am planning on insulating those, but the ground is another thing. If I leave the ground uninsulated will I negate all the efforts of insulating everywhere else?
My one other thought is to chuck the frost skirt idea and just insulate the floor inside the greenhouse. I was planning on putting in raised beds anyway since the ground is gravel and I can't really plant things directly into that anyway.
Any thoughts or suggestions?