I currently have a 70's airstream set up on my property as my primary homesteading residence. It's really a 2.5 season setup because late in the fall temperatures get low
enough to freeze everything so I close it up. I recently had a thought that I could erect a 30 x 30 poly
greenhouse around the airstream to protect it from the winder elements. I also have a passive
solar collector I've been working on to provide
hot water, but I thought that if I could purpose it an grab a couple IBC totes, I could use that system to provide some thermal mass. Coupled with the temperature gain from the plastic, my thought is that it would provide enough warmth and thermal mass to keep the Airstream above freezing during the winter. If I want to use the space I could supplement the heat inside the Airsstream with a propane heater. In addition to the heat gains, it would provide a nice environment for starting plants in the spring as usually I can't put them out until June 1.
I've looked into the double walled poly tunnels, and it seems like the insulation value is great, the only issue I can think of is that I don't want to run a fan constantly to keep it inflated. Are there any alternatives to forcing air between the layers? I was thinking that maybe if I took some packing material ( those inflated bags they use to pack in boxes ) then perhaps I could string some of those bags in between the the layers at intervals which would keep the layers apart and provide a similar insulation factor.
Any thoughts on other things I could do? am I overlooking anything important?