I'm designing a complex which will be an orangery (
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Orangerie) connected to the house, which in turn will be connected to a 103'x30'
greenhouse building. The south facing side will be a 20' wide modified passive
solar greenhouse divided into three sections separated by walls. One section will be 30' long, and two will be 36' long. The northern 10' will be an enclosed, insulated area divided into rooms for a kitchen,
mushroom growing rooms, an office, etc. I plan on 4 climate batteries, one under the orangery, and one under each greenhouse section. The three greenhouse sections will ideally be kept at different temperatures for growing different types of plants. I'm also planning on
solar power for the
lights, pumps, fans, etc.
We have a short growing season here in southern Vermont, and the temps have gotten to minus 29F, so I'll need supplemental heat, and I'd like to use
rocket mass heaters.
How effective is a
RMH for greenhouses this size? The building will have a peaked roof to allow for the correct glass angle on the south side and snow runoff on the north side. I plan on using a thermal blanket indoors to close off the top in the winter (and shade cloth outdoors to help cool in the summer). I have not built a
RMH before, so any suggestions on building them for this purpose would be appreciated.
The orangery will have a hot tub, so the RMH can be built into seating around it. I plan on needing the hot tub in the summer. I think a RMH would be too much to heat the hot tub in an enclosed space for growing plants in the summer. For the greenhouse sections, I want as much growing space as possible. I'm planning on 2' high raised beds in a 2' wide perimeter with 4' wide beds coming out into the center with 2' paths between them., leaving a 3' path down the center. I begrudge the loss of planting space even for doors. I can't put the RMH under the center paths, because of the climate battery. Is there a way to build the RMHs in the rooms on the north side to heat the greenhouse? I don't think I want to use the same RMS for the greenhouse as for the northern rooms as I won't always want the two to be the same temperature.