pex kept soil warm

well we noticed this year that there were areas of soil between our house and our son's where our pex is buried, that the snow stayed melted over...sure you lose some heat from the pex even though it is insulated..but i didn't realize how much the soil did absorb the heat as the pex is down several feet (but heat rises).

well there is a spot where both our son and our pex comes out of the furnace building in the soil..and it is at it's shallowest spot..only down a couple of feet..so..Joel and I were talking and we decided..we are going to move the greenhouse and the 2 larger cold frames over that warmer soil this spring.

we will be building the soil up some with some raised beds in the greenhouse..and cold frame too..so that will make the soil up a little higher (which might protect the pex some from the cold as well)..so this will be an interesting experiment this next year to see how much warmer the greenhouse will be with the heated soil under it.

also it will be closer to the furnace building so when we get enough $ we may be able to buy a heat exchanger and divert some pex into the greenhouse and actually HEAT the greenhouse in the future..then we for sure can keep it above freezing all winter long..right now it is just solar only.

Is it possible to trench down a few feet and insulate around the foundations of the greenhouse, e.g. with straw or sunflower stalks? That might help both the pex and the greenhouse.

sure would Joel, my son Joel has even suggested that we insulate it..

haven't done the move yet as weather turned drizzly and cold..hopefully this week it will warm up enough to get it done..

the pex will cross under the greenhouse in a V shape turned on it's side..so the v will go from the side to the front corner and back corner..and will be under the north beds and partially under the rear bed and front...the south beds will have less heat from the pex but more from the sun.

we'll see how it all works out..hope to get a start on moving it very soon

well earlier i posted and mentioned how we found that there was an area of our soil that didn't freeze last winter..cause the pex from our wood furnace went underground through that area.

well we had determined we would move our little greenhouse over that non frozen soil area this fall.

ok..hubby went out and took the lag screws out of the greenhouse last night and slid it off of it's foundation and pulled up the 4x4 foundation boards and rebar anchors.

the area above the pex "in ground heating" has been levelled and is mostly gravel..it will get a final backblade today and it rained for 3 hours this morning.

the greenhouse (only a little 6x8 polycarbonate /extruded alum frame one with a auto vent which i have had for 30 yhears) will get moved OVER the pex underground..today sometime

after it is moved in and some compost put down over the gravel ..a brick path put down the center and the beds framed in ..soaker hoses put down..

i will be planting my fall greenhouse crops in there..probaby by the end of the week..and then we'll see how the experiment goes..

the plan right now is to try the first year with NO other supplemental heat other than what comes from the buried pex and see if that makes it warm enough to at least keep some salad crops  and greens going well into the winter..and then go from there..MICHIGAN zone 4 /5

also have 2 large coldframes (polycarbonate and wood each 3x4.) and am trying to figure out where i can move those to before fall..and plan to find a place to put in a cutting garden before fall too..so i can start trees and shrubs for transplanting in the spring..

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25809&id=1846485863&l=42545e5108

here is a link to a few photos..first the mess Ron made when he pulled the greenhouse off of the foundation, and then the new spot ..foundation down..and then 3 angles of the little greenhouse on it's new spot..

still have to put down the brick for paths and bed frames..put in the soil/dairy doo and soaker hoses and get it ready to plant (oh and wash off all the dust..)

and then replant the area where it was before..and clean up the mess there..and oh yeah replant the strawberries that are in a bucket in water..but it has been raining nearly all day.

brick paths in, soaker hose in, still have to get the compost and soil ready and then i'll plant by the end of the week..woo hoo (oh yeah still gotta wash down the polycarb)