Patrick Claffey

Hey John, it will be cooler. People all over the world have made these types of houses and have gotten great results. You’ll see these green houses like these in Arizona, India, Canada, and Alaska. The reason is because the Earth holds a constant temperature 6-8 feet under the Earth. The constant temperature at this depth is usually about 50-60 degrees.

My house will be fitted with 10-12” can-fans.
The 12” will move 1760cfm at one foot, 1500cfm at 10 feet. If I have four at the top with two located on both the north and south end I would be moving a ton of that hot air that naturally rises to the top of greenhouse. Especially with the 24 pipes I will have bringing cool air in I would like to think my greenhouse will stay 70-75 degree all year.

John check out this video on this farmer in Nebraska who grows citrus all year round.

Hey Dan, thanks for the input!

I have not dig into the dirt that deep yet to check the temps. I honestly first got the idea when I went into my barn and put my hand underneath the floorboards. It was an 100 degree weather day and when I put my hand under there it was cold! I then stuck a thermostat in that same spot and watched it all summer. It stayed a constant 68-70 degrees all season. That’s when I started doing some research and found “greenhouse in the snow” company.

So where I am placing the green house is on flat land. Not too many slopes where I am at in Oklahoma. To stop rain water from coming down into the house I was planning on installing gutters on the east and west sides of my rounded arc greenhouse. The rainwater would hit the house roll down the plastic into the gutters and I would have the gutters plugged into some pvc pipes and drain into my well. For the inside of the greenhouse I was planning on putting down thick mil weed mat. Same goes for the tubing that goes 8 feet underneath the earth, before I bury them I was going to put weed mat around them. If water somehow got into my pipes then I would get small water pump and stick a hose down there to clean it out. I saw someone with an earth battery green house do this. Looked pretty simple.

I see what you mean about needing a storm shelter quality seal to my greenhouse. Let’s say I build one of those retaining rock walls and only bury my greenhouse three feet into the ground. My greenhouse has prefabricated 3 foot side walls.  I place the rock wall on the outside of my greenhouse. The rock wall would protect my side walls from caving in.  I could line the rock wall with a thick mil weed mat as well. I can overlap the weed mat to go up my greenhouse walls. Think that would be enough? Or should I take it a step further?

Hi Michael, thanks for your reply.

The type of soil we have out there is an loamy top layer with clay further underneath. The is little to no rocks where I’m at. We would have to haul in slabs of rock. Which I’m not against doing. I like the idea though. I could also buy galvanized steel wall cages and fill those with rocks.

Hi everyone, I have been looking on developing an underground green that can withstand the Oklahoma heat. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the “greenhouse in  the snow” company. From what I’ve been researching this is what I’ve come up with thus far. Wondering what opinions and ideas everyone has.

First off I have already ordered a 32x80 greenhouse. I wasn’t planning on burying it til now. The greenhouse has three foot wide walls and 6 mil plastic. More specs below.

My idea with the greenhouse was that I would excavate a 6 foot hole large enough to fit the house. On the inside I was planning on using 2inch insulated foam board all along the dirt walls. Those three foot side walls on the greenhouse wouldn’t even be used/open. Next I wanted to install four blower intake fans (don’t know what size I should get yet) on all four corners on the floor of the greenhouse. Each of these blowers would have six, 4inch, HDPE corrugated pipes, that go 8 feet underground and extend 90 feet out then back into the greenhouse. That’s my cold air flow. I would also have tons of oscillating fans pushing that air around.
Next I want to add two 10inch can-fans, located on the top, (still talking about the inside of the house) almost centered in the middle. Each fan has ducting connected to it and sucks out air out from the house to the outside.
That’s my hot air outtake.

For the outside of the greenhouse I have not planned anything special. Having trouble figuring out what would be best. Because the side walls of the green house are prefabricated so I could have the dirt I dig come up the greenhouse three feet. But obviously I wanna bury my greenhouse 6 feet. My hesitation is having the dirt rest on the greenhouse plastic. If I would do that I would put up something on the inside so the plastic doesn’t rip because of the weight of the dirt.



Specs on greenhouse if anyone is interested -

-Bows (Hoops) - 1 5/8" Galvanized Steel Tubing (16 Gauge)

-Greenhouse bows are installed on 4' centers (every 4')

-3 Foot Side Walls - Ground Stakes driven approximately 26" into the ground

-2" Galvanized Steel Tubing for side walls and ground stakes(16 Gauge)

-Triple Purlin that runs the length of the greenhouse and connects the bows

-4 Year Warranty 6 mil Clear, UV-treated Poly Greenhouse Film
(3 pieces to cover the house including endwalls)