Living in a Greenhouse?

[chamoisee]

Has anyone tried this? Obviously it would have to be well ventilated. I can't think of anything more appealing than living surrounded by growing plants and sunlight. :-)

[Buffy in Dallas]

I have dreamed about this for years but unless you had one heck of an AC unit, summer would be H... um...difficult.

[chamoisee]

Not here in northern Idaho... :-)

[Farmer Willy]

Oh, and you should not throw rocks.

[jwal10]

I like to sit in my little greenhouse for a while when it is nice and warm but I wouldn't want to live in it all the time. Like they say, everything in moderation. Now, the leanto sunporch is different, it is heavenly....James

[Buffy in Dallas]

You could have a wood burning stove to heat it in the winter, and maybe grow vines on it to keep the sun out during the summer.

[belladulcinea]

There was an article in Mother Earth News about a family doing that. You might be able to google it.

[haypoint]

After a long hard winter, stepping into a greenhouse in March with the smell of warm earth, the bright green started plants, ahhhhh a slice of heaven.
But a greenhouse gets cold at night, too hot during the day, hard to heat and hard to cool. You'd have to live on patio furniture and sleep on an air matteress. Mold would be a problem in that hunidity. Just as a cold dairy barn is just right for cows, but too cold for us, a greenhouse is just right for plants, but difficult for us.

With that said, my house plans include a south facing 8 by 26 foot window walled room. I expect it will be used for plant production and sunny winter afternoons.

[Shrek]

I sort of live in a greenhouse. the rear 250 square feet of my house that was originally the back porch with attic space is now a sun room with a solarium curved windows to maximize passive solar heat collection and has mirrored ceiling tiles to maximize sunlight collection .

This morning I planted sprouted english peas in one of my worm bins to go along with my potatoes and tomatoes growing in two other bins.

During the winter months if not doing my online stuff or household chores or sleeping I am in that sun room harvesting worms or fertilizer, feeding bins or gardening a bit while watching a DVD.

[Raven12]

Or even taking a one story small barn or shed and putting glass windows all around, even in the roof. A semi-greenhouse. It would be a dream. Yes, Chamoisee, I think about it all the time.

[sisterpine]

As much as I loved my Montana green house...it did get to -20 in the winter and +120 in the summer and was very humid much of the time.

[primal1]

I would in a heartbeat. The horticulture school i attended built a huge ulta hightech greenhouse with concrete radiant heat floors and propane heat... It's 3 sections roughly 30' x 60' each, totaling 5400 sq feet of floor space and 20' tall... in winter it cost $800 a week to heat! Although they were heating for tropical plants.
Summer wasn't too bad as long as you kept the doors open.. I suggested they paint the exterior with a whitewash and even plant deciduous tree for shading.

[jwal10]

Trees on the southwest side and shadecloth help a lot....James

[salmonslayer]

I would think the neighbors would complain when you shower. We have a small greenhouse with radiant in floor heating off the OWB and its nice even on a sunny winters day but I sure wouldnt want to live in it.

We also have some friends who have a Farm Tek 42'x72' clear span greenhouse and when we were over there the other day it was about 34 outside and 75 in the greenhouse and the grass was green, the raised beds were already planted and it was very nice to hang out in. They dropped over 10K in their set up and its great to hang out in and get out of the weather (particularly the no wind) but I would only want something like that for garden use and not living space.

[ronbre]

my sister thought this way and attached a huge open sunroom to their house..it can get very uncomfortable in the summer even here in Michigan and even with tons of ventilation and blinds

[GrannyG]

I have an Ashley heater in mine but the edges are still freezing in winter...did not work out to keep it going in the winter.....and summer time you would cook in it....cannot keep any plants in it during the summer heat.....even tried electric heaters and that did not work for plants....can't see living in one....

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by ronbre

my sister thought this way and attached a huge open sunroom to their house..it can get very uncomfortable in the summer even here in Michigan and even with tons of ventilation and blinds

I solved that problem with my sun room greenhouse by installing a ceiling fan and 10,000 btu window unit air conditioner in the north wall. I often use up to 10 of my inside worm beds for up to 120 square feet of SFG beds in the sun room for my summer garden if drought conditions for our area are too extreme as I can keep the garden temperature in it at 75 to 85 degrees if the outdoor temps are to hot for weeks on end.

[chamoisee]

For clarity's sake: the place I'm caretaking right now is going to be foreclosed on this spring. I'm trying to think of a house that I can afford, move if necessary, enjoy living in and hopefully continue growing stuff, etc.

[Loriann1971]

Originally Posted by Shrek

I solved that problem with my sun room greenhouse by installing a ceiling fan and 10,000 btu window unit air conditioner in the north wall. I often use up to 10 of my inside worm beds for up to 120 square feet of SFG beds in the sun room for my summer garden if drought conditions for our area are too extreme as I can keep the garden temperature in it at 75 to 85 degrees if the outdoor temps are to hot for weeks on end.

I would love to see pictures of this!

[ldc]

Maybe 10 years ago, someone posted an article at HT about a lady in Mass. - I think Cape Cod - who lived in her greenhouse. It was heated by the rabbits and chickens under the benches. She said to change her clothes, she'd put the tea kettle on, and everything would fog up, so no one would see her changing...