So, let’s unpack the pros and cons of a greenhouse.

[MoseySusan]

They’re a nursery for all manner of plants. Vegetable starts, for sure. Also tree saplings, mums for autumn color, poinsettias for December, and a continuous source of gifts of living greens for others. 
I don’t see the “however.” Help a sister out, here. 

[Further]

Cost of heat

[MoseySusan]

4 minutes ago, Further said:

Cost of heat

Ok. During the day, the sun heats the house, so you’d have to build in a radiant surface, like red brick, and probably have a nighttime heat source. 

[jsharr ★]

7 minutes ago, Further said:

Cost of heat

You could try the thermal mass method.  55 gallon barrel full of water painted black to absorb solar heat during the day.  

[donkpow]

You are missing the not hidden requirement of physical labors? 

[jsharr ★]

@Square Wheels has a green house.  Use his.

[MoseySusan]

6 minutes ago, donkpow said:

You are missing the not hidden requirement of physical labors? 

Off-set by the love for the work. 
 

About heat:  two websites also suggest keeping a compost bin inside the house because composting gives off heat. Use a brick or wood floor, maintain seals to limit heat loss, build a lean-to style to take advantage of heat loss through home walls, and I can see figuring out how to vent the clothes dryer or oven heat into the greenhouse as a bonus use of energy.

 

[Further]

I have been considering building one

Cheap prefab structures are readily available but heat is an issue 

A custom build would be way more efficient but also much more expensive to build 

[Further]

3 minutes ago, MoseySusan said:

Off-set by the love for the work. 
 

About heat:  two websites also suggest keeping a compost bin inside the house because composting gives off heat. Use a brick or wood floor, maintain seals to limit heat loss, build a lean-to style to take advantage of heat loss through home walls, and I can see figuring out how to vent the clothes dryer or oven heat into the greenhouse as a bonus use of energy.

 

I would not want a working greenhouse attached to my house, especially one with a compost pile in it

Attached to the house turns it into a sun room in my opinion 

[MoseySusan]

Just now, Further said:

heat is an issue 

Berm construction also helps manage heat loss. Taos, NM, is home to numerous off-grid structures that are energy and water efficient. They use earth berms, red brick floors, southern exposure windows, solar heated water. Could that also keep an 8x10 glass/plexiglass house warm. 

[MoseySusan]

2 minutes ago, Further said:

Attached to the house turns it into a sun room in my opinion 

Against the wall, not part of the home. 

[Square Wheels]

They are expensive.

We love ours.  

Under construction about 9 years ago.

A more recent pic.

There are a lot of plants growing in there now.  The wife has so much fun growing flowers.

[MoseySusan]

Do the corrugated metal and paver floor hold warmth? 
One website suggested keeping a rabbit hutch in the greenhouse to help warm the space. 

[Square Wheels]

Just now, MoseySusan said:

Do the corrugated metal and paver floor hold warmth? 

It's actually a very old greenhouse.  That is corrugated fiberglass.  Not crazy about it.

The pavers get warm in the day.  It does not retain the heat.

Our glass is single pane, it does not retain heat at night.  It would cost a small fortune to keep it heated.  We only use it during warmer months.

[MoseySusan]

2 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

It's actually a very old greenhouse.  That is corrugated fiberglass.  Not crazy about it.

The pavers get warm in the day.  It does not retain the heat.

Our glass is single pane, it does not retain heat at night.  It would cost a small fortune to keep it heated.  We only use it during warmer months.

And we have the “however” in more detail. 
My greenhouse would have to be smaller. Shed sized, really. A shed with plastic southern and western walls. 
No wonder rec marijuana is so pricey. The greenhouse compounds where they grow it are high tech buildings with optimal water and ventilation. And lots of razor wire fencing. 

[donkpow]

You could build it under ground. That would help retain heat.

[Square Wheels]

13 minutes ago, MoseySusan said:

And we have the “however” in more detail. 
My greenhouse would have to be smaller. Shed sized, really. A shed with plastic southern and western walls. 
No wonder rec marijuana is so pricey. The greenhouse compounds where they grow it are high tech buildings with optimal water and ventilation. And lots of razor wire fencing. 

We'd like a greenhouse when (if) we move.  While it would be new, and fancy, we've looked at similar greenhouse to ours for pricing.   Something similar would be well over 100k. 

Ours is probably 50 years old.  The people in our house before us, abandoned it.  It took a long time to get it to where it is.

In my area we get snow.  With the single pane glass, we get breakage many winters.  It's a pain to replace.

We've invested a lot of money getting it to where it is now and really like it.

[MoseySusan]

22 minutes ago, donkpow said:

You could build it under ground. That would help retain heat.

An earthen berm on the north side would be zero heat gain/loss. And a good place to store bulbs and seed potatoes. 

[dinneR ★]

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/pioneering-skills-for-everyone-modern-homesteading

This guy did an episode on greenhouse vs hoop house. Pros and cons. Your library might have it to check out.

Youtube might have stuff as well.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, MoseySusan said:

Off-set by the love for the work. 

If you feel that way, it's a no brainer.

My dad always had a swimming pool. Loved to swim and it was his primary/favorite exercise.  Pools require work to maintain, and he loved it all.  No brainer for him.  My mom had pools when she was married to him and after divorce, still had homes with pools mostly for me and my younger siblings.  Anyway, she hated everything about them.  Pretty much as soon as my brother went off to college, she filled the last pool in and put in gardens.  She loved gardens, hated pools. No brainer.

[Ralphie ★]

I once thought a small greenhouse would be nice, but I know I am not dedicated enough to put in all the work it would require. My grandad always had cold frames, that would probably be more my style. 

[Bikeguy]

5 hours ago, MoseySusan said:

I don’t see the “however.” Help a sister out, here. 

We were considering a small green house.   

The things I found were, some kits didn't survive winds very well.   Some died even faster if there was hail.  The greenhouses that could survive this would cost WAY more than I was willing to pay.  

4 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

Something similar would be well over 100k. 

Ours is probably 50 years old.  The people in our house before us, abandoned it.  It took a long time to get it to where it is.

In my area we get snow.  With the single pane glass, we get breakage many winters.  It's a pain to replace. 

I gave up on the idea, the snow in the winter and the storms in the summer from time to time...  I could be fixing the greenhouse a LOT.   Or the cost would get very expensive quickly.

[dinneR ★]

21 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

We were considering a small green house.   

The things I found were, some kits didn't survive winds very well.   Some died even faster if there was hail.  The greenhouses that could survive this would cost WAY more than I was willing to pay.  

I gave up on the idea, the snow in the winter and the storms in the summer from time to time...  I could be fixing the greenhouse a LOT.   Or the cost would get very expensive quickly.

Those are the things Greg Pryor said in the Great Courses video I watched. He preferred the hoop house.

While greenhouses can be time-consuming and expensive, they have maintained their allure throughout the ages. Learn how to build a greenhouse and why a hoop house might be a much better option for you. And discover the biochemical processes that make compost a reasonable winter heat source for your plants.

[jsharr ★]

3 hours ago, denniS said:

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/pioneering-skills-for-everyone-modern-homesteading

This guy did an episode on greenhouse vs hoop house. Pros and cons. Your library might have it to check out.

Youtube might have stuff as well.

I have built a lot of big hoop houses.  Used to grow seasonal color for a local nursery and we also did cuttings off existing stock or planted bare root stock and wintered it in them.  

[dinneR ★]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I have built a lot of big hoop houses.  Used to grow seasonal color for a local nursery and we also did cuttings off existing stock or planted bare root stock and wintered it in them.  

So maybe you should mosey on over to NM and build one for @MoseySusan

[jsharr ★]

2 minutes ago, denniS said:

So maybe you should mosey on over to NM and build one for @MoseySusan

I no longer have access to the tubing bender.  We made ours out of fence top rail tubing, rolled to form a semi circle.  Had a machine to form the ends and a device to hammer short sections of pipe into the ground to attach the hoops to.  We woulds then use 2 x 6 lumber to frame in the bottom and 1x4 to make ribs to attach the poly sheeting to.  Ends were framed with 2x4 and we used a strip of carpet and plastic to make a hinge for the door to cut down on air loss.  You could build a big house in a day with just a few guys

They looked a lot like this

[dinneR ★]

12 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I no longer have access to the tubing bender.  We made ours out of fence top rail tubing, rolled to form a semi circle.  Had a machine to form the ends and a device to hammer short sections of pipe into the ground to attach the hoops to.  We woulds then use 2 x 6 lumber to frame in the bottom and 1x4 to make ribs to attach the poly sheeting to.  Ends were framed with 2x4 and we used a strip of carpet and plastic to make a hinge for the door to cut down on air loss.  You could build a big house in a day with just a few guys

They looked a lot like this

I'll give you a tubing bender mister.

[KrAzY]

Depending on location in the world, they are great to have.. here in Texas we have three seasons for planting crops, in the North West we only had a 4 month window and it would have been good to start crops off early so you could get a longer harvest. 
We were talking about a greenhouse here in TX and my wife really sons one.. but location on a 1/4 acer plot is hard to come by typically.. our thought was a three seasons room mostly glass.. this doubles as a place for her stupid plants/garden starts and a place for me to sit and shoot the squirrels. 

[jsharr ★]

9 minutes ago, denniS said:

I'll give you a tubing bender mister.

I bet you say that to all the guys.

[Further]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:55 AM, MoseySusan said:

Off-set by the love for the work. 
 

About heat:  two websites also suggest keeping a compost bin inside the house because composting gives off heat. Use a brick or wood floor, maintain seals to limit heat loss, build a lean-to style to take advantage of heat loss through home walls, and I can see figuring out how to vent the clothes dryer or oven heat into the greenhouse as a bonus use of energy.

 

You have me thinking about buying one of those greenhouse kits and erecting it over my compost pile.    

[MoseySusan]

35 minutes ago, Further said:

You have me thinking about buying one of those greenhouse kits and erecting it over my compost pile.    

@denniS has me thinking I should hoop and plastic a couple of raised beds and call it good. 

[Airehead]

Expensive to build but most hobbies are expensive. 
Sleet, snow, wind, and hail damage could be costly. 
veggies before most others- priceless.  

[MickinMD ★]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:39 AM, Further said:

Cost of heat

My enclosed and well-insulated back porch has three window and an almost-all-glass storm door that catch the South and Southwestern Sun for 4-5 hours day now.  If it's not freezing outside, the inside of the glass of the storm door is warm from the sun and I use the porch to aid in heating the house.

If I plant a garden next spring, I can use the porch to grow plants from seeds in peat pots.

Additionally, I've been considering building two 12' x 8' raised beds for a veggie garden where vertical pieces of 1" PVC pipe on the inside of the wooden sides can support hoops of thin, flexible, 1/2 PVC pipe in hoops like the old Covered Wagons in the old Western TV shows and movies.

Those hoops (I'd have for of them) could be covered with transparent plastic tarp and used as a greenhouse, though I expect I'd only use them to hand supports for plants of netting to keep bugs out.

[Square Wheels]

Did you buy one yet?

[Longjohn ★]

You have to keep them sealed up tight. If you let any of the greenhouse gasses escape it will cause glowball warming and the end of the earth as we know it.

[Further]

4 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

You have to keep them sealed up tight. If you let any of the greenhouse gasses escape it will cause glowball warming and the end of the earth as we know it.

The earth as we knew has ended

but we don't know what is coming next...

might be cool

might not

[Square Wheels]

Not sure if I mentioned it, but one problem with a greenhouse is the lack of bugs, specifically, bees.  You need to do a lot of manual pollination.

[MoseySusan]

13 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

Did you buy one yet?

It’s #4 on the list behind flooring, bathroom renovations and solar panels. We’re replacing the aluminum shed with something bigger that we can stand up in. So, I’m leaning toward a shed with two greenhouse walls and shelves but mr. wants separate structures for plants, like raised beds. We’re probably going with raised beds and a shed with windows.