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Where we live in France we often get winter temperatures as low as minus 20C yet in what we call our 'conservatory', temperatures never fall below freezing. That is because it has stone walls on three sides, all of which are buried in an earth bank, with the front facing south. I have capped the building with polycarbonate panels and fronted it with doors and windows from the tip.
That is fine, but I have too little space to keep my tender plants and shrubs over winter. Putting heating in a greenhouse is very expensive and environmentally unacceptable.
My next project is to use the south facing bank which runs across our garden to create, I hope, a frost free structure for overwintering my tender plants.
My idea is to create a thick block wall filled with rubble as a 'thermal mass' but use sloping polycarbonate roofing panels and a front wall from windows and blocks at the front.
As only the rear will be insulated by the earth bank, I wonder if this is going to work?
What should I be considering to ensure adequate insulation elsewhere? Should I plan an insulated floor? Or make the front windows double glazed? The whole structure is likely to be around 30 ft long, 7 or 8 ft at the back, and as low as 4ft at the front, with a width of around 6 to 8 ft. Any suggestions about how I can make this frost free would be very welcome.
That is fine, but I have too little space to keep my tender plants and shrubs over winter. Putting heating in a greenhouse is very expensive and environmentally unacceptable.
My next project is to use the south facing bank which runs across our garden to create, I hope, a frost free structure for overwintering my tender plants.
My idea is to create a thick block wall filled with rubble as a 'thermal mass' but use sloping polycarbonate roofing panels and a front wall from windows and blocks at the front.
As only the rear will be insulated by the earth bank, I wonder if this is going to work?
What should I be considering to ensure adequate insulation elsewhere? Should I plan an insulated floor? Or make the front windows double glazed? The whole structure is likely to be around 30 ft long, 7 or 8 ft at the back, and as low as 4ft at the front, with a width of around 6 to 8 ft. Any suggestions about how I can make this frost free would be very welcome.
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