[rainie]

I have a lorry battery in my dog kennel which feeds a light. Its brill.
I also used the lorry batteries for feeding my electric fencing for my horses.
Is there a way of heating my greenhouse using a lorry battery?

[mumofstig]

years ago we used to have a camp fire that ran off the car battery

so having a look on camping equipment sites might be worthwhile, see what they do nowadays.

[jaap]

great idea.  I am trying to work out a system with a battery myself for in my greenhouse on my allotment where no 220v is available.  

I am going to a yard with second hand yachting equipment on the south coast soon, apperently you pick up 12v solar panels and 12v heaters for very little, this combined with a (lorry) battery will give you a no emision heating system.

I have not located a yard yet, but heard they are around.  they are in a way scrapyards for the boating world!

If anybody else can come up with clever tips to make this work that would be very welcome!  It is just an idea, I haven't seen anybody use this system yet.
Jaap

[Faz]

I am bored at work and just done a couple of quick calculations for you.

A large lorry battery can hold approx 200AmpHours of electricity, at roughly 12.8V

If you assume that this power will be used in the greenhouse heater over the course of an 8 hour night, the battery can supply 320W of heat for one full night, or 160W over the course of two nights.

Tiny parafin heaters like this one (!!)(Heater) have a similar power output, though they aren't big enough for a larger greenhouse certainly.

The next thing to consider is how many solar panels you'll need to be able to be able to recharge the battery.

If you assume there is sunlight for 8 hours during the winter (this may be a bit optimistic for much of the winter!) you'll need between 3 and 5 of these solar panels to recharge the battery fully each night (depending on whether you're heating at 160w or 320W).

Solar panels

You can scale it all up to provide a higher heat output by adding an extra battery and extra solar panels.


Total cost :

£200 quid for the lorry battery
£810 to 1,350 for the solar panels
A few quid for wiring

Seems a bit too expensive for me

[agapanthus]

I am bored at work and just done a couple of quick calculations for you.

A large lorry battery can hold approx 200AmpHours of electricity, at roughly 12.8V

If you assume that this power will be used in the greenhouse heater over the course of an 8 hour night, the battery can supply 320W of heat for one full night, or 160W over the course of two nights.

Tiny parafin heaters like this one (!!)(Heater) have a similar power output, though they aren't big enough for a larger greenhouse certainly.

The next thing to consider is how many solar panels you'll need to be able to be able to recharge the battery.

If you assume there is sunlight for 8 hours during the winter (this may be a bit optimistic for much of the winter!) you'll need between 3 and 5 of these solar panels to recharge the battery fully each night (depending on whether you're heating at 160w or 320W).

Solar panels

You can scale it all up to provide a higher heat output by adding an extra battery and extra solar panels.


Total cost :

£200 quid for the lorry battery
£810 to 1,350 for the solar panels
A few quid for wiring

Seems a bit too expensive for me

£200??? We got one recently for £50 brand new  :?

[Faz]

I just got the price of the biggest battery I could find - I guess you might be able to get them cheaper

[muntjac]

you could invest in a step down transformer if you wish to follow the 12 volt route ,but i would think that would be a litle OTT for just heating a greenhouse .better to get an old stove and burn wood in it .. recycled pallets make good fire fodder

[DD.]

£200??? We got one recently for £50 brand new  :?

What output is it Aggy?

The one quoted by Faz is 60W. The ones listed on ebay around that price are only 10-15W.

[agapanthus]

£200??? We got one recently for £50 brand new  :?

What output is it Aggy?

The one quoted by Faz is 60W. The ones listed on ebay around that price are only 10-15W.

Don't know wattage but it's 90amp hour if that makes any sense :?

[Faz]

ah the one I priced above is 200AH, so more than twice the size.

and surely if you're running a 12v transformer in your greenhouse it would be easier to plug a fan heater in and do away with the battery and gubbins

[DD.]

£200??? We got one recently for £50 brand new  :?

What output is it Aggy?

The one quoted by Faz is 60W. The ones listed on ebay around that price are only 10-15W.

Don't know wattage but it's 90amp hour if that makes any sense :?

Sorry - for the second time today I've misread a post - I thought we were talking solar panels.

Exit stage left.

[agapanthus]

ah the one I priced above is 200AH, so more than twice the size.

and surely if you're running a 12v transformer in your greenhouse it would be easier to plug a fan heater in and do away with the battery and gubbins

Ah

[Nogger]

going back 40 years my oh grandfather heated his greenhouse with a straight threw flue and it worked brill,in those days they didn't have auto vents so it was difficult to control the temp, and if i can remember how it was constructed I shall give it a go,it was very cheap to run,it would burn anythink, all you wanted was smoke from the appliance .

he made a square brick box at one end and that would be the fire,it would have a grate, a door,and aprox 9" from floor level a 4" pipe (steel) that would sit on the grate then go through the lenth of the greenhouse and out at the other end and into another brick box,then off that it would have a chimmney,all the brick work would be sealed with fire clay,
the idea is that the smoke runs from the fire threw the pipe in the greenhouse and up the chimmney at the other end,all it had to do was smoulder,it was the smoke that heated the house , this was done on a 8x6 house,and now with an auto vent you have more control over the tempreture,good idea i recon

[hindy]

Hi

Even though my allotment is a couple of miles away I have found a solution to heat the greenhouse.
Basically I intend to use solar panels or a small wind turbine to charge a bank of batteries. I will then take off this a supply for 12v lighting and will also be connecting an 12v - 240v invertor. I have found a low power heater for inside the greenhouse.
http://www.firststopsolar.co.uk/240v-45-watt-tube-heater-41-p.asp
http://www.firststopsolar.co.uk/240v-80-watt-tube-heater-20-p.asp
Lets hope it all works. It does in theory.

[poultrygeist]

By my basic Ohms law knowledge, surely a 240v/45w heater will draw the equivalent of 900w at 12v excluding losses. This sounds like a big ask for a few 12v batteries. But I may be wrong and don't want to be negative about any projects. I hope it works

Rob