Black water barrels in the winter to help manage night time temp drops!

[Guest]

Has anyone in Zone 5 of the US or other comparable winter climate used 55 gallon black water barrels in the winter to help manage night time temp drops?

[Brian]

Not passive, but I put a 55 black metal drum in my greenhouse and would either heat it at night by aiming my propane heater at it for an hour.

The aim was for the thermal mass to slow the cooling over night.

I also put a fish aquarium heater in the barrel. There was a slight benefit but I'm not sure it was worth the time, propane, or electricity.

[Dale]

Adding thermal mass to a gh will buffer the highs and lows but the average temperature will not change, do a Google search for the average temperature for your location and it will give you the information you need to know if your plants will survive without supplemental heat

[Callie]

I'm in zone 5 but am not sure even all the Idaho sunshine would keep the barrels from freezing without added heat.

[Cherri]

Didn’t make a single degree of difference in my greenhouse 5b, WV, USA. Used 3 black trash barrels full of water in a double-walled 6mil film greenhouse.

[Jean]

I use mine until its diminishing returns in the cold. Then I drain them and add backup heat. Working well for all but 2 months in the winter so far.

[Batman]

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