In the snowy months, heating an off-grid home can be a challenge. But one person has come up with an innovative solution to stave off the winter chill.
In the r/TinyHouses subreddit, they shared pictures of their setup, which shows their property partially bordered by greenhouses.
"Our off grid tiny home," they captioned the post. "The greenhouses are wonderful. Especially in the winter it takes about 40% off the heating efforts."
If you don't have access to grid-provided energy, you have two main ways to heat a property. The first is using a gas-fired heater, but these come with notable problems. First, burning propane or natural gas creates planet-warming carbon dioxide. The extraction of the latter is also detrimental to the environment.
Next, each of these fuels can bring health risks. Propane inhalation can lead to nausea and vomiting in low concentrations, and nervous system harm and permanent organ damage in high concentrations.
Natural gas, meanwhile, can exacerbate asthma, and it releases the carcinogen benzene when burned.
Another option is to take advantage of electrical heaters that run on renewable energy created by solar panels or wind turbines. However, those heaters are often power-intensive, meaning you will need a lot of panels, turbines, and battery storage to keep them running for long periods of time — and at night or in low light or low wind, the heaters will drain your battery supply quickly.
But the greenhouse solution is obviously having the desired effect for this homeowner. Even in low temperatures, the greenhouse exterior will amplify the sun's rays, making the interior much warmer than outside — and it won't cost a cent.
The original poster, who lives in Colorado, said that in winter, they "leave the greenhouse closed and open it up to the house."
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"It's wonderful to be warm in such a frigid climate," they added. "Most days it's over [80 degrees] by 12:00."
While one commenter thought this method might bring additional problems in the form of mold, the OP dismissed those concerns.
"I love this greenhouse idea," one Redditor said. "Pretty sure I'm going to steal it once the snow is gone."
"Awesome!" another added. "This is really valuable data for me. I was planning to do something similar to protect my water tanks and now I know it's a good idea. Thanks so much for the info and inspo!"
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