Heating Water in Greenhouse

[DebsC]

How do you heat the water in your greenhouse? This has been a cold winter and trying to carry hot water to mix in with the cold and then hand watering all the orchids is way to time consuming.

I was thinking of a tankless water heater. anybody have an experience with these or any suggestions?

Cool Tools: EccoTemp L5 Portable Tankless Water Heater

[mojomick]

I am looking for the same type of system. Right now I fill gallon milk containers and keep them in the gh. The water is not warm but at least it warms up to the temperature of the plants. I know it is not the best thing to do, but I get by and so do the plants. This system looks as if it might be helpful. Let us know what you get and how it works. Betty

[Ethan]

Hi, all!

I was having VERY cold water last winter as we don't have city water, just a large well. I finally broke down and bought a 2 gallon electric water heater from Lowe's (I thinks it's called 'mini titan' or something like that) for around $100 and what a difference it made!

You can hook it up so your hose attaches to the water heater and the water heater attaches to your water source. I leave it connected all year - I just turn it down in the summer so the water coming out is luke warm. This way my orchids never have to deal with cold water on their feet.

It was definitely worth the investment for me!

[Ethan]

Deb, I was just looking at the Lowe's website and it seems they don't carry the water heater I was talking about anymore.

It looks like home depot does, though. If you go to their website and type in 'water heaters' in the search, then you will have to enter your zip code to see what's available in your area.

[mojomick]

Ethan, thank you for the info. i am going to their web site now. Betty

[orchids3]

Hi,
Tankless water heaters are pretty expensive. I have 55 gal barrel in my greenhouse with a submersible sump pump in it - I mix my fertilizer with the water and pump it right on to the plants or just use plain water. Was heating with an aquarium heater. Be careful if you do this and only plug in the heater when the barrel is full because this type of heater will break if in free air. 50 -60 degrees F is warm enough as more drives out the oxygen. If you fill the barrel and leave it for several days it will absorb some heat especially if in a sunny location - then you wont need a heater .

[DebsC]

I'm kind of leaning towards the small electric water heater. The portable tankless ones have thermostats to control water temps but those temps start at 80 degrees and I'm thinking that's too hot.

I also have 2 55 gal barrels in my greenhouse that I used to water from. But, thanks to my husband, the greenhouse is now plumbed.

We're due to sink down to single digits and possibly below zero this week so the water will be way too cold for quite some time.

I'll check Home Depot and let ya'll know if I get one and how it does.

[DebsC]

I've found the Ariston 4.0 point of use water heater online at Lowes and Home Depot. For my area Home Depot has it in stock. For Lowes I would have to order it online but no shipping charges to deliver it to the Lowes store.

The tank at HD is $187.00. Ariston 4.0 Gallon Point of Use Electric Water Heater - GL4.0 at The Home Depot

The same tank at Lowes is $139.00. Ariston at Lowe's: 4-Gallon Mini Point-Of-Use Electric Water Heater

I think for almost 50 bucks I can wait a few days for it to be delivered to Lowes!!

[Ethan]

Yeah, debs I would probably opt to save the $50 extra bucks myself. I wonder why both of these places only cary the 4 gallon heater now - the one I got last year is just a 2 gallon and it seems they don't carry those anymore.

Either way, electric just seems like a better idea to me. Propane in a greenhouse just makes me nervous. I know it's clean burning, but still...The nice thing about the electric heater is that it's so small you can just stick under a bench or behind a large plant or whatever and forget about it.

The other thing to remember is that the electrics also have a thermostat and I don't think mine goes below 80. At first I thought that wasn't going to work, but what you have to realize is that the water is only going to be 'hot' for a couple minutes as new cold water will immediately start flowing into the tank and mix in with the 80 degree water and cool it down. If the water is initially too hot, I just spray it on the floor for a minute and wait for it to get to a comfortable temperature. I initially had to play around with the thermostat for a few days before I got it right.

Incidentally, I spoke with another guy in my area this summer that has the same electric heater I have in his greenhouse. He also swears by it.