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Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

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Using a Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

To control the temperature in our GeoDome greenhouse, we used a Water Tank for passive temperature regulation and also an old car radiator for active heat exchange. To use a gas or electric heater can be costly. This used car radiator did the trick for us. No, it’s not really a beautiful piece in the greenhouse, but the functionality outweighs that by far.

Note: Here we share the idea, it is not a complete how to. The idea is for tinkerers :). If you are one, you will appreciate this post, if you are not, just note that there is this possibility.

How does the Car Radiator Heating and Cooling work

A greenhouse can get very warm, even hot during the day. There are many ways to cool it: openings, ventilators, shade cloths – just to name a few. However, our climate’s uniqueness are the cool nights. It is not unusual to have just 8°C = 46°F at night in the middle of summer and even cooler as the season progresses, which is too cold for heat-loving plants. The radiator heating and cooling system’s simple heat exchanger absorbs the heat energy from the air during the day and gives that heat back to the air at night. To put it this way, whenever the water is cooler then the air it cools and when it’s warmer it heats.

Using a Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

Materials Needed for a Radiator Heating and Cooling System

  • 1/4 HP submersible utility pump
  • Car radiator (cleaned)
  • Hose
  • Electric wiring with a switch

Installing the Radiator Heating and Cooling System

Using a Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

Since we already had a water tank as thermal mass and a pump to filter the water, all that was needed was to connect the radiator in sequence after the filter. So the water would be pumped through the radiator after being filtered and then flow back into the tank. The radiator worked in a very simple but effective way.

Car radiator heating and cooling system in action

Here is a video update on our second dome on a cool spring morning. In the second GeoDome, I placed the radiator in the middle of the dome to provide better air circulation.

If you can’t see the video go here.

Questions and Answers:

Q. With the radiator in there, can you continue to keep the frost out during the winter?

A. It totally depends on how cold it gets in your area in the winter. The radiator does not produce any heat in itself, it is just the water that stores the heat. It works very well in a plastic covered greenhouse till outside night temperatures drop to about -10C (14F), if it gets lower than that there is a danger of water freezing in the tank and potentially damaging the system.

Q. Could you use solar panels or a solar heater to heat up water during the day?

A. You could heat the water in the winter with some kind of an aquarium heater using solar energy or even a solar heater to heat up water during the day. Except there might not be enough daylight in the winter.

If you want to build a Geodesic Dome too, we share a step by step How to build a GeoDome Greenhouse.

A Geodesic Greenhouse Book: Building and Using a Solar-Heated Geodesic Greenhouse.

We invite you to subscribe to Northern Homestead and follow us on Facebook or Pinterest for the latest updates.

More about a GeoDome Greenhouse:

How to Build a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Version 2

How to Build a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Version 2

Growing a greenhouse garden in cold climate is like moving a portion of your garden south. Good soil, location, temperature regulation, water and the right plants, make it a fun growing space.

Growing a Greenhouse Garden

Using a Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse

A good way to regulate the temperature in a greenhouse is through a water tank. Read how we build the tank, lined it and filtered the water.

Update: GeoDome Greenhouse Water Tank

Our Geodesic Dome Greenhouse's New Home

Our Geodesic Dome Greenhouse’s New Home

There are many creative ways for a GeoDome Greenhouse plant arrangement. Here I share the plan for the 18 feet GeoDome Greenhouse. We liked it this way.

GeoDome Greenhouse Plant Arrangement

Answering the important question - Can you grow food in a GeoDome Greenhouse in the winter? Read on. er

GeoDome Greenhouse in the Winter

Covering the GeoDome Greenhouse can be challenging. We explain how to cover a GeoDome with greenhouse plastic, polycarbonate panels, and shrink wrapping.

Covering the GeoDome Greenhouse

How to Build a GeoDome Greenhouse

How to Build a GeoDome Greenhouse

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Filed Under: GeoDome Greenhouse, Greenhouse Tagged With: GeoDome, Greenhouse

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai says

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    I love it! What an awesome idea. I think it is amazing the creative uses people come up with for items that are typically a one use item. Great job! 🙂 PINNING

    ~Lorelai

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Yep, that’s my hubby, he comes up with all kind of awesome ideas. Thank you for pinning!

      Reply
  2. Alli says

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    I thought I had seen it all! You and your husband’s creativity never ceases to amaze me. Love it!

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Thank you, we still have lots of ideas we have not shared yet ;).

      Reply
      • Oregon Squashking says

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        This is awesome. To me this is so cool because I used to scrap used metal for income. When my homestead was in transition it reminds me of why I started and good old no how keep it up

        Reply
  3. Shirley Wood says

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    Very creative thinking! I would love to see the step by step tutorial. I know you guys really miss your Geo Dome. Pinning to my Sustainability board.

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Yes, we do miss the dome. But the “new” productive garage is coming along nicely. Still a long way to go and to learn.

      Reply
  4. Kristen from The Road to Domestication says

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    Now this is ingenious! I never would have thought about doing this! Sharing with my dad – he’s all about mechanics and building inventions!

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Thank you for sharing. The post is written for people like your dad ;).

      Reply
  5. Jan says

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    Now that, is one of the most creative ideas I’ve seen in a long time. I love it!!

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Thank you Jan, and welcome here.

      Reply
  6. tessa says

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    This was wonderful, Anna! I totally pinned this one for my husband to figure out. Ha!

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      You are welcome, hope he gets inspired ;).

      Reply
  7. Jessica | The 104 Homestead says

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    I have been telling everyone I know how awesome your greenhouse is. Is it possible to be more than awesome? If so, I think you’ve reached the next level with this addition. Thank you for sharing on Green Thumb Thursday.

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      You make me smile :). Thank you!

      Reply
  8. jomo says

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    From my experience with thermal mass projects, efficiency is the key. I would think that using 2 inch insulation foam sheets and burying tank in the earth would help retain either cool or warmth depending on what you wanted.

    Would placing the radiator on the apex of the ceiling help get more heat in the summer out and placing it near the bottom in the winter put heat back in? Now I will have to play with a dual radiator idea that I can use to siphon off heat from one and disperse heat from the other.

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Sounds interesting. Good luck and happy gardening!

      Reply
  9. Mike Cowley says

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    Interesting. I’m also looking at using old car radiators in a different set up for our greenhouse. Our allotment has no power, so planning to embed radiators in cement slab down centre of greenhouse. No fluid, going to blow hot daytime air from roof apex through the radiator heatsink ( solar powered computer fans), with the heat released during darkness.

    Reply
    • Jakob says

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      Sounds like a good idea. Just for your consideration the heat capacity of water is about 5.5 times higher than of concrete. Heat capacity gauges the ability of the medium to retain heat.

      Reply
      • Mike Cowley says

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        Did think of water but old rads may of course leak, but they would be more accessible in a water bath than cement, may return to that, thanks. Have you thought of enclosing your rad in a box with a perspex front, that would really heat it.

        Reply
  10. Robert Harshfield says

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    have you considered using your water tank for hot composting in the winter? perhaps this will raise the temps enough to extend the growing season.

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Hot composting is very interesting, and we are considering to do it in our next Geodesic Dome greenhouse. Our winters would probably be to cold, but to start early in spring would be great. Great suggestion!

      Reply
  11. gilbert fritz says

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    How much power does the radiator draw? Do you need AC or DC? What about solar panels?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Jakob says

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      You need 6-12V DC for the radiator fans if you want to vary the air movement. I never ran them on full speed, the draw will depend on the voltage you use. Solar panels would work during the day, you might want to connect a battery for the night time to keep the greenhouse warm at night.

      Reply
  12. Brandon S says

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    What a great idea. I’m a huge repurposer myself. I can definitely see this set up with a DIY solar set-up and a single or dual battery bank (depending on the draw). I’ll be featuring you as my favorite on next week’s From the Farm blog hop. Thanks for stopping by the hop!

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      Thank you Brandon! The possibilities are almost endless if you think outside the box 😉

      Reply
  13. lisa M says

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    Absolutely brilliant idea! I’m hoping to get my first greenhouse going this spring…..I should be able to get one of these in by fall. Hopefully!

    ~Lisa M

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      How exciting to build the first greenhouse, congrats! You will love it! Happy gardening!

      Reply
  14. Bugsy says

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    Excellent website . I stumbled onto your page ,whilst have a discussion with my 14yr old son on the merits of understanding geometry . He is in an advanced class for his age and this is the current topic. So whilst doing his homework exercise ,he remarked whether he would ever use it in real life. He ws thinking of the futility of some of the advanced level mathematics.
    I usually engage him in these matters by showing him , and actually starting a practical project . So I Suggested a geodome as a structure for an aviary ecosystem. Yes he is passionate about the planets life forms and his goal is to be a Vet . So thank you for making this easy for me. I also advocate sustainability and reuse.

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      How nice, thank you for sharing.

      Reply
  15. Justin says

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    Love this idea!! I want to set up something similar in my greenhouse. Can you tell me more about the water tank under the radiator in the photos? What type of plastic did you use? I want to build something but on a budget unfortunately and would like to see if I can make something for cheaper than the cost of a stock tank because I have quite the supply of wood.
    Thanks
    – Justin

    Reply
    • Jakob says

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      We used vapor 6 mil barrier plastic film.

      Reply
  16. Justin says

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    I’ve used a homemade a solar collector to heat my outdoor fish pond AP system in the past. It worked well enough to raise the pond temp, but had to make sure the timer was off (or just use a solar pump) to ensure it wasn’t pumping at night as then it would just vent the heat. However, in a greenhouse venting heat at night is the whole point.

    How did you clean the radiator and verify it was safe to use?

    Reply
    • Jakob says

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      I just cleaned it with water.

      Reply
  17. Roger says

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    Back in the early 80’s in Montana we used a radiator to cool our home. Huge waste of water as we ran tap water through it with a fan behind it…not something I would do anymore, and then piped the waste to our garden for irrigation. It worked better than any air conditioner I’ve ever been around. Radiators make great heat exchangers.

    Reply
  18. Steve says

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    What did you use for the pump? I’ve tried a fuel pump from the same car I got the rad from but it working after only one day. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      You do not need a special pump, it just has to be submersible and be able to pump the water as high as your radiator is. This one here is a good pump that we use: http://esau.towergarden.com/shop/submersible-pump

      Reply
  19. Tiny says

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    Very interested in the car radiator idea. I have built a geodesic dome and I have a 700 liter sump tank as we were going to build an aquaponics system.
    Great work

    Reply
  20. Crystal Wolf says

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    We live in Manitoba, Canada and have been having such a nightmare of a time with keeping a greenhouse up with the super high winds in April and May. Just lost all our cuke babies to the wind last night, when the unexpected high winds blew down the structure we had just transplanted them into yesterday. This Geo design is AWESOME… I think we will finally be able to build a greenhouse that will be able to withstand the winds, and allow us to get our plants out early enough to get some real production going… Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us! Crystal 🙂

    Reply
    • Anna says

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      You are welcome, hope it works great for you! There is something special about a geodesic dome greenhouse, not just the stability!

      Reply
  21. Diego Vega says

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    Hi, Anna and Jakob
    Brilliant idea!
    I’m working in a community garden in London (UK) And I’m planning to do something similar but using the radiator with the original car fan (12v) do you see any problem to run this type of fan 24/7? Any thoughts?
    Thanks a lot

    Reply
  22. Joy Butler says

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    It really helped when you provided answers to commonly asked questions regarding auto heating and cooling system. And also, the video explaining on the radiator for a better air circulation status. This video tutorial is really useful and informative.

    Reply
  23. Harold Thornbro says

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    That is a fantastic idea! Heating our greenhouse using thermal mass has always been our practice but I’ve never thought of or even heard of this but what a great idea. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  24. Adrian says

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    Hi I read your comment about radiator freezing. If you mount it sideways or so the radiation drains when pump is not running. Then fit a thermostat on the radiator that protects it against freezing. I would suggest set at 40F. That would protect the radiator. Also insulating the tank may be help it not loose heat until the internal temp drops to the protect level.

    Reply

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