I’m in the looking for a house vs looking for land to build quandary stage of things. Was scrolling YouTube and came across a couple videos of people (in Scandinavia) who built modest homes inside commercial sized greenhouses. Has anyone in the US seen similar here? I’m wondering if the combination of a Quonset home plus commercial greenhouse might make a reasonably affordable place to live and grow in the NE (zone 6-7).
I just love this place!
by Emily4571962
10 Comments
Man, the heat management the the home seems like it would be brutal. Plants don’t mind being in 90+ temps with high humidity, but people sure do. I imagine this works in Scandanavia because it never gets super hot there. But Zone 6-7 in June – Sept? You’re gonna be blowing a nuclear power plant’s-worth of energy trying to keep your house cool. I think the electric energy to cool the house in the summer would end up being way greater than the fuel energy saved by the home warming the greenhouse at night in the winter.
I could be totally wrong about this. But its the impression that I get.
A neighbor (I use neighbor very loosely since we are about 3 miles apart) of mine outside of Talkeetna Alaska has his home built inside a greenhouse. He lives their year round, I’ve been there many times over the last 20 years or so. Brilliant man really, probably the most self sufficient human I’ve personally met.
It works in very cold places. Anywhere it gets warm to any real degree is going to create mold issues unless you run a dehumidifier in every room of the house 24/7 while it’s not super cold.
i love these so much and have been enamored with them since i first saw one.
When I see that (or the greenhouses on the sides of homes) I can’t help but think there is a strong probability you will be looking at issues down the line due to water vapour management.
Think about solar vapour drive.
Think about general vapour migration through the building assemblies as vapour attempts to travel from the greenhouse into the home.
When it comes to building a dwelling I really like KISS, keep it simple, silly.
When things go very wrong in a home water vapour or bulk water are often the culprits. I’m not rolling the dice with those.
Kirsten Dirksen (that youtube channel) has done a few greenhouse house tours as well as many other unconventional homes. I really enjoy her channel- it’s some good inspiration for dreaming and planning.
Sigh. Perhaps it’s time to start learning Swedish.
I am actually obsessed with this idea. Had visions of a commercial greenhouse with a manufactured home inside. Amazing in winter to be “outside” but not in the elements. But summer seems like it would be unbearable.
Another option is to put huge doors on the greenhouse and to put a house on wheels (RV or tiny home or a larger home in segments) that is inside the greenhouse in winter but moved outside in summer.
There you can find another one from germany, i love these kind of houses so much, but also think the heat will be the biggest problem.
https://youtu.be/ZZhixYZsIoc?si=eqVHJ6XxMfoMfBx4
I’d rather have a proper greenhouse and a properly insulated house next to it. It feels like a waste of glass and steel and other building material just for you to have fancy wintergarden in the cold. You probably need air con in the summer and hot spring. I also wouldn’t call it “oxygen-rich” because in winter, or even in summer, there is not really enough leaf area inside to actually have a better oxygen production than outside and airation seems lacking inside.