Part 11

Pipes are no longer under water but there is some mud and moisture, maybe as the air begins to circulate it will dry out?

I bought a sump pump yesterday and within an hour the underground system was pumped out. I haven't had to run the pump again all day.


I fasten another barrel over the fan, so that the intake air is being taken from about 7 feet above the floor.
I installed the circulation fan and the two thermostats that operate it so the circulation system is now in operation. I'm not sure how many of the tubes are open but clearly some of them are; there is a nice breeze circulating through the underground tubes. The underground tiles are cold though and tonight the air temperature coming out of the ground is only 34 degrees tonight. It's going to take some time and some warm days to raise that subterranean temperature. This is the grate over where the air comes out from the underground system. A little restrictive maybe?

I also insulated the north wall with R-19 insulation and covered the outside with construction fabric. I'll get the plastic on the interior wall tomorrow. I also filled in around the base so cold air isn't coming in like it was. Even today before all the progress was made sealing it up and with the fan circulating through the underground system part of the afternoon, the temperature got up to 71 degrees. If it's sunny tomorrow I will be surprised if it doesn't reach into the 80's.

Right now, the system is working but cold. On previous nights without the fan running the indoor and out door temperature were the same once the sun went down. Tonight, with the system running, the outdoor temperature is 22 degrees but the greenhouse is at 29. Not a big difference but I expect improvements as the system thaws and recovers from a bad start.