On the second international biomeiler / compostheating conference Marcel Hreceniuc from Romania presented a biomeiler with a greenhouse on top. I am writing this article because I found this project very inspiring because this project is completely made with left overs. This demonstrates very nicely the low tech and low cost possibilities of combining compost heating , composting and gardening.
The biomeiler itself is a classic round construction of 4.5 meter width and 2.5 meter height with concrete steel and plastic foil as wind protection. On top of the biomeiler is a greenhouse with panels that can open like a flower.
Inside are tubes and a watertank to extract hot water out of the biomeiler. This water was used to heat another greenhouse next to the biomeiler.
The biomeiler source materials are grass, wood and leaves, all are free remains from the surrounding vineyards.
Having a greenhouse on top of a warm compost pile aka biomeiler gives multiple advantages:
- you have free heat from below
- extra concentrated CO2, which the flowers love
- with a roof that can open and close, you can protect the composting process from cooling down by long enduring rain
In the greenhouse Marcel has been growing cabbages and sweet peppers. His growing season was 8 weeks longer using only the power of nature and natural local materials.
