[Rosedude]

Post #58 asks a question:

First..I have not got a plan yet..its an idea...Where did you get the idea I was intending to use a rubber hose with a liquid in it ..and saving money???

I suppose the picture of a Westinghouse washing machine tub with a length of rubber hose in it in Post #46 or 47 had something to do with it. Also, you linked to an article on Extension.com that describes how to heat a greenhouse with hot water in rubber tubing. You also have numerous posts about sourcing materials from scrapyards for a few dollars.

I am cheap myself and I think most people, including myself, would be very impressed if you put together a heated greenhouse with scrap parts you had on hand.

You have also posted pictures of your freezer with lines drawn in for shelves and racks, which looked like a plan to me. I apologize for my mistake.

You paint a poignant word picture of your sacrifice for your winter tomatoes

my living room is freezing ?? Well nearly because my tomatoes in their growing room IE the freezer have my electric blanket ..they have my best blankets wrapped round and over them and they have inside the blankets eight only five foot floro T8 tubes providing light and warmth... They appear to be now quite happy growing since I put the electric blanket and blankets round them whereas previously I considered they had become dormant... Its amazing how cold the house is since I did this....I only have my beloved cat to keep me warm..but the Tomatoes come first

I followed your suggestion

please read this article
http://articles.extension.org/pages/...or-greenhouses. As I understand written by experts.

and got an idea that will possibly kill two birds with one stone, (no birds will be harmed, I assure you, that is just a figure of speech).

The article describes how to heat a fairly large greenhouse with hot water from an ordinary water heater, like you may have in your house. Most water heaters come with an outlet for hot water and two inlets, one for cold and one for recirculated hot water. The recirculating system is installed so the residents don't have to wait for hot water to arrive from the water heater. What you would have to do is put a Tee into the hot water plumbing somewhere and connect the end of the tubing to the Tee. Then run the tubing to your washing machine tub and back to another fitting that screws into the recirculating inlet. (The recirculating inlet is also where you can attach a pressure-relief safety valve, so if you have a valve there you will need another Tee to keep that important safety valve on your water heater.) Your pump can be located anywhere along the tubing that is convenient. There is no water waste because the pump simply pumps water out of the water heater and back into it. The water pump is usually controlled by a switch that senses the pressure drop when a faucet is opened but you can almost certainly use the pump from your Westinghouse washing machine to pump the water and control it with the STC 1000 thermostat relay you already own. The Westinghouse pump is probably not rated for continuous duty but you could rig up a cooling fan from one of the computer PSUs you bought. (Don't get me wrong, I don't recommend the Westinghouse pump for this, but I think it will work for a while. I would monitor it closely.) You will have to experiment with that a little bit.

The article you linked also has the crucial thermodynamic data you are looking for.

For benches, a 6-inch to 9-inch pipe spacing covered by 3 inches to 4 inches of sand will provide even temperature. The sand should be kept wet to transfer the heat and is usually covered with a sheet of plastic or weed barrier. An alternative arrangement consists of laying the pipe in the bottom of the bench and covering with wire mesh and a layer of plastic. Some growers have attached the pipe underneath the bench to get it out of the way and to allow the heat to spread.

What that means is you just need to arrange your tubing so it is 6"to 9" apart in a spiral or parallel grid in your washing machine tank to get optimal soil warming.

As an added benefit, you can run the tubing under your carpet and even under the seat cushions of your couch and heat your entire living room to greenhouse temperatures. The article states

Some manufacturers supply a slotted insulation board for placing the tubing on top of the bench.

but if you put this insulation board under your carpet you will eliminate the lumps. You could also just lay boards under your carpet and put the tubing between the boards.

You can estimate how much tubing you will need from the data in the article.

For tomatoes or cucumbers grown in rows in the soil or in bags with a single line of pipe under each row, you can estimate it takes 10 Btuh/linear foot of row length (10 watts per meter). For example, a 30-foot-by-100-foot greenhouse with 10 rows of plants would require 10,000 Btu/hr (3kW) of heat (10 rows x 100-foot length x 10 Btu/hr/linear ft). Add about 10% to this total for heat loss from the supply pipes.

In your case, any heat loss from the supply pipes will be heating your living room so you will be in a win-win situation. The 3000 square foot greenhouse in the example is easily scaled to your 300 Sq. Ft. living room, just divide the tubing length by 10. The added tubing length to run under your carpet will also make it possible to run your water heater at a temperature higher than 100F (due to the heat loss from the extended length) for more pleasurable baths.