A Look Inside Taay Hít, the Greenhouse with a Heat Pump

We usually think of heat pumps for residential and commercial heating, but using them in creative ways opens up previously unimaginable opportunities. If you’ve ever tried to grow a lush garden in Southeast Alaska, you know it comes with many difficulties, but could a heat pump in a greenhouse provide a unique solution? 

In 2020, Tlingit & Haida reached out to Alaska Heat Smart (AHS) about heating Taay Hít (‘garden house’ in Tlingit), a 42’ geodesic dome greenhouse they had constructed in Juneau. Taay Hít was purchased and constructed with grants from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Native American Agriculture Fund for Tribal food security and food sovereignty as a climate change adaptation strategy. After talking with AHS, Tlingit & Haida decided to install a two head heat pump in Taay Hít, with the goal of growing crops year-round. 

We recently reached out to Amy Erfling, Tlingit & Haida Regional Greenhouse Coordinator, to inquire about Taay Hít and how the heat pump has been working — the results were amazing! Taay Hít has been producing food for the past two years. Crops are being grown year-round in soil beds, using LED lighting over the beds in the dark winter months. 

During the warm season, crops like tomato, tomatillo, pepper, cucumber, squash, and eggplant have been grown. During the cold season, they grow things like spinach, lettuce, asian greens, turnips, and radishes. There are also year-round crops including perennials, herbs, fig trees, dwarf lemon and lime trees, and grape vines. They have even introduced ladybugs and praying mantis to keep the bugs down. Each year, Tlingit & Haida are trying out new crops to see what all is possible in the heated dome! 

During the winter months, the heat pumps are set at 50 degrees since the cool season crops are able to grow in colder temperatures. During the recent cold snap in Juneau, the temperature inside Taay Hít was in the 30-40 degree range. This was warm enough for the cool season crops to stay alive, but they weren’t growing much during the cold snap. Without the heat pump, it wouldn’t be possible to grow crops throughout Juneau’s winter months. 

Taay Hít is just one example of how heat pumps can be used to create new opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible before. It is amazing to see heat pump technology being used to enable climate adaptation strategies, like food security and food sovereignty in Southeast Alaska.