What is the Return on Investment for a Growing Dome Greenhouse?

With help from our customers, Growing Spaces has developed an ROI calculator to determine when your greenhouse financing will be paid off!

Greenhouse financing options and return on your investment

How can a Growing Dome geodesic greenhouse save you money and provide a return on your investment?

The number one concern we get from gardeners interested in a Growing Dome is the cost. We completely understand….a high-quality greenhouse is a significant investment. It is something that takes a lot of planning, research, and thought. Many customers also ask about financing options for their new greenhouse. We hope that this story will take some of that weight off your shoulders, and give you some other ideas on how to budget and finance your new Growing Dome greenhouse.

For some people, gardening is just a hobby, but for Growing Dome owner Rodney of Evergreen, CO it is much more than that. 

The man who proved us right! 

Like the majority of people, Rodney did a lot of research before picking a greenhouse. All he wanted was “to have a garden at 8500 ft. above sea level.” He began his journey with Growing Spaces in August of 2008 when he purchased an 18′ geodesic dome greenhouse kit. That’s right…Rodney has been part of our inner circle for over 11 years and guess what? He has been calculating his dome yield since the winter of 2009!

Winter Greenhouse showing 0 degrees outside in Colorado
Rodneys Greenhouse last winter showing 0°F outside in Colorado

By the summer of 2011, just under three years since purchase, Rodney made a full return on investment from his Growing Dome. You heard it here, folks. He is now enjoying nearly free produce regularly with the bonus of “a relaxing space in the winter.”

Rodney's Winter Greenhouse Hangout
Winter Greenhouse hangout a relaxing 61°F inside

How has it helped others?

Fast forward to 2019 when Gillian Clark contacted us about purchasing a Growing Dome. She had her eyes set on a 33′ Growing Dome Greenhouse, but like most families, she did not have that money laying around the house. She needed to prove to the bank and herself that getting a Growing Dome would save her money in the long run!

Using the information collected by Rodney along with her grocery store receipts, she was able to estimate a mad $8,000 savings per year. When I asked her about this, she admitted that she was “being modest.” When she crunched the numbers even more, it could actually save her up to $12,000. As a family of three and a couple on a weight loss journey, Gillian was spending over $170 on organic fruits and veggies that only lasted them 3-4 days!

Get a Return on Investment from your greenhouse with these huge tomatoes!
Rodneys organic dome grown tomatoes

She was able to take those grocery store receipts and Rodney’s spreadsheet to the bank to help justify a HELOC in order to finance the 33 ft. Growing Dome greenhouse!

“It was worth it not just because it saved us money and because the food tasted better but also because the food has more nutrients!”

Living in Butte, Montana, their soil has very little nutrients. But fruits and vegetables grown with organic soil in a Growing Dome greenhouse don’t spend nearly as many resources to fight the elements, and can use that extra energy to produce more of the nutrients you need to kickstart your own metabolism. Just take a look at Rodney’s tomatoes and you will see what I mean. Fruits and vegetables are also at their highest nutritional value the moment they are picked from the vine.

Gillian Clark 33 foot Growing Dome Geodesic Greenhouse in Butte Montana
Finishing construction on Gillians 33 foot Growing Dome Greenhouse in Butte Montana

Since starting their new diet, she has lost almost 40 lbs, and her husband has lost nearly 75! They are both so excited to have a more active and healthy lifestyle and spend more time with their daughter.

Now that they have started, they have no plans of stopping. Gillian hopes to invest in another Growing Dome soon so that she may share goodies with the community! As part of the Growing Dome Happy Growers Community, she wants to share her story with everyone who will listen and connect to learn new things from other gardeners. If you are interested in learning more from Gillian or visiting her Growing Dome in Butte, MT contact Growing Spaces and we will provide you with her e-mail address.

 

Return on your greenhouse financing investment.
Rodneys BIG tomatoes

How can it help you?

Using the information obtained from Rodney, we were able to create a Return on Investment calculator for every size dome! We must admit gardening is not easy, and not everyone has green thumbs and toes like Rodney and Gillian. There will be years where you produce more or less. For that reason, we kept the calculator very modest, but you can adjust based on the size of Growing Dome you are interested in, your expected yields and your current organic food budget.

Growing Spaces has also recently partnered with OneMain Finanical to offer other greenhouse financing options. Contact us for more information. 

author avatar
Kenzie Jackson Marketing Director
I studied marketing at Eastern Illinois University and have been working as the Marketing Director at Growing Spaces since May 2019. What I love most about my job is getting to tell the stories of our customers in our featured dome articles. It’s all about connecting through storytelling, and it’s pretty cool to see all the different ways people use our greenhouses.

6 Comments

    • Jonathon, thanks for the comment. We have been spending a lot of time adding content to the website, and trying to make it informative for both Growing Dome owners and those looking to invest in a new Growing Dome.

    • Joshua, thanks for the reply. We have many customers using different forms of geothermal heating in the Growing Dome. For example, the three 42′ domes at the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (greenpagosa.org) in Pagosa Springs use actual geothermal heating from the earth in the domes. Other customers use the ground under the dome as an additional thermal mass to store heat. The Growing Dome also comes standard with an undersoil ventilation system to use the soil in the perimeter beds to store heat. growingspaces.com/geodesic-dome-greenhouse/geothermal/

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