I was thinking more along the lines of using a small scale system to keep the coop at a moderate temp...just above freezing which would solve frozen water issues and severe temps but not be so much heat that moisture builds up but we don't produce enough now to heat a whole house.
I grew up...
I haven't read all the posts in this thread so I apologize if this has already been discussed but I thought I'd share this here:
http://compostpower.org/
Yum! I have some sunchokes that were tossed behind my compost before I moved in. I wanted to transplant them but I'm glad I read this before doing so...I have plenty of deep pots to toss them in instead!