Heating and cooling a greenhouse

[bret]

I am wondering how you folks cool your greenhouses in the summer and heat them in the winter or do you bother at all. I am trying to decide if this is something we should do or not.

 

[grnspot110]

I use a shade cloth over it in late Spring & Summer, don't start using it until the weather warms. Sometimes electric baseboard heater to keep from freezing during late cold snaps. My greenhouse is a 10' x 10' hoop style w/double wall plastic sheeting. Basically use it for starting plants only. ~~ grnspot110

 

[173abn]

bret,I use a combo of wood,propane and of course the sun to heat and thermostat controlled gable fans to cool plus when I'm out the doors get opened. russ

 

[bret]

So it doesn't seem to be that difficult to heat and cool a greenhouse. The commercial ones seem so huge and invasive, it is good to know that it is a simpler process.

 

[Tillie]

My husband built this huge greenhouse that cooked all the plants once it got hot outside. 'We had no idea how to cool the thing down. If it's wood and plastic can it be cooled?

 

[dnjsyl]

you can put a shade cloth over it, or a white paint thinned out with water and put on the plastic or glass for the heat. you could also open the doors a bit to to let out the heat...........

 

[173abn]

I worked in a greenhouse when I was in my senior year in H.S. [many many yrs. ago] as part of a vog ag class. in the winter they used steam to heat it in the summer they would whitewash the outside.this was before polycarbarnate when all they used was single pane glass.they had hugh 6'fans and we would remove the glass behind the fans and put in these mats made from some organic material that I can't remember what but on top was a metal V channel that had water flowing through it .The V channel had holes that the water ran down and through these mats.when the fans were on it did a pretty good job of cooling the g.house plus they had ridge vents that could be opened.In my little g.house I usually take all my tropicals and set them outside for the summer. russ

 

[buntrock]

I built my work benches over plastic barrels.I filled them with water,in the winter I slip black plastic bags over them and in the summer I take them off, the barrels are white.I don't have data to prove they help moderate the heating and cooling but I feel with that amount of water some heat or cooling storage must be available.

 

[Bethieboo]

I know someone who uses a shade cloth with success. He also built the green house with intake and outtake fans over the doors. One door pulls air in and the other pulls air out. This helps keep a constant draft in the greenhouse.