View Single Post
Old March 21, 2018   #6
FourOaks
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 511
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Salsacharley View Post
You propane system looks good to me, especially if you only need it for March. How are you venting it?
The heaters are vent free. Even if they werent, the GH is leaky enough that it doesnt really matter. This is an area that I could improve in as well. I need to get more wiggle wire and track, in order to seal down the edges of the plastic better.


In the long term, I plan to be utilizing at the seedling house all year, so heat needs to be available as needed. Some flowers take forever to grow, as well as keeping potential Mother Plants for cuttings. But that is later on, not a high priority this second.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
Heating a greenhouse is a difficult endeavor, to say the least.

At the moment, I am able to heat a 4' x 40' section of greenhouse bench with just a small electric space heater. The cost is maybe $1 per evening. I put hoops over the benches, cover those hoops with plastic each evening, and place the heater underneath. The middle bench is about a foot higher than the others. The heater is under it, and the warm air flows upward out each end, and then fills the plastic tunnel of benches. I'm getting about a 20-30 difference in temperature, which is huge in terms of greenhouse heat. To make the entire greenhouse that warm would take a colossal amount of energy.

I do have to make sure to get up in the morning and remove the plastic, especially on sunny days, so I don't cook everything. And this method does not work as well when my plants get bigger, because the leaves really hate touching the plastic, but it will get me through March, when I have my coldest spring weather. I will have plants to sell this Saturday, March 24th, at my first market of the spring.

Im sure you can appreciate the problem of running out of room. Because you will eventually. Especially with getting into Hanging Baskets, Potted Flowers, etc. There is only so much bench space.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockandrollin View Post
I recommend using a online heating fuel comparison calculator or downloading the app Heating Fuel Comparison. Enter your cost for electric, propane, and natural gas and it will tell you what will be most economical for you. Most likely it will be natural gas.

Many people think electric is so expensive, but in our neck of the woods, it is much cheaper than propane.

The vent free heaters can be a concern, if the room is fairly tight, eventually you run out of oxygen. If they don't burn correctly, they will produce carbon monoxide.

You bring up some interesting points. Thanks for the advice on the app.
FourOaks is offline   Reply With Quote