Winter is comming

Hi, Does anyone use the swimming pool solar blankets on the roof of thier greenhouse in the winter ? There is one that is clear it looks like industrial strength bubble wrap , can be folded up and reused . I have been looking at them , what I am hearing is propane will go over $2.00 a gal. this winter . Gin

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

I've never tried that, but I think it'll be a really good idea. I've seen the blankets you're talking about, but not clear, just the blue for pools. Since the shadecloth comes off here for winter (I guess yours does too?), the clear shouldn't block very much light at all. I'm going to have to look into this. We're on nat gas, not propane, but still, if we can insulate a little better, it might make up for how much extra the shipping people are going to charge because of the price of diesel...

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Louis J. Aszod

Sounds like a good idea but pool liners are not very common in the UK.I was working out the costs of heating my g/h over winter & the growroom is cheaper to light /heat.So g/h will be closed down for 4 or so months & a few of my cooler plants will have to make do with natural light(i,ll keep temps about 10c).

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Who the smeg is Dwayne Dibbley ?

I found a picture of how it is attatched . Gin

Attached Images

 

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

Hey--now we're talking!

Looks like the duct tape is there to help keep those clips from ripping the plastic. If that system will really work to hold the blanket in place when it's windy and stuff can start flapping around, Gin, it's a darned good idea. We lose a ton of heat through the GH roof in the winter...

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Louis J. Aszod

I used to use this inside the grnhse-years ago to line it to hold in the heat.Things grew well.Never thought of it outside but then I'd worry about snow & ice breaking the little pockets.The heat always helped to make the snow etc slide down the channels in my rippled fiberglass--not sure how that would work with the plastic solar cover.We need all the light we can get up here in the northern climes.

This stuff is pretty thick and clear I used a layer of the heavier guage rolled plastic on the roof it lasted 2 years before falling apart . This stuff has something like a 5 year guarantee . Super bubble wrap Gin

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

I don't have a greenhouse, but would pose this question: Wouldn't it block too much light? I read that just a single pane of glass can cut the outdoor footcandles in half. Just food for thought. It makes me wonder if there is some way to use the water option to hold heat in an existing greenhouse, like the geodesics use? I'm sure you wouldn't have the space unless you planned it that way. If I ever build a freestanding greenhouse rather than an attached conservatory, I plan to build one of the geodesic greenhouse domes that are used so much in the mountains of Colorado (where all the earth conscious hippies live; that is not a criticism, only a humorous observation and support for the cause.) Because I'm not sure if it's considered commercial advertising, I'm going to check with Louis before I post the link to the website that has all the information on how these greenhouses work to maintain a growing environment in the dead of winter for hardly any utility cost (I think it is 1/3 of a normal greenhouse in the same environment). PM me if you'd like the link before I get a reply from Louis. Gin, I've already sent you a PM with it. - Matt

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Mitakuye oyasin.

The domes are wonderful , why not attatch one of them to a living space could have a private jungle thanks for the link .
I used a layer of the thicker rolled plastic from a box store , left it on the roof and put the shade cloth Aluminet over it this spring , Still got a lot of sun , It lasted 2 years .
My old green house was earth contact , I tried the water storage in 55 gal. drums painted black turned on thier side under a bench in the south . It moderated the Temp. swing at night but caught to much debris .
Have to be careful of to much solar gain ( heat ) the house we built also earth contact had 4ft by 10 ft. sheets of glass at an angle on the steep roof facing south . In the dead of winter , below 0 had the doors open ... we were crispy critters lolol . Gin

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

Brilliant idea, Gin!

Back in another lifetime (hehe), we used the blue ones to heat our pool in summer. It worked great...dh always called the pool "our hot tub with a gland problem" because he likes cold water for swimming. brrrrrrr. That stuff is really durable, too.

Maggie