Greenhouse Heating

SKIPPY54

SEE wrote: »

Do you mean like this?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antique-Victorian-Green-House-Heater-Copper_W0QQitemZ310062053591QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item310062053591&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Not quite, :rotfl: its a solid fuel heater that heats water in pipes not quite so old:D thanks very much

looby-loo_2

I too was spending £5/week on parafin heating so I bought a cheap electric heater from a carboot - £2 (but about £15 new) with a thermostat. It's mostly on at cheap rate electric times so must be very cheap to run. I put it on a timer so no chance of forgetting it in the day.

The thing that saves most is that I have bubble wrapped 100% of the green house, including making a bubble wrap door curtain. The bubble wrap has lasted about 6 years so very cost effective.

Another thing, under the benching and round the back I have lined with thick pieces of polystyene which were used for packaging my cooker, washing machine, etc. I stand pots on this too so they don't get cold from the bottom.

Oh, and another thing, I have three left over breeze blocks in there too. These absorb heat in the daytime and release the heat in the night - a bit like storage heater in a house. No sure if this really works but it's somewhere to store them.

Davesnave

I use an electric heater, specially tweaked so that it only comes on when the temperature hits zero. It is a standard heater, not a 'greenhouse' one, as the latter tend to be expensive. (When I bought it, the 'greenhouse' model seemed exactly the same, except that it was green!)

I know heaters are sold with frost stats, but these invariably come on at about 5 degrees, which is wasteful. If you can use a screwdriver and know how not to be silly with the casing off, you can calibrate an electric heater's thermostat. It doesn't need to be connected as you can hear it 'click' on or off. However, you'll need a cold night to do this! Alternatively, you can use an external variable thermostat wired into the switch - it'll still pay for itself.

It's a good idea to take your heater's casing off at the end of the winter season, get all the spiders out etc and then give it a good spray with WD40. While you won't be spraying water over it, (will you!) the greenhouse environment is very humid. Treated like this, mine has done 20 years, no problem.

It goes without saying that you should have an RCD attached to any outdoor appliance, especially heaters.

alanobrien

I have a lot of exotics that i have to over winter in the greenhouse, including around 20 species of banana, palms, colocasia etc etc. The first thing to do is insulate the greenhouse as well as possible but also allow for some ventilation otherwise rot can set in in your not careful. I use a double layer of bubble wrap with the joints staggered covering the roof and walls. The floor of the greenhouse i also cover - to raise the plants in pots off the earth, this year i am trying a few deck boards for this purpose.
Once that lot is done the plants go in. Some of them are sensitive to temperatures below 4c so i put those in one corner and surround them with fleece. The heater i use is by parasene like this one here http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0424284/Trail/searchtext%3EGREENHOUSE+HEATER.htm
I only use it when i know the temperature will dip below 4c in the greenhouse. Last year i used a whole gallon of paraffin so it cost about £4 to run it. I was thinking about changing to electric but with power costs going insane i think i will stick with this.

kazwookie

SKIPPY54 wrote: »

By the way if your choccie button heap is close to mine I have a spare Heater you can have,not the expensive to run one!!!

Maybe you could mail me where you are and we will see if choccie button heaps are near each other!!

Everyone else, thanks for the responses, bubble wrap seems the way to go, and the polysterene (sp) sheets! off to start collecting, ready for the green house, when I finally win one.
:rotfl:

tomsolomon

Is it realy necessary to have a green house heater if I only have toms cucumbers peppers and chilli's? I know some people have chilli's that have lasted a few years, couldn't I just bring them indoors for a couple of months?
Green house noob.:o

SEE

SKIPPY54 wrote: »

Not quite, :rotfl: its a solid fuel heater that heats water in pipes not quite so old:D thanks very much

I like this myself, but can't afford it:o
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUPERB-ANTIQUE-ROUND-FRENCH-STOVE-CASE-ART-NOUVEAU_W0QQitemZ150260380668QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150260380668&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

SKIPPY54

tomsolomon wrote: »

Is it realy necessary to have a green house heater if I only have toms cucumbers peppers and chilli's? I know some people have chilli's that have lasted a few years, couldn't I just bring them indoors for a couple of months?
Green house noob.:o

I use my greenhouse for starting off seeds and raising them,there are not enough windowsills in my house,and besides a greenhouse is a good retreat.

Davesnave

tomsolomon wrote: »

Is it realy necessary to have a green house heater if I only have toms cucumbers peppers and chilli's? I know some people have chilli's that have lasted a few years, couldn't I just bring them indoors for a couple of months?
Green house noob.:o

Depends. A greenhouse is far superior to 'indoors' especially in early spring when light levels are a bit low. Frosts have been relatively few & far between where I live, but that can't be relied on. I find that I'd want my greenhouse for the first seeds in February, though I use part of it all year round for some tenderish things.

In the last few years I've also used a tall cold frame to overwinter 'spares' of some tender stock and, with very few exceptions, things have come through fine. there's a big difference between these established plants and seedlings though.

Jnelhams

If you were growing Alpines, that just need a cold dry winter, then no heater is necessary. It is in theory possible to fill with water large buckets with lids, and these left inside a closed Greenhouse, will act like storage heaters with what little winter sun there is and keep the greenhouse frost free, obviously you need quite a lot of water storage, and plenty of bubble wrap, polystyrene and any other insulation around the greenhouse too.