OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so we are
considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the backyard. I plan to
keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas and warm types in the
sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc, lc, dendrobiums, etc into the
new greenhouse. We will be growing some veggies and other plants in there as
well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate, with some
days in January or February sometimes into the 50's. However, we also get a
LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on occasion. The coldest days
also have the brightest sun. Very little snow, maybe 6-8" a year.
I am probably going to use electric heat as well as heat cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in the
greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the advise
the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed

Hi Ed, I have used this burner for more than ten years & just replace a part to do
with the flame unit ($11) & was sent overnight.
You can fill out the form at the end of the page to ask questions or phone. I receive
wonderful advice & help.
http://www.southernburner.com/
--
Cheers Wendy

No Spam Email Address Invalid

Ed wrote:
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so
we are considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the
backyard. I plan to keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas
and warm types in the sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc,
lc, dendrobiums, etc into the new greenhouse. We will be growing some
veggies and other plants in there as well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate,
with some days in January or February sometimes into the 50's.
However, we also get a LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on
occasion. The coldest days also have the brightest sun. Very little
snow, maybe 6-8" a year. I am probably going to use electric heat as well as heat
cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in
the greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the
advise the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed

I have been using the calculation supplied in the link below for about 8
years now. With it, greenhouse size info, data from local weather stations,
BTUs per unit of fuel and heater efficiency ratings I have been able to
determine not only how large a heater I needed to get me through the coldest
possible night I was likely to face but also what it costs in fuel on any
given time period of an average year. Once these numbers were plugged into
a spreadsheet and a running log of outside temps was recorded it *did*
provide a close approximation of the fuel actually used and therefore I
think it can be used to help you predict fuel costs.

But there are a lot of variables 'assumed' in this calculation. Like wind
speed. If possible locate your greenhouse in a way that protects it from
prevailing winds in your area. Windy locations will increase heat loss
through whatever covering you use and can swing the numbers wildly. I am
fortunate that my house stands between my greenhouse and the prevailing
winter winds.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/G...hdbk/heat.html


Ed wrote:
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so
we are considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the
backyard. I plan to keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas
and warm types in the sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc,
lc, dendrobiums, etc into the new greenhouse. We will be growing some
veggies and other plants in there as well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate,
with some days in January or February sometimes into the 50's.
However, we also get a LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on
occasion. The coldest days also have the brightest sun. Very little
snow, maybe 6-8" a year. I am probably going to use electric heat as well
as heat cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in
the greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the
advise the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed

Ed wrote:
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so we are
considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the backyard.
(snip)
I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the advise
the group is willing to share.

If you are building from scratch (rather than a kit), I would consider
making an insulated north wall and a shed roof (south slope only).
During winter at our latitudes, the north wall of a greenhouse and the
north slope of a gable-end roof are major heat sinks and don't do much
to add additional light to the greenhouse.

If you go with electric heat, make sure you have a backup gas or
kerosene heater on hand. If you frequently lose electricity during
winter storms and are not always home, it would probably be safer to
use a gas/propane heater with standing pilot light that will keep
working during outages. Greenhouses lose heat very rapidly in freezing
temperatures.

Nick

....or alternately:
http://www.firstrays.com/heater_calculator.htm

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"al" wrote in message news:qmCYg.8416$6D3.5659@trnddc01...
I have been using the calculation supplied in the link below for about 8
years now. With it, greenhouse size info, data from local weather
stations, BTUs per unit of fuel and heater efficiency ratings I have been
able to determine not only how large a heater I needed to get me through
the coldest possible night I was likely to face but also what it costs in
fuel on any given time period of an average year. Once these numbers were
plugged into a spreadsheet and a running log of outside temps was recorded
it *did* provide a close approximation of the fuel actually used and
therefore I think it can be used to help you predict fuel costs.

But there are a lot of variables 'assumed' in this calculation. Like wind
speed. If possible locate your greenhouse in a way that protects it from
prevailing winds in your area. Windy locations will increase heat loss
through whatever covering you use and can swing the numbers wildly. I am
fortunate that my house stands between my greenhouse and the prevailing
winter winds.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/G...hdbk/heat.html


Ed wrote:
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so
we are considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the
backyard. I plan to keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas
and warm types in the sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc,
lc, dendrobiums, etc into the new greenhouse. We will be growing some
veggies and other plants in there as well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate,
with some days in January or February sometimes into the 50's.
However, we also get a LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on
occasion. The coldest days also have the brightest sun. Very little
snow, maybe 6-8" a year. I am probably going to use electric heat as
well as heat cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in
the greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the
advise the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed

In your form you include the conductive loss calculation for the material
used to cover the house and a table of likely materials to help determine
its value. If you added the air infiltration heat loss calculation and a
table to help determine that value your form would be just like most of the
ones found online. Except yours DOES the calculation. Nice touch. :-)

I had a devil of a time remembering where I found my heating cost
calculation and had no luck making it turn up in google using any words a
person is likely to think of when trying to find the answer to 'how much
will it cost to heat my greenhouse this winter", then I typed in parts of
the calculation from my spread sheet that dealt with conductive heat loss
and the whole problem of determining heater *size* showed up on several
university websites that had hort or agriculture schools.

Some also had help/hints for figuring the extra steps needed to determine
fuel costs for a given period, not just minimum heater size for the coldest
possible temp on record, which is just the first step, really. Al-beit a
big one.

"Ray" wrote in message
news:qwdZg.3145$AR6.1801@trndny02...
...or alternately:
http://www.firstrays.com/heater_calculator.htm

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"al" wrote in message
news:qmCYg.8416$6D3.5659@trnddc01...
I have been using the calculation supplied in the link below for about 8
years now. With it, greenhouse size info, data from local weather
stations, BTUs per unit of fuel and heater efficiency ratings I have been
able to determine not only how large a heater I needed to get me through
the coldest possible night I was likely to face but also what it costs in
fuel on any given time period of an average year. Once these numbers were
plugged into a spreadsheet and a running log of outside temps was recorded
it *did* provide a close approximation of the fuel actually used and
therefore I think it can be used to help you predict fuel costs.

But there are a lot of variables 'assumed' in this calculation. Like
wind speed. If possible locate your greenhouse in a way that protects it
from prevailing winds in your area. Windy locations will increase heat
loss through whatever covering you use and can swing the numbers wildly.
I am fortunate that my house stands between my greenhouse and the
prevailing winter winds.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/G...hdbk/heat.html


Ed wrote:
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so
we are considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the
backyard. I plan to keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas
and warm types in the sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc,
lc, dendrobiums, etc into the new greenhouse. We will be growing some
veggies and other plants in there as well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate,
with some days in January or February sometimes into the 50's.
However, we also get a LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on
occasion. The coldest days also have the brightest sun. Very little
snow, maybe 6-8" a year. I am probably going to use electric heat as
well as heat cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in
the greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the
advise the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed

Ed,

Good luck - sounds exciting!

Many people here in the Bay Area have dropped their greenhouse winter
minimums to 55 from 60 and report a huge cost savings after doing so.

Most Phrags can handle much colder than 60 - in habitat, it can get into the
low 50s. And most Vanda/Ascocenda hybrids with a recent shot of Vanda
coerulea can handle 50-60 nights. Lc. cattleyas, especially if based upon
the Mexican Laelias, like anceps or gouldiana, can usually take down to
freezing no problem if kept dry.

Conversely, the hard-cane Den phalaenopsis type Dendrobiums get REALLY mad
when the nights go below 60 and drop leaves like crazy. Same for Vanilla
planifolia.

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org

"Ed" wrote in message
m...
OK, our 125+ mature orchids are overflowing our attached sunroom, so we
are considering a 10' x 12' polycarbonate greenhouse for the backyard. I
plan to keep my paphs and phrags as well as the Vandas and warm types in
the sunroom, but would like to move my phals, blc, lc, dendrobiums, etc
into the new greenhouse. We will be growing some veggies and other plants
in there as well.

I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Our winters are "fairly" moderate, with
some days in January or February sometimes into the 50's. However, we also
get a LOT of days below freezing, into the teens on occasion. The coldest
days also have the brightest sun. Very little snow, maybe 6-8" a year.
I am probably going to use electric heat as well as heat cables for
propagation trays I have read several greenhouse books, but have found
nothing to pedict heating costs? My target is to keep night temps in the
greenhouse at 60 degrees.

I have no experience with greenhouse culture, so I could use all the
advise the group is willing to share.

Thanks,

Ed