Hello World! Welcome Friends! Are you operating a greenhouse or looking to construct one? If yes, then you need to ensure it operates as efficiently as possible to lower your costs and boost your quality and yield of the crop. Here are seven ways of making a greenhouse efficient. Simply Plastics offer some different materials which you can purchase to construct your greenhouse.
Maintaining the Perfect Environmental Conditions:
7 Essential Elements to Make Your Greenhouse as Efficient as Possible
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1. Cooling Considerations
In case you are using a greenhouse during summer, it is essential to cool the structure to make it efficient. Luckily, greenhouses offer various options that you can utilize to cool it. A system of retractable shading is an ideal option to minimize the amount of sunlight getting to the plants. Natural ventilation is the most popular way, and it can be achieved in various ways, depending on your greenhouse design.
Roof vents, drop-down or roll-up sides, or open end panels are all typical design features and let in a great amount of natural air flow within the greenhouse. The objective of this kind of ventilation is the balance of temperature between outside and inside the structure. You can supplement natural ventilation with mechanical ventilation. You can reduce the temperature within the greenhouse through the use of vents, horizontal airflows, and circulating fans. It is essential to ensure the proper size of the equipment for the area being cooled.
An evaporative cooling system can also be used to cool a greenhouse. It works by removing air from the greenhouse and cooling it via the evaporation of water, across the growing space. This system is accomplished by installing exhaust fans on one end of the structure, and an evaporative cooling pad on the other end. The exhaust fans draw air via the evaporative cooling pad. The air cools as it goes through the cooling pad and is then drawn across the structure to cool the growing area.
2. Prevention of Heat Loss
The type of heating system installed in your greenhouse makes a difference in your structure’s efficiency. An efficient heater does not directly translate to an energy-efficient greenhouse. You need to set up an electronic thermostat and controller to automatically turn on and off your heater whenever required. Additionally, utilizing horizontal airflow fans will aid in keeping the greenhouse at a uniform temperature.
In your goal for prevention of heat loss, you also need to ensure you seal all the air leaks. This means closing all the doors; utilizing weather stripping around doors, fan openings, and vents; using insulation, and repairing covering tears.
3. Greenhouse Heating
For a majority of the year, in a majority of the regions and depending on the plants, the sun offers a large portion of the needed heat. During winter and cooler days of the month, it is essential to consider an additional heat source. There are numerous options for heating a greenhouse, including radiant systems, unit heaters, infrared heaters, and more.
A radiant heating system is the most efficient option. Radiant heating systems fail to heat the air and heat objects instead. It is highly recommended that you set up this heating system in your foundation as you construct a new greenhouse. If your greenhouse already exists, you can utilize this option in the soil or under the benches. In spite of the type of heating system you use, carrying out yearly maintenance is the ideal way to ensure peak efficiency for your system.
4. Heat Retention
There are some things you can implement to retain heat during the winter. One way of going about it is the use of poly film glazing that is winter-ready, which is typically utilized in northern climatic regions and is more opaque and heavier. It is ideal at attracting heat in the day, and allowing reflection of heat back into the structure at night.
Another option is the installation of a water wall to allow for passive solar heat. This is a cheap option and can be implemented by filling polythene bags with water. These bags then absorb solar energy in the day and radiate it into the structure in the night.
Additionally, you can set up a suspended heat retention shade system. It can be run manually or run on cable drive or push-pull drive. The system is shade cloth suspended on wires that are monofilament and attached to the frame of the greenhouse. They aid in the prevention of radiated heat loss through the reflection of heat into the growing area. It is also ideal for summer. It can minimize your watering and cooling needs through shading plants on dry, hot days.
5. Lighting
Not all greenhouse structures use artificial lighting. Its use is heavily determined by the crop type being grown and the region. In a set up where lighting is used, artificial lighting can make a significant difference in the consumption of energy. Modern LED lights can aid in saving up to 40 percent of the energy used by the CFL light bulbs as well as up to 90 percent in comparison to incandescent bulbs. This makes lighting a major factor in the efficiency of a greenhouse, where lighting is a requirement.
6. Dehumidification
High levels of humidity could result in general diminished quality and yield of the crop as well as diseases. Some people still use a traditional method of reducing humidity that includes ventilation-trading internal moist air with external air that is drier. Since you have already invested in the internal air in the form of heat, this method leads to a wastage of energy. Therefore, utilizing a dehumidifier lets you handle high relative humidity levels in-house while retaining the created heat. Additionally, a properly-designed, efficient dehumidifier could generate heat, boost your overall heat, and minimize the energy bill.
7. Real-Time Monitoring
Agriculture and technology have gone hand in hand for a long time. Due to modern technological advancements in real-time measuring and monitoring, there is no need to overcompensate when it comes to irrigation, dehumidification, and heating.
The use of these technologies lets you invest the exact amount of the required resources as opposed to over investing for assurance of optimal conditions.
Conclusion
In addition to mobile vertical grow rack systems that you can view here, these core elements will make your greenhouse as efficient as possible. An efficient greenhouse will see you minimize waste and boost your profits.
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