A decent insulated greenhouse can help save you some dough when it comes to heating your greenhouse in the winter. Energy savings can add up with just a little insulation in the right places, not to mention helping to sustain the needed environment within your greenhouse for your plants and vegetables.
Working in tandem with a good greenhouse heater, good greenhouse insulation is a must if you want to protect your plants and vegatables and increase your yield.
It might be easy to pay no attention to that slight gap in the structure of your greenhouse, but such things are simple to resolve and don't require much effort. Over the course of a year such small things can add up to decent savings.
With a greenhouse that is insulated correctly, you can help to reduce the costs associated with maintaining a healthy temperature for your produce and give them the best environment possible to encourage growth and yield.
Working in tandem with a good greenhouse heater, good greenhouse insulation is a must if you want to protect your plants and vegatables and increase your yield.
It might be easy to pay no attention to that slight gap in the structure of your greenhouse, but such things are simple to resolve and don't require much effort. Over the course of a year such small things can add up to decent savings.
- Make sure any holes in the structure of your greenhouse are sealed. You can lose some 5% of heat from your greenhouse through just a small gap - think what many small gaps can do.
- Ensure your vents and doors are a good fit. A substantial proportion of your heat loss will come from your doors and vents. Simply taping a plastic sheeting over your door / vents can decrease the heat loss by reducing draughts, but don't forget to replace any seals periodically.
- Don't ignore the obvious - many do - but replace broken and cracked panes if your greenhouse is glass. Gaping big holes in your structure tends not to help when you're insulating a greenhouse! Make it a habit to check in the hard to see places for any cracks or broken glass and especially so if your greenhouse sits against one of your garden borders.
- And don't think you can skip checking for holes if you happen to have a polythene greenhouse either! Keep checking for rips and tears. Your more likely to get a tear in a polythene greenhouse than a smashed window in a glass greenhouse.
- Adding a layer of bubble wrap to your greenhouse is a great way to protect both against damage to the glass / polythene and to help maintain the heat inside. However, you have to be aware that each layer will reduce the light coming into your greenhouse by about 10%.
- Larger greenhouses containing fruit and vegetables with more specific environmental requirements can see polythene sheeting draped to protect areas from draughts.
- You can install thermal screens or blinds in your greenhouse that help to sustain the temperature during the colder night-time air. Any draughts from undiscovered breaches in your greenhouse structure can eased by roll-down blinds. Just be sure to roll them back up during the daytime.
With a greenhouse that is insulated correctly, you can help to reduce the costs associated with maintaining a healthy temperature for your produce and give them the best environment possible to encourage growth and yield.