Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current project is to redesign the greenhouse, as I have little knowledge of greenhouses/ gardening I would appreciate any comments or advice you could give.
My initial concept is to incorporate renewable energy into the greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?
Any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

"darran" wrote Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, My initial concept is to
incorporate renewable energy into the
greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as
integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the
design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be
improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?

It depends what you're using the greenhouse for, Darran. If people are
overwintering tender (frost- or low temperature-sensitive) plants then
winter heating, particularly at night, is the main thing and there is
often not enough natural heat available during the day to allow for a
totally renewable energy system. You might be able to utilise part of
such a system, but the heating would need to be topped-up during very cold
or cloudy winter weather (even during the day).

However, in general and for most people, the difficulty with greenhouses
is in controlling the extremes of temperature during the main growing
seasons (spring-autumn): They get too hot in full sunshine, during the
spring and summer, and you often need to shade and ventilate.
Temperatures during summer nights aren't a problem, but in spring and
early summer, they can also get too cold during the night. In spring, you
also need to maximise light levels for many purposes too, so shading is
sometimes counter-productive. Too much insulation can stifle ventilation,
which is needed to promote healthy growing conditions for most plants.

This means that any simple means of removing excess heat during the day
and storing it for release at night, would be the most useful development.
I've sometimes thought that the "storage radiator" principle of having a
dense material, which would store heat during the day and release it at
night might be one method. It's cheap and simple, but the heat source is
very low-grade and I'm not sure how efficiently it could be stored or
released at night. In addition, the mass of material might physically get
in the way, harbour pests and be difficult to keep clean (pest & disease
control being important in a greenhouse).

The other way I've thought about would be to have a large mass of water,
stored under the greenhouse in a very well-insulated reservoir, with some
heat exchangers and a closed, pumped system and electronic controls, that
could be used to extract excess daytime heat and release it at night,
rather like a solar panel system for hot water supplies in houses. I
wouldn't want the shading that solar panels would create, so I'd be
looking for a small and simple heat exchanger in the greenhouse, to remove
heat from the air itself. That has the inherent problems of the cost of
construction, control and circulation. I've sometimes wondered whether,
if the reservoir was large enough, and the heat allowed to accumulate
through the summer, it might last the winter too, but I've never done the
calculations. I believe this principle has been applied to some
experimental housing schemes, which are, in effect, built on a very large
reservoir of water, but I suspect the capital costs are horrendous.

Of course, households do throw away a lot of heat (literally) down the
drain. Any sealed system that diverts bath or shower water to a tank
(under?) your domestic greenhouse might, using the heat exchange system
described above (or developing a hybrid of the 2 systems), be used to
provide or top-up heating needed at night, before the accumulated (now
cooled) water is diverted to the normal main drain or, better still, is
used for irrigation in the garden & greenhouse.

Some thoughts there, but there should be quite a few others, which may be
much simpler variations.

Hope this helps

Regards,

Tom Bennett.

I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, as I have little knowledge of
greenhouses/ gardening I would appreciate any comments or advice you
could give.

Read the "Solar Greenhouse Book" first.

See:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ps_books_1_2/0
26-5329166-9363664

"darran" wrote Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, My initial concept is to
incorporate renewable energy into the
greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as
integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the
design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be
improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?

It depends what you're using the greenhouse for, Darran. If people are
overwintering tender (frost- or low temperature-sensitive) plants then
winter heating, particularly at night, is the main thing and there is
often not enough natural heat available during the day to allow for a
totally renewable energy system. You might be able to utilise part of
such a system, but the heating would need to be topped-up during very cold
or cloudy winter weather (even during the day).

However, in general and for most people, the difficulty with greenhouses
is in controlling the extremes of temperature during the main growing
seasons (spring-autumn): They get too hot in full sunshine, during the
spring and summer, and you often need to shade and ventilate.
Temperatures during summer nights aren't a problem, but in spring and
early summer, they can also get too cold during the night. In spring, you
also need to maximise light levels for many purposes too, so shading is
sometimes counter-productive. Too much insulation can stifle ventilation,
which is needed to promote healthy growing conditions for most plants.

This means that any simple means of removing excess heat during the day
and storing it for release at night, would be the most useful development.
I've sometimes thought that the "storage radiator" principle of having a
dense material, which would store heat during the day and release it at
night might be one method. It's cheap and simple, but the heat source is
very low-grade and I'm not sure how efficiently it could be stored or
released at night. In addition, the mass of material might physically get
in the way, harbour pests and be difficult to keep clean (pest & disease
control being important in a greenhouse).

The other way I've thought about would be to have a large mass of water,
stored under the greenhouse in a very well-insulated reservoir, with some
heat exchangers and a closed, pumped system and electronic controls, that
could be used to extract excess daytime heat and release it at night,
rather like a solar panel system for hot water supplies in houses. I
wouldn't want the shading that solar panels would create, so I'd be
looking for a small and simple heat exchanger in the greenhouse, to remove
heat from the air itself. That has the inherent problems of the cost of
construction, control and circulation. I've sometimes wondered whether,
if the reservoir was large enough, and the heat allowed to accumulate
through the summer, it might last the winter too, but I've never done the
calculations. I believe this principle has been applied to some
experimental housing schemes, which are, in effect, built on a very large
reservoir of water, but I suspect the capital costs are horrendous.

Of course, households do throw away a lot of heat (literally) down the
drain. Any sealed system that diverts bath or shower water to a tank
(under?) your domestic greenhouse might, using the heat exchange system
described above (or developing a hybrid of the 2 systems), be used to
provide or top-up heating needed at night, before the accumulated (now
cooled) water is diverted to the normal main drain or, better still, is
used for irrigation in the garden & greenhouse.

Some thoughts there, but there should be quite a few others, which may be
much simpler variations.

Hope this helps

Regards,

Tom Bennett.

I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, as I have little knowledge of
greenhouses/ gardening I would appreciate any comments or advice you
could give.

Read the "Solar Greenhouse Book" first.

See:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ps_books_1_2/0
26-5329166-9363664

"darran" wrote Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, My initial concept is to
incorporate renewable energy into the
greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as
integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the
design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be
improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?

It depends what you're using the greenhouse for, Darran. If people are
overwintering tender (frost- or low temperature-sensitive) plants then
winter heating, particularly at night, is the main thing and there is
often not enough natural heat available during the day to allow for a
totally renewable energy system. You might be able to utilise part of
such a system, but the heating would need to be topped-up during very cold
or cloudy winter weather (even during the day).

However, in general and for most people, the difficulty with greenhouses
is in controlling the extremes of temperature during the main growing
seasons (spring-autumn): They get too hot in full sunshine, during the
spring and summer, and you often need to shade and ventilate.
Temperatures during summer nights aren't a problem, but in spring and
early summer, they can also get too cold during the night. In spring, you
also need to maximise light levels for many purposes too, so shading is
sometimes counter-productive. Too much insulation can stifle ventilation,
which is needed to promote healthy growing conditions for most plants.

This means that any simple means of removing excess heat during the day
and storing it for release at night, would be the most useful development.
I've sometimes thought that the "storage radiator" principle of having a
dense material, which would store heat during the day and release it at
night might be one method. It's cheap and simple, but the heat source is
very low-grade and I'm not sure how efficiently it could be stored or
released at night. In addition, the mass of material might physically get
in the way, harbour pests and be difficult to keep clean (pest & disease
control being important in a greenhouse).

The other way I've thought about would be to have a large mass of water,
stored under the greenhouse in a very well-insulated reservoir, with some
heat exchangers and a closed, pumped system and electronic controls, that
could be used to extract excess daytime heat and release it at night,
rather like a solar panel system for hot water supplies in houses. I
wouldn't want the shading that solar panels would create, so I'd be
looking for a small and simple heat exchanger in the greenhouse, to remove
heat from the air itself. That has the inherent problems of the cost of
construction, control and circulation. I've sometimes wondered whether,
if the reservoir was large enough, and the heat allowed to accumulate
through the summer, it might last the winter too, but I've never done the
calculations. I believe this principle has been applied to some
experimental housing schemes, which are, in effect, built on a very large
reservoir of water, but I suspect the capital costs are horrendous.

Of course, households do throw away a lot of heat (literally) down the
drain. Any sealed system that diverts bath or shower water to a tank
(under?) your domestic greenhouse might, using the heat exchange system
described above (or developing a hybrid of the 2 systems), be used to
provide or top-up heating needed at night, before the accumulated (now
cooled) water is diverted to the normal main drain or, better still, is
used for irrigation in the garden & greenhouse.

Some thoughts there, but there should be quite a few others, which may be
much simpler variations.

Hope this helps

Regards,

Tom Bennett.

"darran" wrote Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, My initial concept is to
incorporate renewable energy into the
greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as
integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the
design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be
improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?

It depends what you're using the greenhouse for, Darran. If people are
overwintering tender (frost- or low temperature-sensitive) plants then
winter heating, particularly at night, is the main thing and there is
often not enough natural heat available during the day to allow for a
totally renewable energy system. You might be able to utilise part of
such a system, but the heating would need to be topped-up during very cold
or cloudy winter weather (even during the day).

However, in general and for most people, the difficulty with greenhouses
is in controlling the extremes of temperature during the main growing
seasons (spring-autumn): They get too hot in full sunshine, during the
spring and summer, and you often need to shade and ventilate.
Temperatures during summer nights aren't a problem, but in spring and
early summer, they can also get too cold during the night. In spring, you
also need to maximise light levels for many purposes too, so shading is
sometimes counter-productive. Too much insulation can stifle ventilation,
which is needed to promote healthy growing conditions for most plants.

This means that any simple means of removing excess heat during the day
and storing it for release at night, would be the most useful development.
I've sometimes thought that the "storage radiator" principle of having a
dense material, which would store heat during the day and release it at
night might be one method. It's cheap and simple, but the heat source is
very low-grade and I'm not sure how efficiently it could be stored or
released at night. In addition, the mass of material might physically get
in the way, harbour pests and be difficult to keep clean (pest & disease
control being important in a greenhouse).

The other way I've thought about would be to have a large mass of water,
stored under the greenhouse in a very well-insulated reservoir, with some
heat exchangers and a closed, pumped system and electronic controls, that
could be used to extract excess daytime heat and release it at night,
rather like a solar panel system for hot water supplies in houses. I
wouldn't want the shading that solar panels would create, so I'd be
looking for a small and simple heat exchanger in the greenhouse, to remove
heat from the air itself. That has the inherent problems of the cost of
construction, control and circulation. I've sometimes wondered whether,
if the reservoir was large enough, and the heat allowed to accumulate
through the summer, it might last the winter too, but I've never done the
calculations. I believe this principle has been applied to some
experimental housing schemes, which are, in effect, built on a very large
reservoir of water, but I suspect the capital costs are horrendous.

Of course, households do throw away a lot of heat (literally) down the
drain. Any sealed system that diverts bath or shower water to a tank
(under?) your domestic greenhouse might, using the heat exchange system
described above (or developing a hybrid of the 2 systems), be used to
provide or top-up heating needed at night, before the accumulated (now
cooled) water is diverted to the normal main drain or, better still, is
used for irrigation in the garden & greenhouse.

Some thoughts there, but there should be quite a few others, which may be
much simpler variations.

Hope this helps

Regards,

Tom Bennett.

"darran" wrote Dear All,
I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, My initial concept is to
incorporate renewable energy into the
greenhouse to provide power to heat/ cool the greenhouse as well as
integrate features to capture and store rainwater and compost into the
design.
Is there any areas of current greenhouses that you feel could be
improved or any aspects you feel I should consider?

It depends what you're using the greenhouse for, Darran. If people are
overwintering tender (frost- or low temperature-sensitive) plants then
winter heating, particularly at night, is the main thing and there is
often not enough natural heat available during the day to allow for a
totally renewable energy system. You might be able to utilise part of
such a system, but the heating would need to be topped-up during very cold
or cloudy winter weather (even during the day).

However, in general and for most people, the difficulty with greenhouses
is in controlling the extremes of temperature during the main growing
seasons (spring-autumn): They get too hot in full sunshine, during the
spring and summer, and you often need to shade and ventilate.
Temperatures during summer nights aren't a problem, but in spring and
early summer, they can also get too cold during the night. In spring, you
also need to maximise light levels for many purposes too, so shading is
sometimes counter-productive. Too much insulation can stifle ventilation,
which is needed to promote healthy growing conditions for most plants.

This means that any simple means of removing excess heat during the day
and storing it for release at night, would be the most useful development.
I've sometimes thought that the "storage radiator" principle of having a
dense material, which would store heat during the day and release it at
night might be one method. It's cheap and simple, but the heat source is
very low-grade and I'm not sure how efficiently it could be stored or
released at night. In addition, the mass of material might physically get
in the way, harbour pests and be difficult to keep clean (pest & disease
control being important in a greenhouse).

The other way I've thought about would be to have a large mass of water,
stored under the greenhouse in a very well-insulated reservoir, with some
heat exchangers and a closed, pumped system and electronic controls, that
could be used to extract excess daytime heat and release it at night,
rather like a solar panel system for hot water supplies in houses. I
wouldn't want the shading that solar panels would create, so I'd be
looking for a small and simple heat exchanger in the greenhouse, to remove
heat from the air itself. That has the inherent problems of the cost of
construction, control and circulation. I've sometimes wondered whether,
if the reservoir was large enough, and the heat allowed to accumulate
through the summer, it might last the winter too, but I've never done the
calculations. I believe this principle has been applied to some
experimental housing schemes, which are, in effect, built on a very large
reservoir of water, but I suspect the capital costs are horrendous.

Of course, households do throw away a lot of heat (literally) down the
drain. Any sealed system that diverts bath or shower water to a tank
(under?) your domestic greenhouse might, using the heat exchange system
described above (or developing a hybrid of the 2 systems), be used to
provide or top-up heating needed at night, before the accumulated (now
cooled) water is diverted to the normal main drain or, better still, is
used for irrigation in the garden & greenhouse.

Some thoughts there, but there should be quite a few others, which may be
much simpler variations.

Hope this helps

Regards,

Tom Bennett.

I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, as I have little knowledge of
greenhouses/ gardening I would appreciate any comments or advice you
could give.

Read the "Solar Greenhouse Book" first.

See:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ps_books_1_2/0
26-5329166-9363664

I am a product design student in my final year of study. My current
project is to redesign the greenhouse, as I have little knowledge of
greenhouses/ gardening I would appreciate any comments or advice you
could give.

Read the "Solar Greenhouse Book" first.

See:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ps_books_1_2/0
26-5329166-9363664