Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
winter insulation greenhouses
Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to
screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. You might get a better fit and better insulation of you screw wooden beading to the frame to hold the polycarbonate in place. You could then leave most of the beading in place and slide the polycarbonate sheets in and out. You would only have to remove enough beading to allow insertion/removal of the sheets. However I suspect that if you do your costings you will find that it is cheaper to use and bin bubble wrap each year than to have a reusable polycarbonate sheet arrangement. Rolls of bubble wrap are very cheap, but AFAIK polycarbonate sheets are quite expensive. Depends if reuse is more important than cost. HTH Dave R |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
In article , Janet Tweedy
writes Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? We did ours with acetate. Have had some problems with cracking as the greenhouse temperature changes, but on the whole it has been successful, and has been in place for 14 years. Don't see why you shouldn't do this successfully with polycarbonate. If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. We use bubble wrap as well - we have a series of poles going the length of the greenhouse, and drape long pieces over these for the winter, tucking the hanging ends behind the plants at the sides. It doesn't take more than 30 mins to remove or to put up -- Kay "Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river" |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Janet Tweedy wrote:
Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. The main insulating effect comes from the trapped air. If you want to use anything else then the twinwall polycarbonate is the material of choice. It is however much more expensive than bubble wrap. The best tactic it to heat only the end of the greenhouse furthest from the door and add a curtain in the middle. That way you keep most of the warm air inside the greenhouse aginst the closed end. Regards, Martin Brown |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. Double glazing relies on sealing the air between the two panes. If you decide to go ahead, try to seal your polycarbonate panes with sticky tape round the edges. In fact, if you use a good quality tape, you probably don't even need to do any screwing at all. Franz |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Jan
Sounds to me as if you have timber frame greenhouse, in which case you could use bubble film, but try cutting old hosepipe into 2 inch lengths and screwing through the middle of these lengths of pipe (1 inch from each end)so it forms a washer of sorts then screw the bubble to the frame using them. easy to remove without tearing the film. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Janet,
Some polycarbonate roofing sheet has uv filtration and reflective qualities to cut down the amount of light, so watch which one you go for. Another factor is cost, polycarb is more expensive than glass. Cutting to size is easy as it can be cut with any decent saw. To fix, rather than screwing, on the assumption that you have a wooden greenhouse, either use glazing bars (from the same people that sell polycarb) or make some plastic (or aluminium) clips with a single screw hole long enough to support the sheet across the join (50mm x 20mm say). The sheets are incredibly light and strong so won't require much support. Ensure that you seal both ends using tape, otherwise you will find all sorts of insects getting into the channels, regards, David "Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Just an idea to run past the experts but would it be at all possible to screw sheets of that polycarbonate stuff on the inside of glass for winter protection? If I drilled holes in the sheets and screwed them to the wood structure would it be better than bubble wrap which is a swine to re use and clean. janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"David" wrote in message ... Janet, Some polycarbonate roofing sheet has uv filtration No polycarbonate of the thickness encountered in horticultural applications lets through any UV worth talking about. It is a very expensive business to make transparent objects which will transmit a substantial amount of UV. Fused quartz is the sheapest one. So, for any horticultural purposes, you can forget about UV light penetrating into the interior of the greenhouse or tunnel, whatever they may be made of. Anybody who waffles of UV filtration in polycarbonate roofing sheet is therefore performing a con trick. and reflective qualities to cut down the amount of light, so watch which one you go for. For a transparent material which does not have a surface bloomed to the accuracies of typical light wavelengths, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the reflection coefficient and the refractive index. All transparent polycarbonates have the same reflection coefficient to within a gew percent. They wiol therefore all have thsubstantially the same reflection coefficients. How then does the manufacturer achieve the reflective qualities of which you speak? Oncd again, I suspect a rip-off. Another factor is cost, polycarb is more expensive than glass. Cutting to size is easy as it can be cut with any decent saw. To fix, rather than screwing, on the assumption that you have a wooden greenhouse, either use glazing bars (from the same people that sell polycarb) or make some plastic (or aluminium) clips with a single screw hole long enough to support the sheet across the join (50mm x 20mm say). The sheets are incredibly light and strong so won't require much support. Ensure that you seal both ends using tape, otherwise you will find all sorts of insects getting into the channels, Yes. The sealing of the open ends is very important also to prevent the ingress of water, which would encourage algal growth inside the cells of the double walls. Franz |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ... "David" wrote in message ... Janet, Some polycarbonate roofing sheet has uv filtration No polycarbonate of the thickness encountered in horticultural applications lets through any UV worth talking about. It is a very expensive business to make transparent objects which will transmit a substantial amount of UV. Fused quartz is the sheapest one. So, for any horticultural purposes, you can forget about UV light penetrating into the interior of the greenhouse or tunnel, whatever they may be made of. Anybody who waffles of UV filtration in polycarbonate roofing sheet is therefore performing a con trick. and reflective qualities to cut down the amount of light, so watch which one you go for. For a transparent material which does not have a surface bloomed to the accuracies of typical light wavelengths, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the reflection coefficient and the refractive index. All transparent polycarbonates have the same reflection coefficient to within a gew percent. They wiol therefore all have thsubstantially the same reflection coefficients. How then does the manufacturer achieve the reflective qualities of which you speak? Oncd again, I suspect a rip-off. Another factor is cost, polycarb is more expensive than glass. Cutting to size is easy as it can be cut with any decent saw. To fix, rather than screwing, on the assumption that you have a wooden greenhouse, either use glazing bars (from the same people that sell polycarb) or make some plastic (or aluminium) clips with a single screw hole long enough to support the sheet across the join (50mm x 20mm say). The sheets are incredibly light and strong so won't require much support. Ensure that you seal both ends using tape, otherwise you will find all sorts of insects getting into the channels, Yes. The sealing of the open ends is very important also to prevent the ingress of water, which would encourage algal growth inside the cells of the double walls. What an appalling lot of typos I made. Franz |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
"Martin" wrote in message ... On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:00:46 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann" wrote: What an appalling lot of typos I made. Gawd! Even you are starting to notice :-) How about a nice spelling checker for Christmas? I keep forgetting to use mine. {:-(( Franz -- Martin |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
greenhouse insulation | United Kingdom | |||
Source for microfoam insulation? | Gardening | |||
Greenhouse bubble wrap insulation | Gardening | |||
Greenhouse roof insulation? | Orchids | |||
Bubble insulation | United Kingdom |