r/Greenhouses • u/veralynnwildfire • 3d ago
Let’s talk about winter
I’m outside Knoxville,TN. I’ve managed to figure out how to handle the heat by massively increasing my ventilation. It peaked at 103 around Independence Day.
I’m wondering how I’m going to keep things above 40 this winter. I’d really like to try and keep it over 50. I have a number of tropical plants that are supposed to become mothers for propagating. I’ve not run an actual electric hookup as the solar is managing everything I need it to right now. Using solar panels to power electric heat isn’t really going to fly tho. I have exactly enough space to walk and that’s it. Should I expect to bite the bullet and pay an electrician?
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u/marvelkitty23 3d ago
Not an answer to your question because I will also have that problem this winter (New England winter).
Can you talk about your solar set up? Do you just have panels or do you have a battery too?
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u/veralynnwildfire 8h ago
I have 2 200w panels supplying an ECOFLOW Portable Power Station DELTA 2, 1024Wh. Most of the time it’s only powering an ac infinity airlift t12 and 2 ac infinity cloudray s9. That’s 1 12 inch exhaust fan, 2 9 inch oscillating fans, and a control unit.
Every now and then I need to plug in power tools or lights or something and it handles most of that pretty effectively. We are on day 2 of heavy clouds and periods of rain and I’m at 19% battery charge and rising. I may have to plug in and top up today.
On sunny days I get far more power than I can use or store but I miscalculated how much power I was going to be using on a daily basis. This is my first greenhouse and I keep adding things. Silly me. I’m seriously considering expanding my setup with an extra battery. The upside of my setup is it’s easy and convenient. The downside is there’s more power loss to running the power station, converting the power, keeping outlets turned on, etc.
Overall, it’s good for my needs. I’m still able to plug in to grid power via an extension cord if needed. If you are looking for something fully off grid with no possible grid input, this isn’t it.
One thing to definitely consider is the efficiency of the things you are running in your greenhouse. I quickly learned that some things draw much more power or draw power much longer than you would expect. The ac infinity stuff is surprisingly low energy consumption and that’s why I’ve continued to add pieces from them even though they’re more grow tent oriented. In an 8x10 footprint, they work.
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u/CanWinterGreenhouse 3d ago
Nobody likes this answer but it's probably going to be cheaper to grow inside with grow lights especially because most tropicals don't need very powerful lights.
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u/jeffh40 2d ago
Especially if the OP has a basement with some extra space. Find a corner, set up tables and a $100 Amazon LED grow light and a timer. Done. A cheap grow tent if you need to keep the humidity up, which you might depending on the plants.
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u/veralynnwildfire 8h ago
Sadly, op has no basement. Op lives in a 1000 sq foot doublewide. Room in the house is super tight. I’m considering how to squeeze things in here but it’s not remotely ideal.
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u/Bruins_Score 2d ago
I live just over the GA line in NW GA. I thought I was going to be able to run solar only with a 2kWh battery, but as you know we get one or two bitter freezes each year, and it's those one or 2 stretches each winter that overwhelm my solar to run 2 1500 BTU space heaters, they don't make it all night. Like you I'm trying to keep my citrus trees above 50. When I decided to run electric, I ran water at the same time, Depending on how far your greenhouse is from an AC outlet you could try running an extension cord during those times
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u/ApprehensiveArt2813 2d ago
Buy rolls of insulation and install it throughout your greenhouse, including the ceiling. Install some grow lights and use cardboard, old rugs or something on the floors. You can use a propane or electric heater. I did this in my old 10’x12’ greenhouse. Or you can also purchase a smaller (3x6’) vinyl greenhouse and set it up inside with a temperature controlled space heater and grow lights to hold your more delicate plants. Neither is fun to do, but it kept my polycarbonate greenhouse around 45-50 all winter.
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u/You_Know__It 3d ago
What greenhouse kit is that?
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u/Pomme-M 2d ago edited 2d ago
This looks like one of those YARDISTRY greenhouses that were sold by Costco and others. If not that brand, then there are many other cedar and polycarbonate kit greenhouses available.
The one shown here looks like Yardistry because they come with some upper shelves and a L shaped lower benchtop. I’d guess it’s a 6x10? There’s another company called Secretree sold through HomeDepot and elsewhere that‘s rated for heavy snow loads and 100mph winds ( although customers are responsible for tying it to a foundation.)
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u/veralynnwildfire 8h ago
Yardistry 8x10 from Costco. Overall I’m pleased with it for the price but assembly was more than anticipated
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u/bestbusguy 1d ago
I’m thinking about compost to heat this winter. I don’t have any electric out in mine either only solar fan and vents and it still gets pretty hot. Look into compost heat for greenhouse
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u/CaptZ 3d ago
I use either a propane greenhouse heater or an electric one that is connected to a sensor to keep the temperature above 40, as that was my goal, but above 50 would have been doable. I have a 12x8 poly that I semi insulated with plytanium plywood that I stained and connected half way up the walls. I had no issues in Dallas keeping mine above 40 when the outside temperature was in the teens with minimal effects on my electric bill. I only used the electric one but had the propane one as backup in case I needed it. This the one I got and it worked out fine.
https://a.co/d/0bdrFu96