Dec 7th Greenhouse Workshop to Highlight Energy Efficiency/Alternative Heating Options

Reducing greenhouse heating costs - THIS WINTER!

UW-Extension, Focus on Energy, and The Flower Farm are putting on a 3 hr. workshop Dec. 7th at the WITC conference center in Rice Lake. Email andrew.dane@co.barron.wi.us for more info.


Heating costs can be the difference between profits and losses in a greenhouse business. Fortunately there are a number of options that can reduce the costs. This presentation will cover both low cost things that can be done before the next heating season and some longer term strategies to save energy. Short term items might include maintenance items, reducing air infiltration, higher efficiency heaters, and different glazing materials. Long term items might include energy curtains, type of heat distribution system, different types of greenhouses and wind breaks. The advantages of different alternative energy sources will be considered and brace-type solar greenhouses discussed.

Holding the heat IN – Thermal curtains for greenhouses

Many things can be done to reduce heating costs: make sure furnaces and heaters are cleaned and adjusted, replace older less efficient heaters, make sure the envelope of the greenhouse is tight to keep infiltration leaks at a minimum and wall off unused areas of the greenhouse to reduce the amount of heated space. These are important maintenance tasks which good greenhouse managers should already be doing. The average greenhouse requires 80% of their heating at night. So what can I do to have a major impact on reducing energy costs? ….Install Thermal curtain.

These are not new they have been available for many years. Thermal curtains are pulled across the roof areas and sometimes the sidewalls to add an additional thermal boundary layer at night and to reduce the volume being heated. The presentation will cover the types of installations for different types of greenhouses and types of fabrics used. A lower cost manual opening curtain aimed at small greenhouses will also be discussed.

Alternative Energy Sources

There may be alternative and waste heat sources in our local communities that we may be over looking as potential heating sources. This presentation will look at some projects from around the North America that are using alternative energy or waste heat stream for heating greenhouses or other agricultural enterprises.