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GARDEN GREENHOUSE EQUIPMENT: HEATERS | Heating your greenhouse. There are many options but an electric greenhouse heater is the first choice in many cases. Find out why, here. |
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GARDEN GREENHOUSE EQUIPMENT: HEATERS | Heating your greenhouse. There are many options but an electric greenhouse heater is the first choice in many cases. Find out why, here. |
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| 1,250 watt | 4.3 Btu |
| 2,000 watt | 7.6 Btu |
| 3,000 watt | 10.2 Btu |
There are a couple of disadvantages with an electric greenhouse heater and they relate to the fact they do not distribute the heat as evenly as warm water pipe heating systems. This results in cool spots in the greenhouse which occur in corners and areas which are are in the direction of the warm air being blown by the heater. It is best therefore to have two or more electric heaters in a greenhouse so that the area heated is maximised.
The second disadvantage of the electric air greenhouse heater is that any plants in the direct flow of the blown warm air may suffer damage from loss of moisture and too high a temperature. Consider this carefully when positioning your electric heater in the greenhouse. Plants on benching will not be affected because the heater can be placed on the floor and well below the plants on the benching.
First decide which power you require for your greenhouse heater - we would recommend you go for a 2,000 or 3,000 watt heater. If these have a thermostat then there seems little benefit in going for the lower power models. Anything more powerful than 3,000 watts will significantly increase the risk of damaging plants through too much heat or water loss.
It's quite common on greenhouse heaters to have adjustable fan strengths (high or low are normal) and a feature to blow unheated air. These features are worth having and they will not increase the cost significantly. One final point before considering which model to choose is safety. Always select electric heaters designed specifically for greenhouses. Household heater models are not safe in the greenhouse.
We have looked for models of greenhouse heater available online and we recommend one company particularly for buying online, Harrod Horticultural. They offer safe, well-designed models of electric, paraffin and propane greenhouse heaters. They have been established for several years and will provide a reliable service. Click here to view or buy greenhouse heaters online. They also an excellent range of greenhouse insulation products which will significantly reduce your heating costs.
When considering the economics and cost of greenhouse heaters also consider soil-warming cables. These considerably reduce the requirement for greenhouse heaters. Finally, dont forget the obvious, only heat the part of your greenhouse which you need at any one time. Partioning off a section of your greenhouse and only heating one part of of it will greatly reduce the cost of greenhouse heating.
If you don't have an electric supply to your greenhouse then a propane gas heater is probably your best option. The key advantage is that they do not require electricity. They can however be bulky and they do give off carbon monoxide. Condensation can also be a problem with propane gas heaters. For both reasons you need to make sure that that propane greenhouse heaters are only used where there is adequate ventilation.
Another disadvantage of propane greenhouse heaters is that they don't have a fan and therefore heat distribution can be uneven resulting in cold pockets. But if you have no electricity then a propane gas heater is your best bet. It's probably wise to keep plants in your greenhouse which only require frost protection in the coolest winter months.
Name: Deepak Shah
E-mail: Private
Date posted: December 28, 2011 - 05:30 am
Message: What is the area covered by one heater of 2000-3000 watts.We have a top side ventilation of 1.2mx100mx6 openings and 1.2mx20mx 2 openings.
Name: Archer
E-mail: archerrobert@sky.com
Date posted: December 17, 2011 - 10:03 am
Message: I want to buy a parasene 493 electric greenhouse heater, but there seems to be several models with the same model no. Can anyone explain this and which one gives the best results
Name: rosemary marsh
E-mail: rosemary-marsh@shaw.ca
Date posted: November 06, 2011 - 09:38 pm
Message: I am an avid gardener and have a small greenhouse to put my tropical plants in. The problem is I need a better electric heater as last year I lost quite a few plants. Thanks for any help. Rosemary.
Name: Mike Catterall
E-mail: michaelcatterall@btinternet.com
Date posted: October 06, 2011 - 06:41 am
Message: Now the summer growing season is finished, what is the best way to fumigate my greenhouse.
Also what veg/salads can I grow during the winter months, I have heater in the greenhouse
Name: Dr.J.P.Nelson
E-mail: jamesnelson@doctors.org.uk
Date posted: July 17, 2011 - 12:14 pm
Message: Bespoke greenhouse fitted into corner of the house.Back & 1 side wall are the house,but 2 outside walls & roof exposed.Bottom front(rack mechanism) & part top of roof (waxfilled automatic openers) open.Height to pitch of roof 4.30m.& floor 3.80m x 2.35m,plants to be on raised staging in general.A few large pots with climbers on floor.Both natural gas & electricity fitted (fully professionally /Corgi fitted).Also pumped water from 2800litre rainfall storage.Hence automatic watering by piped system (NOT overhead spray).I am hoping for 15*C min.as I want some subtropical plants.I suspect just because of fumes I shall end up with electric heating.I would appreciate your advice on heating units/outputs/variable speed fans/prices etc
Y/s James Nelson.
s/fans/prices etc.
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