I live in Cincinnati and 2009-2010 winter was about average. I built a ghetto greenhouse, using windows for the front and most of the west side, reinforced plastic for the roof, wood for the north wall and wood/plastic/glass on the east side. It is 12'x16' with the ceiling going from 6-8'. I insulated areas where the walls that were not needed for light transmission, including the bottom two feet of the south facing wall. Also added a layer of plastic inside, creating close to a 4" airspace. It was heated with a total of 1650 watts of electric heaters, except for a few nights (when the temps were predicted to drop below 15 degrees) when I used a kerosene heater, set as low as it would go. During the day, the heaters would usually cut off (thermostat controlled, set to 52 degrees) though for a couple of weeks, they pretty much ran 24/7. At most, the cost was $4 per day for the electricity plus 75� for the kerosene. From the middle of February on, the cost was less than half that, many days the heater hardly kicked on or waited until 9 pm to do so. I was trying to raise mature plants, not seedlings. Toms and peppers will be fine at 45 degrees of a night. Lots of nurseries have then in close to unheated green houses. Mike

I don't have any direct experience with your situation re: sunroom, but have a couple observations for you to mull over. Last year I purchased some replacement windows - P*ll* brand - they are double-pane, low-e/argon gas. It was a waste of $$ since this last winter I actually (first time ever) had FROST buildup in those windows worse than when I lived in a trailer (ie, no insulation, poor seals, etc). These were mid-range windows; not top of the line, not budget cheapos. Beware the hype or get iron-clad guarantees. Now a comment about your questions. I believe there is a formula for window-to-room ratio for sunny climes like yours. You can do that, or if you really want more glass, think about a shade cover that you can use inside/outside during the sunny season. Yes, putting it up/taking it down might be a pain, but it will work. An 80% shade cloth on the inside might keep things cool enough - but like I said, I have no direct experience with this, just a stray thought.

Thanks for the info Sheri. I am going to have a metallurgist at the company look at the bolts. The base bolts appear to be stainless. I have the FED X number for the replacement parts. HF has been very good about making the shipping damage right, but they would save themselves a lot of money by packaging the houses better. I guess that they are used to shipping tools. As you know the instructions leave a LOT to be desired, so I might be asking for more help. Thanks again!

I am new to this, as my GH was just completed in late August. but the air is continually circulated into the house with a small window fan. Many folks use humidifiers because of dry winter air due to fireplaces, so this also is my humidifier. My thermastat in the house is set at 66 this year, much cooler than usual, but will still add heat to the GH on cold nights. On sunny days, the GH heats the house for the afternoon at least. The company that I bought the rain barrels from said they would not likely freeze solid and there would be free water available. I have a cutoff at the barrel so the hose would not freeze and burst between the barrel and the GH. So far, I have not turned the water off. The hose did freeze at least once, but did not get damaged. As the day warmed up, water began to be available through the hose again. Any damage to the hose or Rainbarrel would be so easy and inexpensive to repair, I am not worried about it. The running water from the barrel is so convenient, I hope to use it pretty much all winter and would definately not put it away