Sarah:

Install bubble wrap to the interior only, with the bubble out, against the glass. My GH is totally covered inside with it and yes, it has made a huge difference in heat retention. It also served to keep it cooler in summer.

With glass, you have one great advantage regarding the bubble warp over those of us with polycarb: you can tape or even glue the bubble in place, directly to the glass if need be, with no fear of damaging it when you want to remove it.

You didn't say what kind of GH you have, but another option and although pricier up-front would be far longer lasting: aluminum framed glass storm windows, with good draft seals around them. Or, polycarb storm panels. However, non operable aluminum framed glass panels are surprisingly cheap.

As for where: all over. Cover every inch of glass, regardless if you use bubble wrap or eventually go to storm panels.

One other possibility. If the glass in your GH is framed in such a manner that sealing the frames would leave an air pocket, which is the insulating factor, you could also use the lightweight, clear vinyl material that after installation, is shrunk to taughtness with a hair dryer.

We used it on windows in our old house some years ago, before we replaced them all with new thermopane and it did make a difference.

TO: sarahbarah27

I put bubblewrap on all walls except the south side and lower south side of the roof. Bubbles are 1" and go toward the glass.Avoid buying them from a Greenhouse place as they charge several time what a local packaging house charges for BW. I paid $54 for a 2' by 250' roll locally.

Do you think that this stuff will work? Its way cheaper than the stuff I saw at a greenhouse company, its like half the price for twice as much!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble Wrap From Packing Company

sarah: It would work, but you might want to look at the heavier stuff, with larger bubbles. The more air space between the glass and the backing on the bubble wrap, the more insulating qualities you will have.

I covered the entire interior of my GH, while greenhouser left some of their's exposed to the south. It really depends on your latitude, the direction your GH is sited, how warm you want/need to keep it and how much natural light you want/need inside of it to grow what you want to grow.

Between the extra heavy bubble and a heavy solar pool cover, I expected to need artifical lighting to grow all of my plants, but was wrong. It's amazing how well they do in the diffused but still quite bright light inside a bubble insulated GH.

Thank you all for your responses!

So...do you think that this type with the 1/2" thickness is a better choice? What is the reasoning for leaving it off the south side? I understand that is the sunny side...but won't the heat still escape there?

Sarah

Here is a link that might be useful: Larger Bubbles

I have used a solar pool cover. Bubbles are all standard size. Originally put on the outside of my GH, however it became difficult to keep attached during a big wind storm. I have since cut to smaller size and placed on the inside . I have the bubbles up and smooth side facing in and have noticed that bugs get in between pool cover and greenhouse walls and collect. It is very hard to clean. I would suggest reverse and place bubbles facing in and smooth side against the greenhouse walls.
ml

Sarah: To answer each of your questions, in order:

"do you think that this type with the 1/2" thickness is a better choice?"

Yes. The larger the bubble, the greater the size of the air space, so the better it will insulate. If you can spring for extra, you could double it up on the north wall and ceiling, where you tend to lose the most heat.

"What is the reasoning for leaving it off the south side?"

Presumably to admit more light and warmth of the sun.

"I understand that is the sunny side...but won't the heat still escape there?"

Yes, it will, and why my No. IL GH is wrapped all around. Keep in mind that what works for greenhouser in Tenn., in zone 6, may not for those of us further north, in deep cold country.

We all seem to be experimenters and most of us manage to finally settle on whatever solution works best for us.

Plantman's solar pool cover was apparently too small to allow him to overwarp and secure it well enough to avoid having the wind take it off. Or, his GH is in a very exposed position, or both factors made him give up on an exterior wrap. Hopefully, he will come back and tell us.

My solar wrap was intentionally bought to be oversized, so it's tightly wrapped, rather like a gift box, and my GH is pretty well protected from wind by buildings and fences, so losing the solar cover isn't an issue for me and I don't worry about bugs, leaves or dirt getting under it because in spring, it will come down, get hosed off, draped over a fence and when dry, rolled up and stored in an oversized garbage bag until next winter. Then, Joy, hot water, a soft cotton mop and the power washer will bring the exterior of the GH back to like new sparkle.

Meanwhile, my GH holds at a steady 72 deg and our gas bill shows that it cost all of $16.00 to keep it that warm for a full month of very cold weather, so all that insulation paid off and will continue to do so, month after cold month.

But again: each of us finds our own best means of attaining our individual goals to use our GH's for our individual desires and purposes, often by trial and error, until we get it right, and you will too.

I think that the pool covers are way more expensive than just plain bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is only about $20 for 260 square feet, and is thicker than the pool cover.The BW also comes in more manageable sections (2' by 130')
Sarah

Thanks Birdwidow. I can't believe it only cost you $16.00 to heat your GH for a month! What kind of heat do you have? I have hot water/oil radiant heat, and last year it had cost a fortune to heat! I closed it down for the winter this year, till we get everything fixed We're working on getting a new more efficient heater, and that alone should help with the cost. Thanks for all the info. I am going to go ahead and get the BW and hope it helps with my heat retension problem...at least a little bit!

My GH heater is a Sterling Mfg., model SF45 mounted down near the floor, but the "secret" of the constant warm and low cost of fuel is far more than just an effecient heater. It's all that foundation insulation we labored an entire season getting installed before we even unpacked the GH, and the big ceiling fans, each turning continually in opposite directions to maintain continual circulation to every sq. inch of the GH.

Add the bubble wrap to the interior and the solar pool cover to the exterior, and the GH may be as well if not better insulated and energy effecient than the house.

BTW: Yes, a solar pool cover costs more, but will also outlast any bubble wrap by years and if you wrap a GH in one and secure it well, the only possible place you could get any cold air intrusion would be at the door.

To: sarahbarah27 5

Yes it works, but I bought the type that is not serrated. You can get it with out the serrations.

To: sarahbarah27

If you can find it with 1" bubbles,... all the better.

We used the bubble wrap for a couple of years. We stuck it on the glass using spray on stencil adhesive that I got at Joann fabrics. It worked ok, but it got a lot of algae in between the bubbles and looked pretty bad.
We took it out and cleaned the glass and put up some plastic inside using wiggle wire and channels along the bottom and top of the glass walls, and those little plastic clips from Charlie's greenhouse supply in between. That was last fall when we did that I like this a whole lot better. It's more dead air space and seems to make it easier to heat. And I haven't had the algae problems that I had with the bubble wrap.
We just got the plastic at a home depot store and it's not uv stabilized but it has already held up one year and seems just fine. Maybe it's lasting longer because it's inside. The little green dots in the picture are the clips from the Charley's greenhouse. They lock into the channels on the aluminum frame and have worked really well so far.
This is in an older 1960's Janco lean-to greenhouse, single pane glass.

Here is a link that might be useful: insulated greenhouse

Sandy

What kind of plastic is that? Is is in sheets or rolled? How thick is it?

greenhouser: One of the great things about wandering around in large department stores are the moments when you spot a product and realize that it has an application totally removed from what it's being sold for.

That happened to me yesterday in the fabric dept. at Wal-Mart. I went to buy bags of the poly fiber stuffing material I use in fish tank filters and there were 54" wide rolls of crystal clear vinyl, sold in at least 3 thickneses, from about 16 ml. super heavy to about 6 ml. thin, but 6 ml. would create wonderfully clear double glazing in a GH and at a little over $2.00 a yard, not all that pricey for a smaller one and you can buy only as much as you need, down to fractions of yards.

I'm very pleased at how well the heavy bubble wrap is working inside my GH, but know too that it has a limited lifespan and when it needs to be replaced, I'll be looking at that same, so clear it's near invisible vinyl.

So hie thee to a fabric shop and check out the upolstery section. You just might find the perfect material for your needs. Or not, but it's worth looking into.

BTW: keep in mind that in a glass GH, some light diffusion is actually necessary, but in our polycarbs, we already have diffused light and UV protection and as much as I appreciate the insulating qualities of the bubble, I would be as glad for more light admission. It's still quite bright inside there and my plants are all doing well, but more light wouldn't hurt, and with crystal clear material, I'd get it.

Foam boards are much better than bubble wrap for insulation.

HD, Lowes have foam boards with aluminum foil on one side. If you use these boards on the shady side of the GH, you get great insulation plus the aluminum foil will bounce sunlight back into the GH.

dcarch

birdwidow

OK. I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen it at Hancock's Fabric store but not at the Wal*Marts here. I think it would look better than the bubble wrap also. I don't care for the way BW looks at all and we did a pretty neat job of it.

greenhouser: I'm relieved to learn that I'm not the only one who wants their GH to be attractive as well as functional.

birdwidow

At this point mine is mainly functional because of it's layout and the Island benches, all the fans and heaters plus the 2 tubs of tropical pond plants wintering over - then add the BW. Oh well, the neighbors on that side can't really see it due to the trees on that side. Coming up the driveway you see the south side which has no BW so it's not so bad.....

That is about 3-4 mil thick plastic its not uv protected greenhouse plastic, we got at Menards last year. I think we bought a roll of it like 20X50 or something similar. It's lasting well even though not uv protected, the glass must be helping extend its' UV life. It already went through one hot sunny summer in good shape and is still working fine now.
We put the "wiggle wire" aluminum track at the bottom and ends of the walls, we get it from farmtek in Iowa, and used the clips from Charley's in between. We fastened the plastic with the wiggle wire and stretched it tight as we could so that it wouldn't blow around when the top vents are open. We couldn't insulate the top vents any other way that would stay on well, so we used caulk and used that to apply reflectix to the top vents on the inside. Everything else kept falling off when the wind would hit them, but the caulk/reflectix has held on over a year now. We don't lose much light that way.