good going cindy...bet there is nothing like going out there with your morning coffee....I wish I had that much room...great GH...for now my 4x6 will have to do

Steve

What size is your Ghouse, Cindy? 12x24?

... and is that a seed catalog I see on the chair?

Wonderful to see your pictures, Cindy! Isn't it great to sit among blooming things in December? No matter what size, it's such a nurturing space. What are you doing for heat and what minimum temp do you try to maintain? Best of luck this winter ... Enjoy!

Diane

Hi Cindy!

Beautiful job! Isn't it a great house? I love mine too.

Dave

Thanks everyone. It is a wonderful treat to go out there and see something else blooming. I feel like they are blooming just for me, I can almost hear them going "Hey, look at me...aren't I beautiful?"

Virgo, I have 2 Harbor Freights hooked together back to back. So I'm 6' x 16'. Not the most optimal size but it's my piece of heaven and I love it.

I love going out there and having coffee or writing in my journal. I do find I have a hard time sitting still for very long though. I keep jumping up to nip off this dead leaf or move a pot an inch the other way or just plain out talk to them. (yeah, I'm crazy)

That's a gardening book in the chair out there. I keep that one in the greenhouse for looking up stuff. How much fertilizer this needs or what kind of bug is that, etc. And for dreaming too. What better place to weave garden dreams than in your greenhouse on a cold winter day.

On the serious side, I am bipolar and struggle with depression in the winter because of the lack of light. I discovered last winter that time in the greenhouse with the plant lights on dropped my depression levels about 75%. It made such a big difference that my DH had no problems with me wanting the second greenhouse with room to sit in.

This year we are keeping the greenhouse between 55 - 60 degrees. We are using 2 electric heaters and it will raise the heat bill up more than last year. But wintering over plants that I've been buying every spring and all the cuttings that I've taken this year will just about equal out. The extra money on heating is charged against my share of the discretionary income we each have for hobbies and such. Well worth it to me.

If you ever come to Spartanburg come have coffee in my little house.

Cindy

Hi Cindy;

I couldn't agree with you more...the small cost of extra heat is FAR outweighed by the obvious benefits. I love my greenhouse!

Cheers;

Dave
Milwaukee

Cindy, if you are getting SAD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder) you might look at getting some grow lights for your greenhouse - extra light on the skin and eyes is a well known cure for SAD and your plants will grow better too (finally, using lights for heating is more efficient than using electric heaters).

Nathan,

Yes, that's what I have in there, Grow lights. They were recommended to me by a therapist and I love something that does double duty. LOL I feel like I am really getting my money's worth.

Dave, what temp are you keeping yours?

Cindy

I'm growing orchids in mine, so my minimum temps are 50 degrees. even with our single digits here the past few days I'm having no problems yet. I did install bubble wrap from CGS which has really moderated the temps. I'm using two milkhouse type heaters on seperate thermostats for temp control and they work great. I have to take some pics now that it's full.

Cheers
Dave
Milwaukee

Just adding my vote on the emotional benefits. My GH has been a delight, but what a hoot today, especially ... six inches of snow last night and there's a 70-degree oasis in the middle of it! Pretty as it is, glistening in the sun, it's a wet, heavy snow ... I'm off to relieve some shrubs of their burden.

Nathan, I'm curious about lights being more efficient than dedicated heaters ... wondering why that would be. Until I got a small convection heater in there, we found a 500-watt emgergency worklight kept night-time temps in the desireable range.

Diane

I would have to disagree with Nathan. My grow light puts out very little heat...

This is the first winter for my HFGH. I live between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. I've been heating it with a single 1500 watt electric heater, connected to a thermostat. I insulated the greenhouse well and covered it with a solar pool cover. I have the thermostat set at 60 and so far, it hasn't had a problem maintaining that temperature even when it has gone down to 20.

I'm sure when it gets really cold that it will get below 60, but I think that one heater should be able to keep it safely above freezing.

Lights are more efficient because, assuming most of the light is absorbed by the plants and soil, you are using the electricity twice - once for light and once for heat. Of course a 500W light is only going to produce as much heat as a 500W heater (and less if lots of the light gets out, or the light is cooled to the outside). Another way of looking at it is light is a more useful form of heat, efficiency is perhaps the wrong word, perhaps I should have said efficacy.

Also, if the lights light up outside the greenhouse like fort knox then a lot of your hard earned energy is being used to heat up outside.

Nathan, I think you are overlooking the fact that electric heaters are more efficient at converting electricity to heat than lights are. You get more BTU's per watt from a heater than you do a light. Light bulbs that are inefficient (incandescent) produce less light, but more heat per watt than HID bulbs do.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but isn't all this about heat generated by lights vs. heaters something of a moot point?

I'm no expert, but assume that plants won't perform well in bright light 24/7. Therefore, we'll need a heater for those hours when the plants are in darkness. When the lights are on to provide supplemental light (whether because of short daylight hours or cloud cover), any heat they contribute to the enclosure will be picked up by our thermostat and the heating system will adjust accordingly.

Consultant, all the light that doesn't leak from the greenhouse is converted to heat, as is any energy that isn't converted to visible light. A light is 100% efficient at converting electricity into photons, and those photons that never leave the greenhouse we call heat. You get the same number of BTUs (a silly unit incidently) out from a light as a heater (an resistance heater is essentially the same device as an incandescent light). The only way that an electric 'heater' is more efficient than a light for heating is if you use a heat pump rather than a resistance device, something that I've suggested a number of times but nobody has (apparently) seriously considered.

AGardenStateof_Mind, absolutely. I was suggesting that lights are helpful for controlling SAD and you get better value for money using grow lights than using pure heaters anyway. You are 100% correct that the heat produced by the lights will offset the run time of the heaters.

Light is what humans "see" when "a light" is pointed at a black surface where does it go? It is absorbed not reflected. Where does that energy go? It is re-radiated at a different frequency. A lower frequency outside the "visible to human" spectrum. Infra red, or "heat"

It does not matter whether you are pumping 1000 watts of heater, lights or Pink Floyd into your greenhouse. What does not escape through the walls is converted to "heat"

IR overhead heating may be the way to go as using it the leaf temperature is raised but you are not wasting energy heating air.

ROFL!!

Please don't take offense! I'm sorry guys but my goal is to make myself and my plants happy in my greenhouse. If the lights help keep it warm then that's a plus but when I get to where I have to calculate (algebra makes me cry) and figure out how many BTU's/watts/ratios....it takes to keep my geraniums happy and blooming then I will have to give up the greenhouse. My DH (the engineer) has me wired, watered, heated and cooled in what he says is a sufficient and efficient manner. That's all I care about.

Cindy

That's a great book cindy. There is alost he A-Z of plants that is very helpful

Cindy:

AB-SO-LUTE-LY loved your pictures. I am now officially jealous! ;) Our little GH is only 11X11 with a pond inside that takes up about 1/2 of that. So, there's room for the plants (it's tight) but no real room to have a chair and table.

I too am a sufferer of Seasonal Affective Disorder, although, I think up here it's called something else, but it's the same.

I have been using Full Spectrum lights for years and they really do help.

But like you, when I'm really feeling the effects of the winter, even without a seat, it's unbelievable how going out to the GH and taking in the plants and flowers, really make one feel much better.

I don't even want to get into the heater thing! LOL

I've been rather *cough* LAZY this year and have not completed all of the insulating that I have to do. I even forgot a few things that need to be done.

So I check the temps the other day and almost paniced when the temps where down to 7C (45F)! The one little heater, which usually has no problem keep above that temp, just wasn't doing it. So, I put another heater out in the GH and set it to only come on if temps drop.

So last night, I went out to check on it and accidentally found out why the GH seems colder than it should be. While standing there, picking up the heater, I got a freezing cold breeze over my legs! The wind was blowing and coming in under the bottom of the door! I FORGOT TO PUT THE RUBBER STOPPER DOWN! hehehehee oh god, it ain't easy being blond! LOL

Needless to say, this weekend we'll be doing the last little bits.

Anyway, enjoy your nice GH and please, have a coffee or whatever beverage for me in your GH! :)

Oh yeah, and please don't be afraid to post more pix throughout the winter. Perhaps we sufferers can all enjoy each others' havens. :)

Weebus,

It is one of my favorite garden books. I like how it is broke down in sections. My problem with it is I go to look up one thing and 45 minutes later I've still got my nose in the pages. LOL

My friend (who got me into gardening) is coming for the weekend. We will make sure we toast you all with our coffees when we visit out there.

Maybe we should write a book together on the mental and physical benefits of a greenhouse. Even one as small as ours. We could make a fortune and all get bigger greenhouses!!!!

Cindy