>>"It depends on how the greenhouse is oriented in relation to the sun, whether yu have plants growing at ground level, plants growing on benches, etc. Once you decide on a size I would be happy to provide pricing. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions." That pretty much applies to any shade material for the greenhouse. Are you planning on covering just the roof? (or partial roof) or are you planning on covering parts of the wall as well? I do use aluminet for my greenhouse and here are my opinions regarding their claims: Energy Saving: Any method of shading the growing area will provide energy savings, in the form of less electricity and water to keep the growing area cool. The question is whether their product provides better energy savings compared to other products. I do not have enough data to claim that their product is better than the rest with that regard. But from personal experience in my own grow area setup, the aluminet provided better heat reduction compared to previous products I have used. High Reflectability In terms of light, no one can doubt this. Just try looking at a structure covered by aluminet during the day. In terms of heat, I would think that reflected light leads to less heat absorption by the fabric. But that is just conjecture on my part. U.V. Stabilized Without any specific tools to confirm this, I will have to take their word on this and let the manufacturer deal with any improper advertisement claims if it ends up being false. High Tensile Strength It does stretch a good bit. But I have not had the need to put it under any such strain that would break any shade material anyway. Lightweight, easy to handle Compared to plastic/cloth based shade material, I can say that this material is lighter. Protects against frost This is irrelevant for my growing area. My growing area is inside a greenhouse covered by aluminet. So the greenhouse is providing the frost protection. Improved light diffusion The twisted ribbon patterns of the shade material causes the light to diffuse into different directions. Some go into the greenhouse, some are directed outwards. Easily Fastened If you bought it with the edger/lining and fastening eyes, then yes it is easy to install.

We got the aluminet up yesterday, on the coldest May 27th in our memory. I have 2, because I underestimated the need to cover the side facing NE, but it may be just as well, because while at 12 x 16 my GH is not all that large, it's over 12 ft. high, so for oldsters like us, hanging one on each side is easier than trying to get one huge one over the whole GH. We mounted SS screw hooks into the GH ridge, spaced 1 ft. apart to match the grommets on the aluminet, so getting it up is easy enough. But it take two people on ladders, one at each end. We pull the aluminet up and hook in the first few grommets, then reach through the vents to get to the rest, then attach them to more hooks set in the base using bungees, to allow movement, as the netting needs to stretch a bit. I did not make vent cut outs because if mounted with the warp(?) (Or is it woof?) lines running horizontally, aluminet has more then enough stretch for the vents to open under it, creating screening as well as shade. But I was concerned about the vent corners tearing the aluminet, so put 3/4" square, 1/2" thick self stick bumpers on them. They are just enough to keep the corners from poking into the mesh.

Okay. I understand. I'll have to leave it up for at least another month though. We have had heat waves in the Chicago area well into September and very often, mild and sunny well into mid December. We tend to get slammed in January and our springs are cold, wet, muddy and miserable. Our falls are really the best weather of all: warm- sometimes hot, but clear and dry. I like the notion of using the aluminet on the interior north wall at least, and might just order up a piece of it to cut and fit against it, over the bubble. If I cut out for the door and left the piece on the hinge side attached, perhaps I could attach it to the door. Leaving it hanging as curtain could prove a PITA, as I'm in and out of my GH, usually with my hands full, no less than 4 X daily. I may try using tension curtain rods to hold the aluminet under the roof too. Or, stretch it to lay flat across the ceiling, to retain heat. I'll watch for end of season sales on the aluminet, perhaps just a 40% shade, which would still admit a lot of light, yet reflect heat back down. I'm still learning, but do know that most of the heat is lost through the roof. My GH is STILL a work in progress, and may always be. Perhaps that's part of the fun of having one.

Howdy rjinga, this might be one of the threads you're remembering. Greenhouse shadecloth I have a post in that thread with a link to a website that caused me to be confused on the same question. The website does mention Aluminet being used to hold in heat, but cuestaroble was kind enough to explain that the website was likely referring to the practice of installing the Aluminet on the inside of the greenhouses like a big ceiling drape or curtain -- as some large commercial greenhouses do. Some big greenhouses have systems that allow the "solar curtain" (that Stressbaby mentioned) to be pulled open during the day, so light can enter and warm things up, and then pulled closed at night, so the Aluminet can reflect the heat back down into the structure. Of course, this kind of application doesn't apply to our little HFGH hobby greenhouses, where most of us go through a lot of effort just to attach it to the outside in a sturdy way. I think this is one of those confusing issues that varies a lot depending on where we are, how intense our sun is, and what kind of plants we grow in the GH during the winter. Last winter, I had my 40% Aluminet on the inside of my greenhouse (trying to avoid wind problems) and the light level was just right for my plants. However, we have intense sun here, even in winter, and I'll bet in other climates it would block too much light. Right now I have 50% Aluminet on the outside of my GH roof, trying to better protect my HFGH panels from UV deterioration problems. During the hottest part of our summer, I also had 40% Aluminet draped on the inside of the roof as well. (As you can tell I am still experimenting and learning.) Now that the sun is less horrific, I have the interior 40% layer down, and I'm still deciding if the remaining 50% outside layer will block too much light for me during winter. I think it might, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not looking forward to messing with my shadecloth either...but I'll probably be out there on a ladder saying bad words and making adjustments. I haven't found an easy answer to this one yet...the sun intensity changes so much here from summer to winter that I am pretty sure I can't escape making shadecloth changes to accomodate the seasons (unfortunately.) I'm hoping after I get another year or two under my belt I'll have some kind of a system figured out.