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Greenhouses & Garden Structures FAQ

How much ventilation do I need?

10 years ago

Ventilation is so important in a greenhouse. Air movement will lower temps, remove hot or cold spots and help create micro climates for your plants. Winter time ventilation helps to heat the greenhouse evenly, while summertime ventilation will help remove hot spots, keep plants dry and help with cooling if using misting or fogging systems. Running fans is a great way to control bacteria and fungus from collecting on wet leaves.

One of the simplest and best ways to ventilate your greenhouse is to provide natural air flow across your greenhouse at a high level and a low level if possible. This can be accomplished with windows, doors, vents, or fans. If you are using a plastic covering on your greenhouse you can remove a portion or gather it up to provide side ventilation.

Fans can be as inexpensive as a box fan purchased at a super store or a specialty exhaust fan.
A couple of tips are to place your fan high for more efficient cooling and position it to pull the air across the length of the greenhouse and then exhaust it to the outside.

When you are installing vents in your greenhouse, remember to provide a way to seal them for the winter!

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Sorry ribs1, you're caught in a situation many of us don't face and I surely empathize with the expense of conditioned Make Up Air (MUA) due to code. I read the OP asking about Blue Star BTU and venting CFM's. MUA is increasingly considered and discussed when re-doing or building a kitchen, and should be discussed pre-purchase of a pro-range. MUA has been an active topic of interest here on GW as well as on greenbuildingsdesign.com in "Makeup Air for Range Hoods" (linked below) and on many HVAC forums. Good reading and sources for solutions for industrial conditioned MUA (which perhaps will help you somehow too ribs) are also found on http://www.greenheck.com. MUA, passive or active, is available without excessive expense for most of us as we are not restricted, as yet, by specific code requirements. I'm firmly in the camp of matching one's cooktop/range purchase to one's budget for proper ventilation and MUA and more to avoid any risk of acute illness/death due to carbon monoxide poisoning from lack of replacement air. Here is a link that might be useful: Makeup Air for Range Hoods
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Judy - those cupcakes look yummy! I'm in your camp. The kitchen we are remodeling had a old vented hood. In the 7 years I have lived here, I think I turned it on maybe 2 or 3 times & that usually involved a toaster incident lol... I also cook plenty but like you, don't deep fry or sear/broil very often & use just small amounts of olive oil or butter when needed and not at high heat. I never had a problem with any grease build up or other gunk & I don't really find food smells offensive (well except when I was pregnant, but those days are over). This time around, I'm going with an OTR micro, b/c my counter space is limited & I hated that the big clunker was taking up so much of my precious counter space. (I'm now trying to figure out where I can hide my toaster oven for the same reason). I'm guessing I won't use the vent much this time around either - When we sell in 10-15 yrs - our kitchen will probably be getting to that "outdated" state anyway & will be redone again - the venting to outside is in place if they want to change back to a hood - but for me, this is just fine...
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I'm very happy for you about work, but you still need to get to the doctor about those head aches.I know you are scared and I would be too, but you will not be any good to any one else if you do not take care of yourself. I know I sound like I'm preaching, but you really do need to take care of yourself. Quit worrying about work, they seem to be very pleased with you at work, and they don't won't you feeling this way either. Now tomorrow morning get on that phone and call the doctor. It may not be anything real serious, but do you want to go through the holidays, feeling this way and not knowing? Not too long ago my dh was having alot of problems and I was just as scared as he was. The not knowing is almost worse than what is wrong. When they finally figured out the problem, we didn't like the answer, (m.s.) but at least we know what we are dealing with now. Please, Please go.
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As long as your hood vent works properly, there is no need for another vent.
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