How to heat a polycarbonate greenhouse in spring: infrared heater, underground pipes, cable, air

Polycarbonate greenhouses have gained great popularity among summer residents and owners of country houses. Polycarbonate is characterized by low cost, high level of thermal insulation, resistance to various weather conditions, impact resistance and immunity to ultraviolet radiation. Such greenhouses can be used all year round or only during one season, for example, in spring. The best do-it-yourself greenhouse heating projects will help protect the crop from spring frosts.

How can you heat a polycarbonate greenhouse in early spring

There are many ways to heat a greenhouse in the spring. They differ in the degree of complexity, efficiency and cost and are divided into main and auxiliary. The main methods of heating include:

1. Solar. Does not require additional costs and is based on the greenhouse effect. This method is effective only during the period of solar activity. Polycarbonate is able to retain light, thus increasing the temperature inside the greenhouse. But in the event of frost, the soil and plant roots will be unprotected.
2. Biological. It consists in heating the soil by introducing biofuels. Most often, gardeners use bird and animal manure mixed with peat, straw, sawdust or bark. You can use a solution obtained from slaked lime, straw and superphosphate. This method is quite laborious and does not allow timely control of the soil temperature.
3. Technical. It involves the use of various electric heating devices and devices – electric heaters, heat guns, radiators. When operating the greenhouse only in springtime, it is not necessary to install expensive and complex heating devices.

These and other methods allow you to heat the greenhouse in the spring with your own hands. They have both their positive aspects and disadvantages that must be taken into account in order to make the right decision in choosing a specific type of heating for a polycarbonate greenhouse.

Heating the ground in the greenhouse with a heating cable

The use of a heating cable is a relatively new way of heating greenhouses in the spring and works on the principle of “warm floor”. A heating cable has one or more heating elements that generate heat when an electric current passes through them.

The advantages of the method of heating the earth in a greenhouse with a cable include:

• safety – they are protected from overheating even if foliage, earth and debris get on them;
• Ease of Management;
• efficiency – expressed in low energy consumption;
• minimum installation costs;
• ease of mounting in the greenhouse – does not require its re-equipment;
• independence from weather conditions – a self-regulating cable automatically controls the temperature of the soil and evenly distributes it over the entire planting area.

Installation of a heating cable is quite simple and will be possible even for a novice gardener – gardener:

1. The soil is removed in a small layer and sand is poured as a base.
2. A heat-insulating coating is laid out, for example, expanded polystyrene having a low moisture absorption coefficient. This will reduce heat loss.
3. Distribute the sand with a layer of 5 cm. Water it with water and carefully compact it.
4. Lay the heating cable, fixing it with mounting tape.
5. Sand is poured on top in the same layer and watered, preventing the formation of air bubbles.
6. The structure is covered with a metal mesh or perforated asbestos-cement sheet. This will protect the heating cable from damage when working the soil with garden tools.
7. The top layer is filled with a fertile substrate with a layer of 30 – 40 cm.

A greenhouse using a ground heating cable allows you to achieve better results for growing plants and vegetables, compared to conventional conditions, due to the following distinctive features:

• the risk of soil freezing is excluded;
• earlier planting of seedlings is possible;
• the harvest period is extended;
• crop growth is accelerated due to soil heating;
• in case of adverse weather conditions, optimal conditions for harvesting are maintained;
• self-heating cable allows you to germinate any seeds in a short time;
• temperature control creates favorable conditions for growing heat-loving crops even in Siberia and the north.

When calculating the area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbheating the earth in a greenhouse, only the size of the beds should be taken into account. The ground under the paths does not need heating. The use of a heating cable is a convenient and practical solution to the issue of heating fertile soil in the spring.

Heating the greenhouse with pipes underground

A universal way to maintain the temperature of the soil and air within the normal range in the spring in a greenhouse is heating with pipes using a water system. The main advantages of this method are:

• low maintenance cost of the water heating system;
• condensate collecting on pipes additionally moistens the ground;
• the system does not affect the humidity of the air;
• uniform heating of the soil and air space.

For the installation of the water system, plastic pipes are currently used. They are more affordable than metal ones, moreover, they are light in weight, do not rust and are easy to install. A do-it-yourself greenhouse with heated ground involves the creation of a system of water pipes.

Installation of water heating pipes consists of the following steps:

1. Remove the soil with a layer of 25 – 40 cm.
2. A material with good thermal insulation properties is laid out at the bottom of the excavated trench, for example, polystyrene foam or polystyrene.
3. Lay plastic pipes and connect them to the heating system.
4. Install a water pump that will control the draft and water circulation.
5. Cover the pipes with a layer of fertile soil.

The complexity of this method of heating a greenhouse in spring lies in the need to maintain the temperature inside the pipes at a level of no more than 40 0 ​​C. Otherwise, the root system of plants will suffer from burns, which will be reflected in the withering of the aerial part.

How to warm the ground in the spring in a greenhouse with an infrared heater

The potbelly stoves previously used to heat greenhouses are now obsolete. They were replaced by newer and more modern heating devices, which include infrared heaters. Using infrared rays, a standard size greenhouse is fully heated within 40 minutes. The maximum heating area can reach 40 square meters. m.

The advantages of using an infrared heater for a polycarbonate greenhouse are:

• simplicity and ease of use;
• effective redistribution of heat, without overdrying the air;
• economical consumption of electricity;
• inhibition of the growth of dangerous viruses and bacteria;
• reduction of dust circulation;
• creating favorable conditions for plant growth;
• long service life of devices – up to 10 years.

When installing infrared heaters, it is recommended to mount them on the greenhouse ceiling. With this arrangement, heating is carried out in the direction from top to bottom, with uniform heating of air and soil.

Infrared heaters are divided into 2 types, depending on the power. In accordance with this indicator, the features of their installation also differ:

1. 500 W infrared lamps are recommended to be placed in places with the greatest heat loss – on windows and walls. The height between the heater and the plant should be at least 1 m. The higher the lamp is fixed, the greater the distance from each other should be adjacent heating sources – from 1,5 to 3 m. Fixing infrared devices at the maximum height will save. But in the case of too rare placement of devices, plants may not have enough heat.
2. Infrared heaters with a power of 250 W are lightweight, they can be mounted using ordinary wire. The distance between adjacent lamps should not be more than 1,5 m. This feature makes the purchase of infrared heaters with low power financially unprofitable. Such devices are first placed above the plants, and as they grow, they are gradually raised higher.

Infrared heaters with a power of 250 W are beneficial to use in spring for heating seedlings in a greenhouse.

How to heat a greenhouse in early spring with warm air

There are several ways to heat a greenhouse in the spring with warm air. The simplest is to create the following structure:

1. A steel pipe is laid in the center of the greenhouse, reaching 2,5 m in length and 60 cm in diameter. One end of the pipe must be brought out of the greenhouse. The air heated by a fire or a stove, flowing through a pipe, allows you to quickly heat the greenhouse space. The disadvantages of this method include a very rapid decrease in air temperature after turning off the heating system. In addition, it is impossible to heat the ground in a greenhouse with heated air, which is why the roots of plants are defenseless against night frosts in early spring and develop poorly.

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2. Efficient air heating of the greenhouse consists in the distribution of air heated in various ways through a system of special air ducts, which are used as a perforated polyethylene sleeve. Heating elements can be electricity, gas, wood. The location of the sleeves over the entire area of ​​​​the greenhouse allows you to quickly warm up the soil and the room.
   Important! With the help of air heating, the greenhouse can be warmed up in a few minutes. But when using this method, it is necessary to constantly monitor the level of air humidity, preventing it from drying out.
3. For large greenhouses, an industrial air heater is used, which runs on solid fuel. It is installed anywhere, and the air temperature is controlled independently using an automatic thermostat.

When creating an air heating system for a greenhouse with your own hands, it should be remembered that the slow flow of air contributes to long-term preservation of heat, and the movement of the flow from bottom to top warms the soil well and favorably affects the development of the root system of plants.

Heating a polycarbonate greenhouse with a gas heater

The use of gas heaters allows you to create comfortable conditions for growing seedlings and maintaining the temperature in the greenhouse in cases where it is not possible to conduct centralized or electric heating. This method has gained popularity due to its mobility and low cost.

To heat a small polycarbonate greenhouse with your own hands in the spring, you can use a gas convector that forms an air flow and moves it throughout the greenhouse space. The heating device is characterized by relative efficiency, but requires an additional creation of a gas pipe system. In addition, the convector must be located at a sufficient distance from the beds with plants.

Larger greenhouses will require at least 2 convectors for uniform heating, which makes this method of maintaining the temperature more costly. The disadvantages also include combustion waste released into the air, which negatively affects the growth and development of crops. To ensure free access of oxygen, it is necessary to equip the ventilation system.

Gas heaters require regular monitoring and supervision. Fans should evenly distribute carbon dioxide and the generated heat around the perimeter of the greenhouse. A factory gas boiler can replace gas heaters in a greenhouse and provide ground heating with air through pipes. But for heating a polycarbonate greenhouse with your own hands only in spring, such a heating system is quite expensive.

How else can you heat the greenhouse in spring

When using a greenhouse in early spring, there is a high probability of a change in temperature and a sharp cold snap. In such cases, emergency heating methods will help save plants from freezing:

1. A barrel with porous bricks, previously aged in a combustible substance, is installed near the greenhouse. A pipe is drawn from the top of the barrel to the ceiling of the greenhouse. Bricks during combustion will warm up the air temperature of the greenhouse and keep it for 12 hours. The method is quite dangerous and requires constant monitoring and compliance with fire safety rules.

   

2. The following method is suitable for heating a polycarbonate greenhouse at night. Water bottles are vertically buried along the perimeter and left open. During the daytime, the water will absorb solar heat, and at night give it to the ground. Water vapor will also create a favorable microclimate in the room.

   

3. Soil heating with horse manure. In the spring, you can prepare a special heating pad made from natural biofuels. To do this, a layer of soil is removed, horse manure mixed with sawdust is laid out, then earth 15–25 cm thick is laid out. If the soil layer is too large, biofuel will not be able to warm it up. For some time, the soil should warm up, only after that the plants can be planted.

   

4. You can also heat the greenhouse during the spring cooling period with the help of conventional electric heaters. Their placement requires access to electricity. The number of appliances required for proper heating depends on the total size of the room. The disadvantage of this method is the overdrying of the air and the need to control the level of humidity necessary for the growth and development of plants.

   

Each method can be used to briefly maintain the optimum temperature in the spring in the greenhouse with your own hands. The choice of a particular method depends not only on the size of the greenhouse, but also on the material and physical capabilities of gardeners.

Conclusion

The best do-it-yourself greenhouse heating projects will help summer residents navigate the variety of ways to maintain the optimum temperature in spring and protect plants and their root system from possible frosts. Each greenhouse owner will be able to choose the most appropriate way to heat the air and soil, based on the size of the greenhouse, the required materials, the availability of technical capabilities and the estimated costs. If necessary, it is possible to combine several heating methods.