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Hi Maureen. I too am in Zone 7, or 6
depending on whether you look at the USDA map or the University of AZ map.
My plan is to use hot water heating, but I live in sunny Arizona, so I can
suppliment the hot water with solar heated water. Also, 20 years ago, I
bought half a dozen 4' lengths of GH radiator tubing, so I am committed, but I
don't know from experience if this is otherwise economical. I am currently
using electric heating in a temporary 8' X 12' GH, with bubble insulation
between 2 layers of plastic sheeting. I have come to the conclusion
that more bubble insulation isn't going to help futher, that the problem
now is radiative cooling and air leaks. When I get my permanent GH up, I
am planning to have a blanket of aluminized insulation that I unroll over the GH
at night, but need to automate it. The stone kneewall is a great idea, and
should let you get the eves up above the level of the door top, which I always
recomment to someone getting a GH. The higher, the better. For
vents, I assume you are getting ridge vents and you can use heat motors to
open them. Best price I've found is here. http://www.superiorautovents.com/default.htm
One word of caution. Put a nylon cord or equivalent stop on the
vent. I have had the wind catch a vent and reduce it to kindling.
The spring on the heat motor mechanism is not enough to prevent this from
happening. I now live in such a high wind area, that I will be going with
wall vents that are more immune to being caught by the wind. I reduced my
heat loss sinificantly by baffling the current wall vents with plastic sheeting
taped to the GH so that any leaks must go down hill to spill out, which heated
air is not prone to do. Before doing this, you could hold your hand up and
feel the warm air pooring out of the wall vents at night. Pictures are at
the bottom of my pbase site page for my GH. Cynthia , Prescott,
AZ http://www.pbase.com/schnitz/temporary_greenhouse
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