>------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:53:26 -0400 >From: iriscohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [OGD] Heating Bills >To: [email protected] >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > >On Jul 28, 2008, at 6:00:03 AM, Mark wrote: >With the jump in the price of energy, supposedly there will be high? >heating bills this winter, I was wondering what effect this maybe having?on >people who grow orchids especially in colder climates? >Here in Central New York, USDA Zone 5, home greenhouses are extremely rare to >begin with. We moved to a small ranch 12 years ago, & three years ago we >installed all new windows. During the winter, I grow my orchids & tropical >bonsai in a basement plant room under fluorescent lights. It is too warm, & I >would just as soon find a way to keep it cooler, possibly a thermostat that >goes lower at night than our present one. Most of our club members grow >orchids on windowsills. >Global warming is affecting many temperate climates. There is talk that the >Syracuse area is now in Zone 6, but USDA has not published a new official map >yet. >Iris > >
When I had the three growrooms indoors before building the GH (just seconds before oil prices rose - my typical luck!), I ran the lights at night. It started when I had fluorescents and then when I switched to HIDs I vented them to the furnace cold air return. Leaving the furnace fan on, the lights heated the house through the winter and the furnace seldom if ever fired up. Though you may not be able to vent fluorescents, they do produce a good bit of heat, as mine did before I switched to HIDs. If it's practical for you, enclose the room if only with sheets of hanging plastic, block out natural light from the room they're in and run the lights at night when it's naturally colder; during the day you'll have a 'natural' temperature drop. If the room is still too warm at night, vent it as a whole into the furnace air return and let the furnace fan do the work and help heat the house at the same time. Tennis _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
