I grow orchids in my basement under lights. I had enclosed the area with plastic sheeting but it was not really airtight. This caused the humidity to be distributed throughout the house and this was not particularly desirable because I then would get condensation on the windows in the house during cold winter periods (Omaha, Nebraska area).
Last fall my neighbor helped me (or maybe more accurately I helped him) redo my growing area. The growing area is adjacent to the garage (which occupies a portion of the basement area) and it has a north-facing wall with a window - in fact much of the north wall is fully exposed rather than being underground since the house is built on a slope. We enclosed it as a regular room using metal studs, the walls were covered conventionally with mold/mildew resistant wallboard but then at his recommendation we covered the wallboard (including the ceiling) with FRP (fiber reinforced plastic) paneling. It was fairly expensive but the panels were on sale at the time too. The shape of the room is somewhat irregular due to the fact that the access point to the garage is in the same general area - a door approximately 6 ft from the north wall; the opposite wall is formed by the staircase from the upper level of the house and extends about 8 ft from the north wall. So we made the room sort of 5-sided with the portion of one (the south wall) at an angle. One misjudgment was made at this point - the entry door to the growing area should have opened outward rather than inward- that would have made getting things in and out of the room easier. The circuits were redone. There are at present an HID light (2-400 watt, one metal halide, the other sodium) fixed - a rail would be impractical, and there are a number of fluorescents in stands. 3 fixtures of 2-bulb T8s and 3 fixtures of 4-bulb t5s. The T5s throw off more heat than you would think and the HID - well I have to turn off the sodium during the summer months - most of the plants that need it go outside. There is a vent in the ceiling from the furnace/air conditioner. It was completely closed (at the vent and at a damper) during the winter months. We installed a fan (bathroom on a timer) in the ceiling vented to the outside and an additional vent from the outside for fresh air. No heat was needed for the room during the winter months even on the coldest nights. The problem was that as soon as the weather warmed I needed to cool the room. At times I opened the window - but the spring and late winter air is dry and that played havoc with the humidity (I'm using a conventional humidifier at present but considering other options). Eventually I just opened the interior door as a solution. The air vent from the air conditioner was opened but the air conditioner has been coming on only during the afternoons and evenings (I replaced the windows and doors in the house so it is generally more energy efficient than previously). I do have another fan which I will install on the interior wall to draw air into the room from the rest of the house which should help. My electric bill is a little over $100 a month (level payment plan) for the whole house. I need to work on the cooling and air circulation. I've had humidity readings as high as 70% in the morning or after watering and generally in the mid 60s but the rest of the house is lower and winter condensation is minimal. Watering is a challenge and I have worked up some solutions but that is another topic. Jim Pyrzynski _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
