I rent a property with a looot of land and the owners told me to do whatever i want with the yard. I have a lot of tropical indoor plants but this new place doesn’t have enough windows for all of them. I want to buy a greenhouse structure like this one from Walmart. Its 6’ x 12’ and seems to have good reviews. However i live in Maryland with unpredictible winters. I can’t imagine the electricity bill if i got a greenhouse heater so that’s out of the question. Would it be possible to keep the inside of the greenhouse a comfy 70-75° in the winter? If so, how? Or should i not even bother purchasing this kit? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
by iluvpbnj
3 Comments
A greenhouse will MAYBE stay 1-5°F above ambient once the sun goes down, and that’s only due to blocking out the windchill. So long story short, no, not even close.
If your house has siding, wood, insulation, drywall, and still needs a solid heat source to keep warm, how do you expect a thin piece of plastic to retain any sort of heat?
I have comfortably managed a 6×8 greenhouse for the last few winters, both in Ohio and Colorado. It requires 2″ insulation around the interior, and an electric radiator heater. I only heat to around 40F, which allows my cacti from the Andes to go dormant. Heating to 50F would be a MUCH more costly bill, and on many nights I don’t think thr heater would even be able to keep up.
Let me know if you have any questions. 👍🌵🌞
You want to keep a greenhouse at 70° in the winter, but you don’t want to heat it? I don’t understand.
I have this exact greenhouse, although from Wayfair since it’s just drop shipped. It’s a good kit if you build a good foundation and understand its limitations, and there is actually a dude on YouTube who built a smaller version of this that responds to comments if you have specific questions.
I will say though that there’s no way the greenhouse will stay at 70 at night unless it is 70 outside. We have no power in our greenhouse due to renting and have no outdoor outlet, so instead, we plant cool weather crops over the fall that last into winter and don’t mind the cold.
I don’t think your tropical plants will survive the cold winter nights without a heater of some sort and some significant insulation that the greenhouse doesn’t kit doesn’t provide. The heat bill without insulation would be astronomical. You can search this subreddit for info about insulation and invest in foam board specifically for that purpose on the wall where it wouldn’t be getting much sun, usually north facing. I’m planning on doing some experimenting with insulation this upcoming winter but will still be planting cool weather crops. I might recommend getting some decent grow lights for your tropical plants— we only have 4 windows in our house that all face another house, so I totally understand the lack of sunlight issue!
Good luck!!! Let me know if you have any questions about the kit 🙂