Greenhose ventilation??????

[Marley Farley]

  Hi all.I have a large green house & although I have windows on auto openers as well as a couple that have to be opened manually & of course the door I have very poor air circulation in a couple of areas.  I do not have power to it & cannot. I really don't want to add any more windows so was wondering if any of you new of a fan that was solar powered   I grow so many different plants & I know the air is not moving around enough.   Any ideas on this topic gratefully received.    No luck googling so far & I have posted this on GC too as I'm getting desperate  Thanks in anticipation I'm convinced someone somwhere here can help

[supernan]

I have a different greenhouse this year it has vents. Manually opened and at the base of one side. They move the air round lovely.

This would mean some expenditure but once in they do the job. Don't blow a gale and would be cost effective cos you will get better plants.

[Marley Farley]

Thanks . Some of my vents are low down & circulation is good all around them but as I say I have a couple of areas giving me a problem & openers are not really an option where they are that's why I was thinking of a fan maybe solar powered I would also have the option of moving it around as necessary as well I don't mind the expense as long as it's not sky high.

[tim]

How long would a fan run on a 12 V battery??

I'm sure I've seen solar greenhouse fans. But where's the sol??

[Marley Farley]

Hi tim, Yes I suppose a normal fan running on a leisure battery might work but then I have a battery to keep charging periodically. They do weigh allot though & I would have to keep bringing it down to the garage to charge back up I suppose that sounds  pathetic but can't carry heavy things far! Hence the thought of a solar fan Take my chances with sol

[tim]

Of course, a solar battery charger??

Can only find US or Australian fans so far.

Later - this is the one I was looking for - but difficult to locate? Really need a remote panel? http://www.queenswood.co.uk/index2.shtml under Propagation.

Later still = 'locate' - I meant the fan - not the site!

[Marley Farley]

Hi tim, Good site, maybe an extractor fan would do if nothing else turns up. Like you I had only found US or Oz sites selling them. My OH goes to Leominster now & then maybe she could call in For now though am going to keep looking. If you here of anything else I'd be grateful Don't know about charger didn't even think of one shall go & see if there is such a beast

[ajb]

Hi there,

I've been looking for the same things! Solar powered extractor fans that actually shift a decent amount of air can be staggeringly expensive.  Ones designed for conservatories should work. This is the least expensive (I hesitate to say cheapest) here: http://conservatoryshading.co.uk/conservatory%20vents.htm £110 to £120.

A.

[tim]

That's the one in Queenswood -  & £99.99?

Same problem to locate if you have a couple of stagnant spots - got to face the sun?

[derbex]

Why not run the fan off a leisure battery and use a panel to charge the battery. That's the way my boat works. Lots of people doing panels, I got a 15W with controller from ebay for < £100, I think they're less now. You could also get away with a cheaper panel as it won't need to be as weather resistent. If you used an inverter you could even run a mains fan.

Jeremy

[Marley Farley]

Hi all, Well I am gradually coming to the conclusion that maybe fans & Leisure battery the way to go.  :)The charging bit is the problem, but if you have a panel on your boat for that purpose brilliant idea I shall go off & do a bit of research on this & see if I can come up with a system THANK YOU Any input always greatfully received

[Marley Farley]

  OK derbex, you have put me in the right direction I think, I am now thinking ordinary swivel fans,batteries, solar panels with cotroler & inverter for the fans. That way I would get maximum air flow but maybe not such a great temp difference With maybe an extracter fitted that I could put on when needed What do you think I don't know  :)I just thought I would be able to buy something off the shelf he he,  silly me   

[greenfists]

I tried Ebay they had a solar fan on there but £37.50?
they had baseball caps with solar fans, but I suspect that they wouldn't shift enough air.

[Gardenantics]

How handy are you with DIY?. Get an old 12v car fan from a scrap yard, fix this to a car battery from the same scrap yard, and recharge with a wind turbine, either bought from The Centre For Alternative Technology, or made from an old alternator, from that scrap yard again.
Brian

[derbex]

12v car fan sounds good -you can lose the inverter then, although the swivel is quite attractive. Personally I'd prefer the panel to a windcharger -ideally both Maybe you can turn it into an extractor with a bit of ducting?

On the other hand when the weather gets hot I just remove a pane of glass from the greenhouse, leaving it out until it gets cold again (following Tim's tip). Bit early yet this year?

Jeremy

[Marley Farley]

Hi, Yes the car fan sounds good I have just found a re chargable generator that will run light domestic stuff. It is also very quiet & takes up little space but still have to research whether this would work & run the fans all day or if the panel would be better still searching. I am surprised I can't buy what I want in this country off the shelf. Seems you have to live either in USA or OZ to do that I shall not be beaten !!!

[Gardenantics]

Have a look at this website for the place in Wales;
www.cat.org.uk
They do power generation from sun or wind.
Brian

[Marley Farley]

  Hi, Thanks for the link, Wow what a site, it didn't come up when  was googling or I don't think it did, thanks for that 

[ajb]

Sounds like an expensive assembly project.

[legless]

i think these vents have a fan in

http://www.norfolk-greenhouses.co.uk/shop/shop.php?category=Accessories

£29