bottled gas greenhouse heaters?

 Is anyone using a  greenhouse heater with gas bottle supplying it,if so how
long do the bottles last?I am thinking of buying a 4.2 kw greenhouse  gas
heater with hose & regulator instead of 2kw electric heater which I have
just received electric bill for 120 quid for two month ouch!

--
Thanks Keith,England,UK.

 Hello Keith
not sure about the running costs but I am certain that I have read somewhere
that the burning gas gives off fumes that are harmless but are beneficial to
the plants in the form of foliage feed.

                      ....................Leslie

 keith ;-) wrote:

How hot are you keeping the greenhouse? My annual bill for greenhouse
heating was never more than £200 annually for a 20x10'. More than
paraffin but without all the ventilation, refueling and condensation
problems.

Use bubblewrap over all the interior glass, create a curtain inside the
door so that only the blind end of the greenhouse is heated. Then set
the thermostat to keep a temperature of 5C and have a hot box for
anything that is really touchy or just take it indoors.

I presume you are heating your greenhouse almost continuously with 2kW
to get that sort of immense bill. Most days it has actually been above
5C this winter - so only on a few days should active heating have been
needed at all. OK you may be growing Madagascan wotsits at 20C min temp
but then you should have your greenhouse designed to much higher
insulation standards.

Regards,
Martin Brown

 Hi Martin,You presume right! I am keeping my 10 x 8 greenhouse to around 15c
24/7 for  growing orchids.The greenhouse is green aluminium ,I have put 4 ft
close board fence panals around the out side so the bottom half is clad &
inside has bubble wrap ,apart from the double door end.
I will have to insulate between the cladding & glass.And think of a way of
insulating the double door end(two 2 ft wide sliding doors)with 2ft glass
panes either side.
This is my first winter with the greenhouse so its a learning curve!
Its an expensive hobby.

--
Thanks Keith,England,UK.

 keith ;-) wrote:


OK. That is a mistake you need to insulate the double door as well.
Hanging a curtain of bubble wrap on the inside to stop drafts and so
that you don't let too much hot air out when you open the doors will
help. I had an internal door in mine with the hot end half heated.

You roughly double the heating bill for every 5C above ambient.


For the outside if you can stand it being opaque and not especially
pretty B&Q do cheap 2" & 4" polystyrene slabs that stand up to the
weather well and have superb isulation properites.


Orchids certainly are!

I grow mainly cacti so I can get away with frost free except for a few
of the touchy exotics and they spend winter either in a hot box or
indoors. You should be able to get the bill down a bit.

Cacti never really liked paraffin heaters the condensation tends to
encourage fungi on dormant plants. I guess orchids would love it!

Regards,
Martin Brown