Ventilation - what fan should I get?

[kalivio]

Hi all,

I'm new to greenhouse gardening and I will be using it all summer because I am no longer physically able to get up and down off the ground to garden in my old outdoor plot. I live in NW Montana and our Spring/Summer climate is generally mild, but lately our summers are pretty hot with at least 30 days close to 100 degrees. I need a fan I can mount into (or directly up against) a 17 X 21 inch opening so I can draw air out. Everyone keeps telling me to just stick a box fan up there, but obviously I want to be safe about this.

I would love to outfit something with a solar panel, but since I have a bunch of other things I need to buy for the greenhouse this year, that's probably not an option. Does anyone have any advice on a good electric fan that is relatively inexpensive and either safe for outdoor use or at least safer than a simple house fan?

Thanks so much! I look forward to learning from you all.

 

[ninnymary]

Welcome to TEG Kalivo! :rainbow-sun Sorry I can't help you but just wanted to say hi. There are plenty of people who can. Marshall lived in Montana so I'm sure he will chime in soon. There are others with greenhouses so you shouldn't be without lots of good advise. Just be patient for them to come on.

Mary

 

[kalivio]

Fantastic - thanks for the reply, Mary. I'm really excited about my greenhouse and have so many things to do! Anyway, thanks for the welcome.

 

[nachoqtpie]

I can't help you either... but

 

[digitS']

The opening is about the right size for a standard box fan which I believe is about 20" square, Kalivio. I framed in a place for one in my greenhouse. It is a sunshed of about a 200ft. But, I've only used it 1 or 2 seasons and didn't find that I really needed 2 fans during the spring.

The other fan in that wall is just a kitchen wall fan. That is an exhaust fan someone might put in the wall of a home. If I remember right, there were only 2 models at Lowe's and I picked the one that could move more cubic feet of air. It is a 10" fan and fits in a 17" square opening.

I can tell you right off that it would probably do fine for a greenhouse of 200ft but only thru the spring & fall months. If you have shade cloth and/or a smaller greenhouse, that fan would probably work fine thru the summer. Otherwise, it would work itself to death on sunny days when outdoor temperature runs above 85F, trying to keep the temperature under 100.

The dimensions of the fan probably don't matter much. Rather, it is the cubic feet of air per minute rating, that counts. Of course, the size of your greenhouse determines how many cubic feet of air is in there.

It might help to know both the size and where the air intake is on your greenhouse. Is the air coming in thru a roof vent?

Steve
Welcome to TEG Kalivio!

Oh, and Heather may well be a neighbor of yours! She is in NW Montana and has a greenhouse .

 

[kalivio]

Thanks, Steve!

To answer your questions, the greenhouse is 8' X 12'. Here is a photo:

It has two roof vents, but the windows themselves are missing hardware and currently weighted by bricks to keep them from blowing off. I need to fix them before summer (we got this greenhouse from a friend who used it a few years and then had to move. We disassembled it and then reassembled at our location). It also has a louvered window in the back but I had to remove the louvers and now it's just an opening. And finally, the door hangers are broken (they had a big dog....) so we haven't put the doors on. We actually figure we could just keep the doors off the greenhouse until the Fall when we can order the replacement parts. (Is this a bad idea?)

Anyhow, that's the greenhouse!

Jess

 

[ninnymary]

Oh geez Kavilio make us all jealous! That is a beautiful greenhouse and the surroundings look nice and clean!

Mary

 

[nachoqtpie]

Oh geez Kavilio make us all jealous! That is a beautiful greenhouse and the surroundings look nice and clean!

Mary

X2

 

[kalivio]

Mary,

I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten this greenhouse from my friend! I about cried when she told me I could have it.

As for the surroundings... my husband and I spent an enormous amount of time landscaping our yard (from a pile of dirt) 5 years ago, but our brickwork has suffered a lot from our heavy snowfalls. I'm starting a new blog over on Wordpress and will have a gallery of photos of last year's gardens up soon, but here's a quick shot of my flower garden from July last year. It's the only bed I am willing to get down on the ground for. I've been building it up with perennials for 4 years now and I'm very happy with it. Now if I can get my greenhouse to work out as well, I would be so happy!

Jess

 

[nachoqtpie]

Oh that's beautiful!!