Propane or Paraffin?

[ashkat]

The only thing I don't like about my greenhouse is the window thankfully. I would like to upgrade to a glass one a few years down the line, but not until my children are old enough to not try and run through it. Plus, we are pretty financially constrained this year. Our garden has just been renovated from a mud pit, and setting all this up in one year is proving to be very expensive! Next step is the chickens

[rustylady]

Whats the easiest way to add ventilation?

I got a norfolk greenhouse, one of the ones that aren't off a roll. It's got a (rather crap) sliding window in one side. We are trying to figure out a way to keep that window up right now.

Would the fact that window is pretty breezy offer enough ventilation for a propane or paraffin heater?

I've got one of those too Ashkat, and my sliding window is currently attached with wire. Bladdy thing is next to useless.

[Urban]

Ah yeh concerning propane, I would just use it as a safeguard, it would be set to around 10c and would only come on if it got lower than this, I read a post of someone doing this from beginning of march till last frost, and they said it cost around £20 a season, well worth it to avoid the shuffle IMO

[ashkat]

It's actually almost become comical rustylady. Thankfully, the price of the greenhouse for it's size has made the idiotic window worth it.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Most GH propane heater manufacturers recommend something like a 110mm round soil pipe at low level as a perminant vent for there heaters. Whether you could get away with less would depend on the input size of the heater and the amount of adventitious air available.

The problem then is unless you have something like a 'blackhole vent' you can have an howling gale blowing into the space you are trying to heat.

Colin

[Two_Sheds]

Can you start veg inside in those months for moving late FEB/mar?

No. Really, no. The earliest I can start anything is mid-Feb, and that's on an upstairs south facing windowsill

You can have crops standing in the ground outside all winter: kale, cabbages etc. Plus your freezer.

I'm pretty determined to extend my Scottish season somehow. We eat meat, but with amount of veg we eat people would think were veggies

Can you grow French/runner beans? The seeds (kidney beans) are a great source of cheap protein

[ashkat]

Decisions been made.

Going for a paraffin heater right now to help out with the chilly night we have, and then depending on paraffin cost, I might upgrade to a thermostatically controlled propane heater for season extension.

Even growing salad leaves saves us about £25-30 a month, so imagine what an impact some other stuff would make?! I'll experiment this year with how late I can conceivably keep the season going and with how early I can start things and make it worth it financially.

I did the math yesterday, and about 3/5 of our shops are growable veg. That's about £300 A MONTH! A lot of that is salad kit, nice toms, cukes, corgette, peppers etc. So...if I can extend the season on this stuff even if I'm spending £100/£150 on heating.....it'll save us a lot of money if I can grow the food.

I do realise I'm being very optimistic, but if I can even get an extra couple months on either end (plus 'winter' crops), it'll save us loads over the entire year. Our season up here is pretty short. We were told to wait til the end of may beg of June to plant out/sow anything as were still having frosts.