If you're looking for a better value for your money, and don't need a "cadillac" gh, then my recommendation would lean towards a Gothic Solar Star, linked below. Are you planning on erecting it yourself, or hiring it out?

If you choose the 26x36 model, and full polycarb, I'm guessing the cost is about half what you were quoted at Rimol. Remember, this just gets basically the frame up -- you'll have other additional costs to get it operational.

Plus, I shudder to think...shipping!

-Bruce

Here is a link that might be useful: Gothic Solar Star Greenhouses at FarmTek

The price is pretty good, but I would be concerned about the snow load. During the winter, I'm planning on keeping the inside temps in the mid 40's. If we get a good size storm, a unit like this would probably have problems.

I would also like one with ridge vents. To save energy, I prefer to vent instead of running fans.

Maybe I'll try to find one of these in my area and check it out. Maybe it can be modified with some vents.

Thanks for the info.

if you plan on running it in the summer you will have to run fans. greenhouse will heat up very fast on a cold sunny day , let alone a warm sunny day.

Maybe in the south one would need fans, but here in the north, I don't think it's as necessary. My current greenhouse has no fan, and with the ridge vents and keeping the door open, it rarely goes above 100 degrees in it. Also, my grandfather had huge commercial greenhouses growing African violets. He also just had ridge and side vents. He usually would only open the side vents on really hot days.

I rather spend the money up front for a proper greenhouse than waste money on electricity for fans....plus they're noisy! I like to go in mine and listen to the trickle of my 'garden garden'......ah, Calgone, take me away!

Your grandfather grew what he could and I'll bet he also had glass GH's and whitewashed them every spring, so unless you want to give up growing for the table year round, including through the heat of summer and cultivating only hot weather, semi-arid desert plants such as African Violets, you will need both electricity and fans; like it or not. But it doesn't have to cost a lot to operate them. They are your servants; not your master.

I agree with you about the racket exhaust fans make and one of the reasons I'm so in love with my big, silent, cheap to operate and fantastically effecient ceiling fans, mounted directly under the ridge vents.

But you would still need a means of bringing in cooler air for the ceiling fans to pull up and out through the ridge vents and while most GH's rely on intake vents set low to the ground, and you would need them too......

If you have or can rent a small backhoe with a trencher on it and have lots of space, you could install what amounts to air conditioning, using the natural, average 50 deg. temp of the earth just below your frost line as the "coolant."

Dig a trench about 10 inches wide, to about a foot below your frost line. The longer the better, but at least 200 ft. It doesn't need to be in a straight line, as long as the trench lines are no closer than about 5 ft.

Line the trench with gravel and lay in a line of 8" solid, flexible PVC drain pipe, then cover with more gravel and backfill.

Run the pipe up to a spot where you have electricity, or run a line in the trench, as it will go into the GH anyway and if you snake the line around, the intake could be just 15 - 20 ft. away from your main power line to the GH.

The outer end of the pipe would be the intake, where you would construct a small shelter; say a small cupula with screened sides, to keep out insects, birds, small critters and windblown debris, and a solid roof, for rain/snow protection. Mount a fan in the cupula to suck air into the pipe.

At the other end, run the pipe up to a convenient location in the GH where you would mount another fan, to pull the cool air up and onto the GH floor, where the ceiling fans would in turn, pull it up and out, through the roof vents, cooling the air at growing level in the process.

The Romans figured that one out over 2,000 years ago, except they didn't have powered fans. But they understood that air moving through an underground pipe would be cooled as it passed through it just as hot air would do the same when heated by a fire.

The great baths of ancient Rome weren't just heated, they were air conditoned. But the Romans had hundreds of slaves to maintain their baths and glassed over solariums and the Victorians had armies of estate workers, to keep their GH's and conservatories running.

We however, have powerful, easy for one person to operate trenching and backhoe machines, small, cheap to operate electric motors, fans and electronic thermostats, but those gadgets used to their fullest capacity can replace dozens if not hundreds of men armed only with shovels; then relays of them to stand by 27/7 to open and close intakes and exhausts.

A large GH can be a structure in and on which you spend so much time and energy working to adjust growing temps you could end up having little left over to actually cultivate plants, or one you put a lot of that time and energy into setting it up to be nearly self sustaining when it's finished.

Spending money up-front to make a GH both easy and cheap to operate year round in a climate that gets both very hot and very cold isn't really an expense- it's an investment.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm considering using some kind of geothermal to offset the costs for heating/cooling. It's seems odd, but in our area, it's usually cheaper to put in a deep well for geothermal rather than trying to dig a trench 100's of feet through our wonderful New England rock or ledge. I'm going to work on this...but I think it's best to find a structure and work on an energy system best suited for the structure's design. So...to get back to my original question...I'm looking for opinions from people on various manufacturer's buildings.

Thanks again for your input.

-Rob.

Rob. Sorry. I forgot about your rock "bottoms" but on the other hand, your foundations don't shift and sink as our's do on hydric soils. A deep well would work too. Here, digging a well is a race between the drill and seepage.

I do appreciate all the suggestions. It can be difficult to make recommendations (or find answers). Terrain and climate play a huge factor in deciding on what type of structure to build....also throw in what you're trying to grow and how much to invest. If I come up with any bright ideas on how I'm going to proceed, I'll definitely post them!

Regards, Rob T

Rob, I don't know anything about Rimol, but we're putting up a 24' x 48' structure from Jaderloon that's probably comparable to what you're looking at. They have a good reputation and were recommended to me by several people in the industry in this area (nurseries, landscapers, university horticulturalists). I ordered the Institutional Greenhouse, which is what they've installed in the school system locally, so I was able to go see one in use before I made a final decision. In my climate I'll be using fans and an evaporative cooling pad rather than natural ventilation, but I think they have models that have ridge vents.

I think one reason Jaderloon has worked out well for me is because the company is located in South Carolina, and so they're familiar with the particular challenges of greenhouse gardening in my climate. Rimol might be the same for you -- I'd suggest asking people with commercial greenhouses in your area what they think of the company.

--Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Jaderloon

Thanks a lot! I didn't have them in my 'list'.