Robnewjersey, connected two together.
I saved the picture because I noticed so many things disappearing.
I hope he doesn't mine me posting this.
Maybe Rob will check in and tell you how he did it.
{{gwi:296577}}

dave,
you can connect the two using flat aluminum stock were they butt together.the ridge pieces need to be joined also if you want to take out the end walls were they join.it is very important that they be ridgid or it will twist. make sure that you foundation boards are perfectly level.use screws so you can adjust the boards if you need to move them while your connecting the houses together.mine are not connected because i only heat one.cactusfreak i dont mind at all i learn alot from your posts.hopefully this year i will have some big banans in the pics.rob

Thanks Ron and Cactus. I'll probably do a similar setup to what you have, door at each end. I like the option to heat only one. Did you do anything for cross ventilation(fans or more vents)? I've read some stories about panel blowing off in high wind, did you do anything extra to secure them in?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, really appreciate it :).
Dave

As for panels blowing off, I would recommend getting some extra clips from Charley's. They are better than the ones that the greenhouse comes with. You can also caulk the panels in.

I added some aluminum "L" strips to the inside of the greenhouse both for the walls and roof. The are connected with botls in each corner and the captive bolt chanels in the wall and roof supports. I then screwed each panel to the strips. That may have been an overkill, but it wasn't very hard and it makes the greenhouse very secure.

dave
i just use auto openers and cheap clearence fans,cheap heaters,and cheap gutter cables.i did put a line of misters down the ridges and it works great when it warm and sunny but i need to adjust them better.extra clips are the way to go.this fall i will do some alterations to make it cheaper to heat. i will take out the poly from the roof and walls on the north side and double them on the south side with an trapped air space like a thermal window.and insulate the north wall as much as i can.i also want to insulate the floor better.maybe one of those clearence blue flame heaters will see.oh yeah the doors are a pain i might put hinges.i will post pictures when i do it. heres a tip dont buy anything unless your sure you need it like an automated super duper fan with shutters if your just starting plants and extending your season or build any thing that cant be moved quickly out of the house its very small and you will probaly want to move things around depending on the season.good luck. rob

Rob,
Interesting idea about doubling the windows on the south side. I was just going to put insulation up over the windows on the north side and use bubble wrap or a solar pool cover.

I ended up getting a fan with shutters and an automatic 18" louver vent. I did that because I got an awesome deal on the automatic louver on ebay ($15). The fan cost a little over $80 and the thermostat was around $40. The fan does make a big difference. I now keep the roof vent closed, because it keeps the greenhouse cooler that way (better air flow from bottom to top).

I reinforced my door with two strips of aluminum and it works much better now...it doesn't flex at all.

What were your heating costs? I live in PA, close to NJ, so it should be similar here.

Stuart

consultant,
i couldnt really figure it out. the electric company under estimated my bill for six months and when they checked it it came to 398.00 that month.i never did put in a thermostat so my heater and cables were on when i didnt need them during the day. i did manage to keep a palm and banana growing and not just dormant.but i will not do it again this winter. super slow growth and to much money.this winter i will keep the temp lower and keep everything dry and dormant untill spring.i did cover my house with 6mill plastic but its to ugly to do it again.thats why i will try to super insulate it this winter.the window idea is perfect for the north.8mm of poly alone is good but with the trapped air space trapped in between the r value will be really high.the back wall will be easy to get a high r value.but i want to come up with somthing thin that looks good.maybe some white pvc sheet for the outside and rigid insulated sheet inside.the white plastic will blend in with my neighbors fence.

Regarding the propane ("Blueflame") heaters. The ones that I have seen on sale at HF do not have a thermostat. These would be useless unless you plan on spending a lot of time in your greenhouse regulating the temperature. That is probably why they are on sale so cheaply. HF sells a thermostatic Procom 10K for $129. FarmTek has the same unit at $139. Wide range thermostats (30 to 110 degrees F) for electrical control are available at FarmTek for $25. Their house brand is Durostat. I have seen the same unit elsewhere (different nameplate) for as high as $70. The thermostat is not listed in their on-line site (that I could find) but is shown in the latest flyer. Its part number is CR2095.

lowes clearence blue flames with thermostats for half price in late winter.they drop to 70% off after that but very little selection.i seen a 10000 btu for 75 bucks.

I purchased a blue flame 10,000 btu with a thermostat at Lowes in Feb.05 sealed box for $32.00 plus tax.I am not sure if i will use it bacause of the automatic oxygen depletion shut off.I think the HF might be a little too small for this heater.

Doing a heat loss calculation for a HF greenhouse for New York (zone 4a to 6a, assume 5a -15/-20 deg. F) your heat loss is 11,500 btu per hour, using the assumption of maintaining the interior temp at 50 deg. F. Certainly, small 115 vac heaters (2kw heater producing 4000 btu/hr) would not be sufficient. This calculation is based on one greenhouse unit. Two units with a common interior wall would require two heaters. If the interior wall were removed, one heater of 20,000 btu capacity would work since you get a gain of about 10% as your total exposed surface area is less than twice the total area of two free standing greenhouses.

HI Robnewjersey and all others,

I just bought 2 HFGH's and I want to do the same.....heavily insulate the north wall. How do you intend to do this? I was going to use polystyrene panels and a thinner plywood. Do you think this would be workable?

Love this thread and really love what you're doing with your houses.

Dave
Milwaukee,
zone 5 ..if I'm lucky

oranjelo, i was thinking the same thing it would be to much.i dont want to run a gas line and buy a heater and not use it.i really want to overwinter cheaply not grow and flower in the winter.thats a killer buy for 32.00.i just picked up a 200 gallon pond for 40.00 and made a stream from that to my old pond.also been picking up the ten cent plants and dollar bags of bulbs.gotta love those yellow stickers at l and hd.
milwdave i dont think i will use wood probably pvc sheet or polycarb sheet.the thin cheap polycarb.i am still brain storming this because it has to look good i really like my neihbors on that side.rob