Winter greenhouse needs specialized floors. Thanks to the warm coating, the owner of the summer cottage will be able to control and maintain the required temperature in the greenhouse. These important conditions have a significant impact on the growth, development and fruiting of various crops.
There is nothing difficult in installing a warm coating with your own hands, the technique is almost identical to the technology for laying such floors in residential premises. In the greenhouse, it is completely optional to carry out surface finishing, and therefore everything can be done quite quickly.
Why do you need a warm floor
Due to the unique coating in the greenhouse, special favorable conditions will be created in which various green plants begin to grow and bear fruit twice as well. When installing a warm floor in a greenhouse with your own hands, it is worth remembering that as a result, the soil layer should not dry out. The main requirements for such systems are:
- reliability;
- economy;
- ease of use.
In addition to underfloor heating, the greenhouse must be additionally heated by air or radiator heating. Air heating is more suitable for spring and autumn, when there are no severe frosts. Here, heat is accumulated in the room, and a layer of clay can be an ideal accumulator, it is laid under fertile soil:
- air moves through the pipe system;
- heat from the walls of the pipes passes into the clay layer, which at night will release the accumulated into the environment;
- to keep clay warmer, you can additionally put heat-insulating materials under it.
Greenhouse floor heating options
Before you start organizing work and think about how to make a warm floor in greenhouses, you need to figure out how the soil is heated. There are several options:
- Water use. This system works on the principle of how warm water floors work, where hot water goes through a pipe system. In another way, this option can be called soil heating using plastic pipes. The method is quite economical in terms of resource use, but often people encounter problems during installation work. Water heating experts advise to use for large greenhouses.
- Film warm floors in the greenhouse are equipped similarly to the technologies used for residential buildings.
- The use of heat guns also has a place to be. These fixtures are ideal for largegreenhouses, however, much depends on the cost of equipment, besides, the soil can only be warmed up superficially.
- The use of infrared lamps. They are mounted on greenhouse structures. The option is interesting in that you can create several temperature zones in one greenhouse.
Heated floors
Relates to the most popular due to the fact that all the necessary materials are easy to get in any specialized store.
Purchase and installation of such a system does not take much time and effort. Here it is recommended to take into account the financial costs of components and payment of bills for electricity consumption. Therefore, it is worthwhile to calculate everything properly and, if anything, choose another option.
What is bioheating
Is the most economical option for heating a greenhouse. The variant is based on biological materials:
- animal waste;
- mowed weeds;
- sawdust;
- fallen leaves.
The decomposition of all of the above materials occurs with the release of heat.
It is interesting that when choosing bioheating, a person receives in the greenhouse the necessary microclimate during the cold season, but also fertilizer valuable for plants.
To get the maximum effect, it is recommended to use mixtures of several types of materials, such as manure with sawdust, straw and fallen leaves. Before laying the components in the ground, you need to makesteaming.
Heating is done as follows. Addition of quicklime, boiling water to biofuel. You can simply put the container in the sun, after loosening all the components. Materials are ready to use the moment steam appears.
A few words about the shortcomings of the method
The main negative side of such heating is a low temperature index (about +25 °С). In addition, there is no way to adjust the temperature.
Use biofuels in spring and autumn to reduce energy costs.
What is interesting about water floors
This do-it-yourself version of a warm floor in a greenhouse is considered the most reliable and efficient, there is an opportunity to choose an energy carrier. If the work is carried out independently, then certain rules must be followed so that everything functions without interruption.
Work order
At the first stage, it is necessary to remove the fertile soil to a depth of half a meter. Then a layer of thermal insulation is laid, while you must not forget to tamp the base. A film and a layer of sand about 50 mm are applied over the insulation.
At the second stage, the pipe is laid, it will need to be covered with the same sand.
Greenhouse soil will warm up as follows:
- The mixing unit includes a pump and a three-way valve. If the coolant is run on the radiator, then large financial expenses will be required.
- Water supply to underfloor heating will be carried out according toreturn line from radiators.
Thanks to this arrangement, a polycarbonate greenhouse with a warm floor is obtained.
As for the material for pipes, you can take different options: polymers or steel. When choosing a polymer version, care must be taken. A protective mesh is used to cover the pipes, and only fertile soil is poured over it. Branch pipes left outside must be connected to a collector located next to the greenhouse.
How is the installation of electric underfloor heating
This option allows you to heat the greenhouse no worse than when using water. Installation is as follows:
- It is necessary to take out the fertile layer to a depth of 40-60 cm.
- The bottom is leveled so that there are no protruding elements, and then sand is poured, acting as a leveling bed.
- Plastic film serves as waterproofing, it is laid with an overlap or tape is used to connect sheets.
- Heat insulation should be laid on top, which does not have a reflective coating.
- Now you can start laying the heating elements. The material must be cut to fit the configuration of the greenhouse. Mounting plates are used to fix cables. The conductors can be arranged arbitrarily, but at the same time, a distance of at least 10 cm must be left between the threads.
- It is necessary to connect all the segments into a single chain, insulate the couplings and bring them out on one side. It remains to power the system and ring.
- On topinfrared film need to lay polyethylene.
- Wet sand will be needed for the heating elements, which will serve as a covering layer.
- A metal mesh with small cells is placed on top of the sand.
- At the last stage, it remains only to return the soil layer to its place and lay pipes equipped with a temperature sensor in its middle.
What you need to know about the general rules
The main task of any person installing underfloor heating in greenhouses is to ensure the smooth operation of the selected option. The first condition that must be met is the removal of fertile soil for a while. A waterproofing material is laid out at the bottom of the trench. You can use polystyrene foam or polyethylene with foil elements.
Cables or mats are laid on top of the film, and then all this must be covered with hydromaterial and a film that will provide thermal insulation. Then comes the turn of heating cables with mounting mesh or tape.
The main tips are as follows:
- to protect the warm floor from mechanical damage, a reinforcing mesh is laid;
- the thickness of fertile soil should be at least 30 cm;
- after the warm floors are installed, you need to level the soil layer and you can start sowing seeds;
- to control the heating system, special sensors are used that monitorair or soil temperature.
The use of sensors greatly facilitates the gardener's task of growing certain crops. To increase the yield, 2 devices are installed that will monitor the desired parameters. Excessively warm soil causes plants to slow down their growth, reduce the number of fruits and may eventually die.
How temperature is maintained
The best option for maintaining temperature indicators is the use of temperature controllers. The optimal indicator for most greenhouse crops is from +15 to +20 °С. Some gardeners use greenhouses to grow plants and then transplant them, then the temperature in the room must be maintained at +30 ° C.
If we talk about the calculation of power and heating in a greenhouse with an electric floor, then by installing temperature controllers, you can significantly reduce electricity costs by up to 30%. All this is achieved due to the fact that the flow of electricity is not all the time. When the temperature drops to the set value, it will become a signal to turn on the heating. As soon as the desired temperature is reached, the thermostat will turn off.
Warm hollow - a win-win option not only for a large agro-industrial economy, but also for a small greenhouse in a country cottage. Such systems allow you to maintain an optimal microclimate indoors, which has a beneficial effect on the quantity of the crop and its quality.
Most gardeners giveonly positive reviews about warm floors in greenhouses. They help increase yields and promote comfortable plant growth.
