Greenhouse Glass!

We scored HUGE at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore - two GIANT, four MEDIUM and twenty-one SMALL pieces of double pane, tinted greenhouse glass for less than $300!

Here are the small & medium panes - will need to hire our neighbor to haul the big ones on his flatbed.

I've never seen double glazing used as green house glass in the UK .
We usually have the thinnest glass around at 1/8 inch thick so it lets in as much of suns varied spectrum of light as possible .


Are your panes double glazed to keep artificial heat in ?
Do they have a one way coating ?

plantoid wrote:I've never seen double glazing used as green house glass in the UK .
We usually have the thinnest glass around at 1/8 inch thick so it lets in as much of suns varied spectrum of light as possible .


Are your panes double glazed to keep artificial heat in ?
Do they have a one way coating ?

Here's an explanation regarding light and plants: Not all light is the same, just ask any photographer. The light
radiating through a greenhouse covering is important for plant growth.
Not only does a greenhouse provide additional warmth, it must also
create the correct amount and type of light. Plants grow optimally with
70-75% available light. More light beyond the optimal range is more
likely to lead to overheating than more growth. Direct light
is the light most easily viewed by our eyes. Direct light travels in
beams until it is stopped by an object. That object is fully illuminated
while the area around it is cast in shadow. Diffuse light is
scattered light. It bends around corners and leaves no shadows.
Photographers prefer overcast days to sunny days because the clouds
scatter the light producing even lighting rather than hot spots and
shadows. Plants, too, benefit from the scattering of the light rays and
grow up to 30% faster when all leaves are bathed in light, not just the
upper canopy of the plant.

Only one side of the greenhouse and the roof will be made from this greenhouse glass. The sides will probably be wood construction with perhaps one window each (more for ventilation than light). The front facade will be made from regular double-paned glass and either a sliding glass door or wide storm door.

Another concern for us is that it withstand hurricane-force winds which ruined our polycarbonate greenhouse.

plantoid wrote:I've never seen double glazing used as green house glass in the UK .
We usually have the thinnest glass around at 1/8 inch thick so it lets in as much of suns varied spectrum of light as possible .


Are your panes double glazed to keep artificial heat in ?
Do they have a one way coating ?

OOPS, also forgot this info we used in choosing double-paned:

Annealed glass can be dangerous for greenhouse applications. When it
breaks, annealed glass shatters into long, sharp shards which may cause
injury.
Tempered glass is four to six times more shatter-resistant
than annealed glass, and when it breaks it breaks into small square
pieces, making it unlikely to cause injury. Tempered glass is a better
choice than annealed glass for greenhouses. There are different
varieties of tempered glass (single tempered, double tempered, and more)
with various tensile strengths.
Do I need single-pane or double-pane glass?You
will need to consider your overall project budget, including your
long-term heating and cooling costs for the greenhouse, to decide
whether single- or double-pain glass is more appropriate. Single-pane
tempered glass is a fine choice for low-budget greenhouse projects where
heating and cooling costs are not major concerns. For projects where
greenhouse heating and cooling costs are a concern, you'll be better off
with double-pane tempered glass (or possibly triple-pane glass if you
live in a particularly cold climate).
To maximize the
heat-reflecting properties of glass in hot climates, you may also
consider low-e tempered glass panels, which will block heat more
effectively than regular glass.

I looked at a stand alone fully double glazed conservatory type building to use as a glass house .
It would have cost an arm and a leg to get a fully double glazed 18 x 12 foot glass house with window grade UPVC frames and doors .. about £ 28, 500

Wow that glass is a bit heavy for a roof , what sort of frame are you putting it in?

The lack of decent sunlight is our main prob here .. if it starts to warm up too much I simply spray a white UV diffuser on the roof panels and the side that faces the sun.
It changes reflectiveness and filtering the more the sun shines , when it's raining it becomes almost clear .
At the end of the summer when it's a bit cooler I spray dishwashing water on it, use a soft long handled brush to agitqate it then hose it off . It ends up very very clean

.

One thought can you get auto venting panels or accuators for a hinged panel ?

plantoid wrote:I looked at a stand alone fully double glazed conservatory type building to use as a glass house .
It would have cost an arm and a leg to get a fully double glazed 18 x 12 foot glass house with window grade UPVC frames and doors .. about £ 28, 500

Wow that glass is a bit heavy for a roof , what sort of frame are you putting it in?

The lack of decent sunlight is our main prob here .. if it starts to warm up too much I simply spray a white UV diffuser on the roof panels and the side that faces the sun.
It changes reflectiveness and filtering the more the sun shines , when it's raining it becomes almost clear .
At the end of the summer when it's a bit cooler I spray dishwashing water on it, use a soft long handled brush to agitqate it then hose it off . It ends up very very clean

.

One thought can you get auto venting panels or accuators for a hinged panel ?

The small panes are only 1/2" (compared to 1" for the larger panes) and MUCH lighter.

I'm not sure about the hinged panel, but if it's not possible, I've already thought about installing a solar attic fan.

Check out the super opener for double glass, solar and automatic and expensive. http://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com/Glass-Greenhouse-Accessories.htm

There are also roof vents that are cheaper, using polycarbonate as the lid.

Lots of possibilities out there for venting and automatic venting.
I suspect that once you know what to look for you can find it cheaper at Farmtek or Harbor

Those windows look quite the find

Turan wrote:Check out the super opener for double glass, solar and automatic and expensive. http://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com/Glass-Greenhouse-Accessories.htm

There are also roof vents that are cheaper, using polycarbonate as the lid.

Lots of possibilities out there for venting and automatic venting.
I suspect that once you know what to look for you can find it cheaper at Farmtek or Harbor

Those windows look quite the find

Thanks for the link. We're a bit gun shy with the polycarb as our current greenhouse panels broke and blow away easily.

The link is to glass greenhouse accessories, like vent openers etc.
They seem to claim you can use the vent openers on double paned glass. It was somewhere there or else where where I saw a specific vent using polycarbonate for a chimney vent unit.

We bought 6 more windows yesterday so all we need is the glass door. $750 so far.

My handyman will be here to start on the project Saturday morning. It's supposed to be crisp (42F/5-6C) but sunny. Drainage, footings and start on the cinder block knee walls scheduled.

I found some interesting old wooden cabinets at ReStore. I wish I'd snapped a picture of them. One of the walls of the greenhouse will be solid (with the exception of a small window for ventilation) since it faces another shed anyway and won't get any light.

LOL if the structure were just a little bigger (darn that county code) ReStore even had roof trusses that were for a garage. But my neighbor the roofer should be able to knock some appropriately sized ones out fairly easily. This will be great for drying herbs.

KIM ,
You could do worse than paint the back wall on the inside with a couple of coats of white paint to reflect light back into & under growing plants well before you start using the house for growing plants . ( It allows any lingering paint fumes to die off ).

That will be a great idea Plantoid if I don't hang upper cabinets on that wall. Oooooo maybe I'll put peg board there instead which can be painted with glossy white no-VOC paint.

This year the exterior will look a little rough, but we plan to eventually get our roofer to match the shingles on the house & the shed and maybe (as money permits) siding, or since the surface area will be relatively small, cedar shakes.

The bottom 32" will be cinder block so we will use leftover stone veneer in the front and parge the rest.