Dealing with Texas heat in a hobby greenhouse

[james mickelso]

If you have a lot of orchids in there I would opt for the small air conditioning unit from HD. Here's a pic. The unit is very small but my dark room was about 6 x 12 and it really brought down the temps nicely. The electrical cost for running it for a couple hours 2 or 3 times a week was around $8-$10 a month. Just run it for a couple hrs a day when the temps get to 90* and here's a shot of my fan which really moves the air around and would help with the temp too.

[james mickelso]

Yeah a swamp cooler just won't cut it. The AC I use for cooling my photographic dark room works even when the humidity goes through the roof here. And it's such a small unit it is cheap to run. I meant the cost is around $3 to $6 a month. That was my extra during the summer. I had to look it up on the PC from last year.

[HighSeas]

Okay. Don't laugh. What is a swamp cooler?

[RJSquirrel]

They add moisture and air flow for the most part the evaporative coolers, swamp coolers, and waterwalls do. Of course you have to create enough and have enough air flow for the exchange of fresh air by pulling in the hot air from outside and exhausting it out the other side. Air in air out. The hot air being pulled across the wet pads is cooled.
Air Conditioned air can use fresh air via a vent but usually uses recirculated air from within the room. They use mechanical means to create cooling. Thats why conditioned air is drier bec its all over the coil in the form of water and why window units drip. That water is pure water too and good for your plants by the way. . Your rooms humidity gets transferred by the displacement of the heat being blown across a cold coil in the unit. An AC rooms pressure is usually positive and you dont get as much fresh air exchanges. And there's that word Entropy again.

Entropy has been reached when there is no more work to be done

[HighSeas]

Ooooooh! Okay! I get it! I recently went to a nursery in Tampa and the owner was showing me this huge evaporative cooler he had made himself! THAT must be what you are talking about! It was in an area where he kept his Paphs and there was an OBVIOUS drop in the temp when I approached those benches. I went on Youtube....there are all kinds of home made coolers, which surprisingly are easy to make.

[JMLand]

I've looked in to making my own and even made one for my poison dart frog terrarium. You're honestly better off buying one if its for a greenhouse though. If you go to zorotools online and search for evaporative coolers you will find some good ones. They have the best prices I could find. Also you can google a coupon code for 5 percent of an order of 125 or more and they give free shipping for orders over 50 d

[fotofashion]

When the temps in my GH reach 120 or so, no evaporative cooler could lower the temps enough to make it worthwhile.
Beverly A.

[JMLand]

Originally Posted by fotofashion

When the temps in my GH reach 120 or so, no evaporative cooler could lower the temps enough to make it worthwhile.
Beverly A.

Was the cooler using air from outside the greenhouse or recirculating inside air? unless the swamp cooler is getting its air from outside it doesn't work.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by fotofashion

When the temps in my GH reach 120 or so, no evaporative cooler could lower the temps enough to make it worthwhile.
Beverly A.

Seems like you need bigger exhaust fans. You should have exhaust fans with a cfm rating at least equal to the volume of the greenhouse.