Reflective shade cloth

Has anyone here used one of the foil shade cloths like Chill Out or Aluminet? How much did it lower the greenhouse temperature? They claim these products will also help hold in heat in the winter. Anybody have any experience with that? I'm trying to set up a new greenhouse and would really appreciate some advice. Thanks!

MJ

I bought the foil shade cloth sold by Charley's Greenhouse a year ago this past May. I paid a small fortune because I had to buy 2: one for the roof and one for the sides. It didn't provide enough shade here in central Texas for the orchids and tropicals I was growing in my greenhouse. I saw no appreciable drop in the greenhouse temperture during the summer. This winter was a bit warmer for us so I couldn't compare its effect on the inside temperature. I'm going to try greenhouse quality bubble wrap as insulation to see how that works. I need to mention one more thing. The shiny strips of aluminum attracted some birds who removed strips from top section and some 4 footed creatures who removed large pieces from the side letting more light in. I'm replacing the foil shade cloth with the cheaper black one. I ordered a cloth that provides 70% shade for the roof and one that provides 60% for the sides. I believe the foil shade cloth only provided 50% shade.

You may not need as much shade as I do. You may want to do something I didn't do: Ask them for their research results.

Thanks for your input, bettydee. I'm in zone 6, so we probably don't get as hot as you do in the summer, but it's disappointing that you didn't see much drop in temperature. We'll try it, but I'll return it if doesn't seem to lower temps. We got our greenhouse from Charley's this summer and had many problems because one of the crates was broken by Roadway Express in shipping and we lost a lot of parts. Charley's made good on everything without question. They are very nice people but I'm beginning to see that they are basically just a catalog company and don't seem to have much first-hand experience with some of the products they sell. I couldn't get any good information about the aluminum shade cloth before ordering it .

Interesting about the birds going after the shiny strips. Boy that's one hazard that wouldn't have occured to me!

Thanks!

MJ

Howdy Folks...

At this site there is quite an assortment of shade cloths. Standard black, aluminet, green, tan, white, and each of those are varying degrees of light-blocking. I noticed their aluminet went up to 70%.

From the little bit of reading it looks like the white shade cloth might offer more of a cooling affect than the aluminet though.

I've only used black here for years but am considering trying one of the other (cooler) colors this next summer.

By the way, I've used this company before...good service, reasonable prices!
http://www6.mailordercentral.com/igcusastore/departments.asp?dept=1005

[quote] Interesting about the birds going after the shiny strips. Boy that's one hazard that wouldn't have occured to me! {/quote]

Must have magpies

Here's a followup on the shade cloth. I put Chill Out from Charlie's on the outside of the greenhouse. Before, the greenhouse was running as high as 114 with outside temps in the 70's. Now it stays within 10 degrees of the outside temperature. The automatic vents start opening at 67 and the top vent fan kicks in at 72. I can finally have plants in my greenhouse!

MJ

Congrats! And thanks for the update, MJ.

Wonder if it would do just as well here in the South...will have to look into that some more!

Again, congratulations! I bet you're happy now, eh!? :>)

Hey BettyDee, do you have a misting or other humidifying system in your greenhouse, and if so, does that do the trick as far as lowering the temperature? We are in Southern CA in zone 9b (I think..) so it gets quite warm, and the folks at Charley's were explaining to me that to drop the temperature we needed to raise the humidity. What has been your experience, if any, with using water to cool things off?

We had very high winds a few days ago and took down the shade cloth because the bottom pulled loose and was whipping around. I hadn't put in the grommets because we weren't sure we would keep it. Without the shade cloth, the greenhouse has been running in the low 80's with outside temps in the mid 60's. I think I'll wait until about this time of year to start things in the greenhouse next year instead of trying to fight the high temps of the late summer.

Simshona, the Charley's people told me the same thing about humidity. I find right after I water and hose down the brick floor I get a few degrees drop in temperature for about an hour, then it goes back up again. I don't have a misting system, though.

MJ