nate, you're always such a great help to all of us for posting the vids i recommend everyone watch before and during their adventures into the wonderful world of horticulture! grate work!
Great vid Sir. I completely agree with your assessments of toughness and ease on the budget. Our eggmobiles are made out of poly-eth and wiggle wire; and have held up no problem through our regular and sustained 40-50mph high plains Texas winds.
Great video, Here's a FYI. We got 2/3's of our poly up and found out we didn't have enough wiggle wire to complete the job and no stores in our area had any. A MacGyver type employee came back with a couple of 4ft strands of barbless fencing wire. ( Barbless wire has 3 strands wrapped together for greater tinsel strength.) After separating the strands he took his plyers and made the rest of the wiggle wire we needed, worked fantastically. 🤔
Hello, thanks for posting this video. It helps in getting clarifying some of my confusions. Thanks. However, i have few questions 1) What about hot climates. Once we infilate double layer there will be air inside always and in high summer temperatures the air will get hot and makes the inside climate more hot. Could you please clarify it? 2) We clip the wiggle spring before inflating between the layers. I think wiggle spring will lock transfer of air if wiggle is installed also at upper pipe. So, if we use double layer poly then we must install the wiggle at the bottom so that the air reaches all places between the layers? 3) Whats the dimensions of your house and how much time it took to pump in and fill the air? 4) Are you still conducting webinars? Kindly respond.
It's insane that they don't sell this stuff over here in the UK. Just one of many random things that somehow didn't make it over the pond! The cost of getting it imported makes it way more expensive than the other type of locking method you mentioned.
Thanks for these videos! Quick question...do we put the first layer of poly on fully with the wiggle wire and then install the second layer with another layer of wiggle wire? OR, do we instal both layers at once, and then put on the wiggle wire just once??
Often if sections are airtight you will need a tube to jumper the fan air flow into each section. There is also a pressure switch you can buy that senses the pressure between the layers and only turns on fan when pressure drops so the fan only runs as needed and cuts off when the pressure in the gap is back to normal. This also lowers the amount of condensation between the layers and also lowers heat loss from constantly blowing your warm air into the cold gap.
Questions about the PE plastic layers. 1) Do both layers have the IR+Condensation coating? If so, do both of those special coatings face inward? 2) Most greenhouse PE I've seen says to not let it come into contact with PVC. Is that a potential issue with PVC coated wiggle wire?
I can answer 1, in case anyone comes along wondering. Usually just the inner layer needs the IR/anticondensate coating. I'm in a semi-tropical environment, however, so there might be a difference for cold-weather systems like at Bright.
Nate, I understand the concept, but where is wiggle wire used on your hoop houses? Does every rib have wiggle wire? I struggle to understand how a small fan can inflate the entire length. It's - 8 degrees right now in WI. Inside my geodesic dome it is 60 degrees. It will be -21 degrees by morning with 15 to 25 mph winds. Wind chill will be approximately - 50 degree! Gotta love my Rocket Mass Heater!
Hey Rj Aquaponics - Sorry for the confusion there. We anchor our covering along both baseboards of the greenhouse using the wiggle wire/channel, and then along the sidewalls (up and over the arches).
Out of curiosity, when using the blower to make an insulated layer, is there an outlet for the air pumped in between the sheets..Or is it leaky enough that there's an inlet only? Also, is the second/outer polyfilm layer intentionally made a little looser than the first/inner?
Hi icarus, There is no outlet for the air. Some of it will leak out, but for the most part it is pretty static, keeping the blower on keeps it pressurized. The outer layer can be a little bit more "baggy" than the inside layer. We usually like to have both layers with some tension on them, but allow them to sag slightly between the ribs when deflated. Usually this still entails a lot of tugging and tensioning to get it tight enough.
I'm trying to see the temperature different with using double layer poly or doing a geothermal method. I would rather use a double layer poly being that it seems easier to install. I would like to grow oranges and lemons in an environment that gets down to 20° - 25° with heavy snow loads in the winter. What do u suggest? Would double poly work or should I do a geothermal method?
My GH is made of 2x4s. I put plastic on both inside and outside. The plastic is stapled and secured with furring strips around the perimeter and on each stud to counteract wind. Just survived the winter of 2013-14 with the only issue being interior sweating. Is it necessary to pump air between the sheets of plastic in this situation or is the pump just used for plastic separation?
Hey - 2 questions - Just bought a property with a poly greenhouse with wiggle wire but it is missing poly (torn off) on one end. We want to replace the plastic (1) is the wiggle wire removable and then reusable? If so how the heck do you do that? (2) do you need to run the pump for inflating the double layer all the times? Looks like this has been set up in ours at the one end, but we have no power to the greenhouse at the moment. Thanks!
Hi Michelle White - Yes the wigglewire is removable and it's a pretty easy chore to accomplish. We can make a video on that here soon. In the mean time you should be able to simply working it the opposite direction of the way you put it into the channel. This process is much easier with the PVC coated wiggle wire like we use since you reduce the risk of tearing your plastic. Yes, we'd recommend running the inflation pump around the clock to keep it filled and maximize your buffer layer of insulation. Also having it filled will help thwart any vicious wind attacks. The pump is small enough that it draws VERY little energy at all. It's less than an amp. Hope that helps! Are you on our email list yet?
Not really, because you still let the sun (energy) in. Might be in combination with a shade cloth, but not sure if really worth it. More ventilation is probably the simpler option.
DRUMofTRUTH We leave both layers on all year to help buffer the cold nights and the wind. We do, however, have a roll-up sidewall that helps us keep things cool in the high tunnel. Here's a video of that: brightagrotech.com/opening-the-vertical-farm/ - Hope that helps!
Thanks for the video. This is the 3rd video I've watched on 2 layer poly inflating and no one has mentioned what the r value of the 2 layers with air space is. Can someone answer that please?
obviously an endorser for wiggle wire...easiest most inexpensive way is using wood...you can either use planks with a 3/4 gap between them or a larger plank like a 2x4 with a channel cut into it with a router. either way the plastic is rolled past and a piece of wood ripped down to the appropriate size and pushed in...it replaces the expensive wiggler wire
How much heat power is needed to maintain 70F temperature difference with the outside air for 4 acres greenhouse when using double layer polyethylene? Does make sens to blow hot air between the two layers?
Well, when it's -30F outside, maintaining 50F inside our greenhouse (2000 sq. ft.) consumes around 200K BTU/hr. You can probably extrapolate that out- roughly 20 times that for 1 acre, and around 80 times that for 4 acres, or around 16M BTU. Of course to get a good estimate you'll have to do the math for your particular structure type. . . The air between the layers doesn't matter beyond just creating a "dead" space.
As long as you've got it tacked down, you should be good unless you're in a hurricane or tornado. If it can stand up to Laramie, Wyoming winds, it can stand up just about anywhere.
Bright Agrotech in my place (indonesia), sometimes windy, not strong wind like tornado but sometimes it's strong enough, so I'm worried about the wiggle wires will be released because wind blow. for now, i'm trying to grow crops with Hydroponics system
+Bradley Romero now that i think about it, it might be tough to install a second blower between the layers, and if you conntect the airpockets you dont gain anything from that as well...
please let me understand clearly about double layers, it's mean you use 2 plastics? do you use uv plastics? how many percents of uv protector? sory.. i'm too much asking. ^_^
when we switch plastic to shade cloth on our green houses we have a storage issue with the wiggle wire. The issue is that the wires get tangled up, do you know of any efficient way of storing wiggle wire?
+Kasee Smith Unfortunately not... If you can figure it out, let me know! I’ve spent many an hour untangling that stuff. Sorry we couldn't be more helpful!
Hi Paul, yeah there's a very significant difference in insulation capacity. Single layer poly has about an R.5 where as a double layer poly greenhouse has an R1.5 to even R2. That increase in value definitely adds up for a minimal additional investment.
Most wiggle wire and channel we have seen is the same approximate size, the channels are normally 1.25" on the outside, and 1/16" thick metal so roughly 1 1/8" inside size
You may have found a solution by now but in case you didnt. wiggle wire and c-section is available in the uk. Its taken literally years for the penny to drop here when the states has been using it for decades ;) We`ll probably be well into the next century before double poly catches on lol
You should also look into controlling the blower with a differential pressure switch, running it 24/7 is a waste of electrical power. It also allows the use of 12v blowers and offgrid installation.