I am now thinking about putting another layer of solar blanket material over most of my two GH's. I have excess material to do this. I just need some warmer weather to proceed with the project. I don't know whether that second layer will give me any added insulation value, but there is only one way to tell.

It can't hurt, right? I think we are all shocked at the sudden early cold we are getting. I was ready with the greenhouse on time, but sheesh! This is still hard to take this early!

We r getting that awful cold here in central Texas too. Several freezes and will be 27 tonight. Am anxiously waiting for my solar pool cover to arrive so I can install it. We haven't decided if we will cut it in panels and install on inside or try to put it on outside. The covenants in our neighborhood allow GH but if we cover the outside we would have to fit it really nice so nobody complains about how it looks. Oh to be way out and have acreage...that would be nice. I think at a minimum we should put a cover on the very top outside in one piece. We have two partial panels we put screen and a solid wood panel in so we can get air. But I'm inclined to cover those roof vents. Hubby concerned it may blow off. So much learning to do ...all for a little 6 x 8' GH.

The GH hit near 100 today. I opened up the windows and the doors and got it down to a manageable 75º in a short time. Humidity dropped too so I misted everything. As soon as the sun went down, it cooled down inside again and rather quickly. I would think twice about covering any venting if your GH gets as hot as mine does in 50º sunny weather.

I would use a solid piece that goes up one side, over the roof, and then down the other side. If you cut it properly, you can either run fine wire across the sides and roof or use screws/washers to hold it in place. It will look "finished".

IF you have concerns about venting, you can always simply cut out the vent/windows and attach the material to the outside or inside of the vents/windows. My vents open easily with the solar blanket material draped over them, and I am using the heaviest material available, 16 mil. Besides, if the weather is moderate and the doors can be left open, the fans do a good job of cooling. Extreme heat in the greenhouse is only a problem in the spring/summer though. Of course, by April, all my plants begin their journey outside. By the time the GH's get really hot, I will only have extreme-heat tolerant plants left in them, such as aloe vera, jade, and my rooting plumeria. I really don't worry too much about heat though, so long as the fans move a great deal of air during the daylight hours.

Does the solar material need to go all the way to the ground? Money's a little tight right now - what with broken appliances & medical costs. I found a cover at Home depot that's 12x24 for $50. For my hoop house, This will cover the entire top and about half-way down each side. Will this help? Here in New Orleans, I'll only have the hoop house set up for the winter months & come down around March.

It would help some, and the good thing is that NO won't get super-cold temperatures (if you do, we can expect another Ice Age!). Generally speaking though, you would want it all the way to the ground so that it would retain as much heat as possible on cold nights.

Thanks ya'll for the ideas on how to install the solar blanket. Still waiting for its arrival--hopefully in the next couple days since we have a little warming trend and can work on installing. The odd pieces of "stuff" we had around the house to insulate with got us thru 8 nights of freezes but I'm looking forward to the arrival of the solar blanket.

Ken, I read an older detailed post you did in answer to someone else that has a lot of detail on your install. That was very helpful.

I suppose we we will make a final decision on just how we are going to do it when it's sitting here staring us in the face. Haha.