Well, plastic covers an awful lot of products. I guess when you come down to it, plastic is everything except glass. Vinyl, polycarbonate, fiberglass, visquene, etc. I use marine vinyl panels to close in my porch in the fall-winter. It also just covered my pvc greenhouse with it, to give it another layer of insulation. It is guarenteed 10+ yrs, and that's transparency, not life. Fiberglass and polycarbonate have life-spans of 10-20 years or more. My first self-built greenhouse was built in 1996 and it looks almost as good today as the day it was built. It depends on the material. How long a life do you wnat from your greenhouse coverings?
Cameron, you would need to heat your greenhouse unless you are in S. Florida or S. California. I have two heaters in each of my greenhouses. One is the primary and the other the backup. They are all electric and are either 1200W or 1500W. They are all on thermostats, just like we have in the central heat/air homes. One is set at 55F and the other is set at 50F. If one can't keep up with the cold, the other kicks in. Measure the amount of space your plants take up now. That's the size greenhouse you would want. The house would then be the future overflow. I started with one greenhouse, then enclosed a 8x20' porch and then built a second greenhouse. Like our homes, regardless of size, we fill up the available space. At least I do with my plants spaces. Ken
