CONSERVE continued from page 27 

 be placed so they face north and are 

 accessible in the center of the green- 

 house (about 5' off the ground). By 

 blowing air onto existing thermostats 

 it is possible to drop temperature 

 fluctuation in the greenhouse from 8 

 to 2 degrees. This keeps heating and 

 cooling equipment from constantly 

 cycling on and off. 



You may also want to mount a 

 high quality mercury or alcohol 

 thermometer in your enclosure so 

 that the thermostats can be cali- 

 brated, or so that any error in 

 thermostat readings con be noted. 



Make sure that the set points on 

 your heating and ventilation equip- 

 ment are separated by at least 10 

 degrees F. This can keep you from 

 wasting precious energy and also 

 prevent air pollution problems. 

 Symptoms of a pollution problem are 

 the smell of exhaust gases in the 

 greenhouse, twisting and curling of 

 leaf petioles and leaves and bud 

 damage on early spring flowers. This 

 problem is most severe in small, very 

 tight greenhouses. 



How tight your greenhouse is will 

 influence when you need to start 

 cooling. Tight structures such as 



double pK)ly greenhouses have air 

 exchange rates of one per hour. Old 

 glass greenhouses can have air 

 exchange rates as high as four air 

 exchanges per hour. 



Your ventilation system is 

 important. Good maintenance of the 

 ventilation system can save 10-20% 

 of fan energy use. Here are some 

 things to check. 



Check fans for shiny pulleys and 

 sheavers. This indicates that belts are 

 slipping and need adjustment. A 

 good rule of thumb to follow is to 

 apply pressure to the belt halfway 

 between the driven and drive pulley. 

 If the belt is too loose (more than 1/2 

 inch give), then adjust the motor 

 mount to provide the proper tension 

 on the belt. Slack belts wear excess- 

 ively, cause slippage, deliver less 

 poser and may cause belt breakage. 



If there is any build-up of dirt or 

 rust on the fan blade tips, then clean 

 them with steel wool. Friction caused 

 by dirt or rust at the tips of the blade 

 decreases fan efficiency. This in turn 

 increases operating costs. 



Automatic shutters on fans often 

 become misaligned and don't open or 

 close properly. A shutter that doesn't 

 open properly decreases fan output. 



and one that doesn't close all the 

 wall causes higher heating costs. 

 Shutters like this should be lubricat- 

 ed and re-aligned, or else the 

 defective sections replaced. 



One last simple and cheap way to 

 save money is by repairing leaky 

 faucets. A leaky water faucet on 

 waste hundred of gallons of water 

 every year (113 gallons per month). 

 Hot water faucets are usually the 

 leaky one due to heat-related washer 

 deterioration. Even though replacing 

 or repairing leaky faucets may not 

 result in exceptionally large energy 

 savings, they are measurable savings. 



If you can avoid it, don't irrigate 

 with cold water in mid-day. You can 

 cool the root system so much that 

 plants will have difficulty absorbing 

 the water they need. This is why 

 bedding plants sometimes wilt fol- 

 lowing a noontime watering on a 

 sunny day. If you can't or don't 

 preheat your irrigation water, then 

 water early in the day to avoid 

 setting your crop back. ;* 

 Margaret Pratt Hagan is Extension 

 Educator, Agriculture, for Hillsborough 

 County Extension. For more 

 information, call Margaret at 

 (603) 673-25J0. 



HARRY STOLLER & CO., Inc. 



109-113 Essex St., Haverhill, Mass. 01830, (508) 373-6838, (800) 322-0332 

 We cater to the small and medium size nursery in any quantity desired: 



1. New heavy grade domestic burlap sqs. 

 untreated & no-rot-treated 



2. Open burlap bags 



3. New windbreak burlap 



4. Balling bags 



5. Wire baskets 



6. Flat-folded burlap basket liners 



7. Truck covers 



8. Sisal twine & poly twine 



9. Woven polypropylene sqs. 



35 Portt^d St., East Rochester, NH 03867 • (603) 332-7388 • 332-0127 • 332-$?:^ 



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 28 THE Plantsman 



