Heating Systems

The heating requirements for your GardenHouse depend on the target temperature, the severity of your local winter, and the size of your GardenHouse. For help in choosing the right size heater for your exact use, try our handy BTU calculator. Generally, for a 6' x 8' GardenHouse, a 5,000 BTU electric heater, such as the Vornado Heater, will provide sufficient heat to avoid plant loss except during power outages (a backup propane heater can provide protection against power failure). A natural gas or propane heater uses less expensive fuel in some geographic regions.

Supplemental Lighting

Many plants and vegetables need about 10-12 hours of light, while plants that produce fruit or flowers show improvement with up to 16 hours of light.

High Pressure Sodium Lamps are red/orange in the spectrum and are the best lamps available for greenhouse lighting (used in conjunction with natural sunlight). This type of light promotes flowering/budding in plants.

Fluorescent light is perfect for starts and seedlings but is a poor light source for growth and budding primarily because of low lumen output.