I am putting radiant foil on the ceiling, walls and door of the off grid greenhouse to reduce heat loss during the cold winter nights. Radiant foil is also known as radiant barrier and reflects radiant heat back into the building, reducing heat loss.

 

I used radiant foil in the off grid tiny house on wheels and now we need to keep the windows open all winter or it gets too hot in there when using the wood stove. This stuff works very well when used properly. It needs at least one inch air gap on both sides to work. When used on both sides it prevents summer heat from entering and winter heat from leaving your home. When used on the inside only it works one way limiting heat loss from inside during winter.

 

In the greenhouse I only need it to reduce winter heat loss. I am mounting it flat on the surface to be protected.

 

This is a four foot wide roll of radiant foil. I wish I had picked up another one foot roll to finish the gap left over. I will get it next time I am in town. I cut a single piece to fit the inside of the greenhouse ceiling. This will act as a heat barrior and a vapor barrier in one. I will use aluminum tape to seal off the gaps.

 

 

 

I used staples and a ladder to get up to the ceiling and fasten the radiant foil to the ceiling rafters. This holds the insulation in place, preventing it from falling down in the future. There is no need for paneling up there now. The radiant barrier will reflect the radiant heat from leaving the greenhouse through the ceiling on that half.

 

Radiant foil on the greenhouse ceiling slows heat loss

 

I next put a sheet of radiant barrier on the door as well. This was a screen door without windows. I had previously put some window seal plastic sheeting on the door but it was not enough. Now I have a very good heat barrier on the door. You can feel the difference when you stand close to it.

 

I put some 2x3 lumber around the door, framing it in to stop wind from blowing around the door. This was a major source of heat loss before. The wind was just blasting around the door. The radiant foil also acts as a weather strip and seals off the door to the wood trim. This is a bonus I did not foresee.

 

Radiant Foil On Off Grid Greenhouse Door

 

I picked up a damper for the greenhouse wood stove and installed that too today. This will reduce heat loss through the stove pipe to the outside when I have the stove burning. The wood stove was burning way too fast and all the heat was going out the pipe before.

I started a fire and within minutes the greenhouse was heating up. With the insulated blankets on the windows and the radiant foil on the ceiling and door you can really feel the difference.

 

The greenhouse quickly got up to 51 degrees F.

 

I use the greenhouse as a wood working area for finishing my recycled pallet wood projects. This is the warmest and most dust free place on the homestead. I do not use varnish in the tiny house on wheels because I do not want that smell in there. So I do the varnishing work in the off grid greenhouse. Now that there is no wind blasting through it is relatively dust free. With the wood stove going the varnish cures pretty fast in there.

 

Recycled Pallet Wood Coffee Coasters & Tea Lights

 

You can find our recycled pallet and barn wood products in our store here: RecycledPalletProducts.com

 

Please be sure to bookmark the site and stop back often. We are constantly adding new products as we go. We have tons of ideas still to come.

 

You can watch todays video on YouTube here: Radiant Foil On Insulated Greenhouse Ceiling & Door

About the Author

Troy Reid

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