5 ms·

Does the warmth of a traditional greenhouse melt snow from the roof?

mjevans 7y ago
I would assume it must simply remain warm enough, while being sloped enough and continuously bleeding enough heat to achieve the next step, to melt a lubricating layer of water from the contact ice and allow it to easily slide off.
- acomjean 7y ago
  I think the slope helps a lot. If you look at a lot of homes in areas that get a lot of snow, they’re sloped so the snow slides off. Glass would probably help this too. My parents owned a flat roof home briefly and had to shovel it.
cgh 7y ago
Greenhouses depend on at least some sunshine to stay warm, as mentioned in the article. If it's snowing, it isn't sunny, and if the snow piles up, then you have trouble. Around here, it's not unusual to get half a metre of snow overnight. The greenhouse these people built is made from glass and it's difficult to see it surviving a proper winter. Another problem with this is humidity. I wonder how they deal with possible mould and dampness?
- pbnjay 7y ago
  The have a furnace and no roof, so I would assume worst case they blast the heat and melt some of the snow so it slides off. Humidity - the greenhouse opens up so they can easily let out excess moisture.
  - cgh 7y ago
    Right, that makes sense. I guess there is some experience required to keep things dry. I am no fan of humidity so for me personally, I think this setup would be a struggle.
    - macintux 7y ago
      I love humidity. This is inspiring all sorts of interesting ideas for me.
- chrisco255 7y ago
  It's a 10 year old house so it has survived a few winters already...in Sweden.
  - cgh 7y ago
    I assume by "...in Sweden", you are implying Stockholm gets fierce winters. But it doesn't really. It gets a lot of sun (comparatively) and not much snow. I was wondering about real snowfall accumulation.
    - Moru 7y ago
      We have greenhouses far north of Stockholm too and they work just fine so far. They can be built quite stable and ofcourse they do that where snow is expected.
    - ptaipale 7y ago
      Stockholm doesn't get much sun in the winter. Average for the month of December is somewhere around 20 hours. (per the whole month). https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-hours-Sunshine,Stockholm,Sweden https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-hours-Sunshi...
loeg 7y ago
The roof isn't flat, so you don't need to melt all the snow. Just the thin layer at the bottom that makes contact with the glass, and the rest should slide off.

I would assume it must simply remain warm enough, while being sloped enough and continuously bleeding enough heat to achieve the next step, to melt a lubricating layer of water from the contact ice and allow it to easily slide off.

acomjean 7y ago
I think the slope helps a lot. If you look at a lot of homes in areas that get a lot of snow, they’re sloped so the snow slides off. Glass would probably help this too. My parents owned a flat roof home briefly and had to shovel it.

cgh 7y ago

Greenhouses depend on at least some sunshine to stay warm, as mentioned in the article. If it's snowing, it isn't sunny, and if the snow piles up, then you have trouble. Around here, it's not unusual to get half a metre of snow overnight. The greenhouse these people built is made from glass and it's difficult to see it surviving a proper winter. Another problem with this is humidity. I wonder how they deal with possible mould and dampness?

pbnjay 7y ago
The have a furnace and no roof, so I would assume worst case they blast the heat and melt some of the snow so it slides off. Humidity - the greenhouse opens up so they can easily let out excess moisture.
- cgh 7y ago
  Right, that makes sense. I guess there is some experience required to keep things dry. I am no fan of humidity so for me personally, I think this setup would be a struggle.
  - macintux 7y ago
    I love humidity. This is inspiring all sorts of interesting ideas for me.
chrisco255 7y ago
It's a 10 year old house so it has survived a few winters already...in Sweden.
- cgh 7y ago
  I assume by "...in Sweden", you are implying Stockholm gets fierce winters. But it doesn't really. It gets a lot of sun (comparatively) and not much snow. I was wondering about real snowfall accumulation.
  - Moru 7y ago
    We have greenhouses far north of Stockholm too and they work just fine so far. They can be built quite stable and ofcourse they do that where snow is expected.
  - ptaipale 7y ago
    Stockholm doesn't get much sun in the winter. Average for the month of December is somewhere around 20 hours. (per the whole month). https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-hours-Sunshine,Stockholm,Sweden https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-hours-Sunshi...

loeg 7y ago

The roof isn't flat, so you don't need to melt all the snow. Just the thin layer at the bottom that makes contact with the glass, and the rest should slide off.