Articles
Polycarbonate Sheets
by Designer Desig Business ManIn a way to not focus on the rubbish weather we have at the moment maybe you are turning your thoughts to summer?! Do you find yourself staring wistfully out into your garden, picturing a future in which your oversaturated grass is bright green and there is no mud in sight! Maybe you have gone one step further and have begun to imagine a greenhouse at the bottom of your garden? There is just one problem, you have children and you are worried about having a building made entirely made of glass.
Many gardeners in Europe (especially Germany) have begun to use polycarbonate sheets rather than glass, as a great alternative to a traditional greenhouse. As well as being a lot safer than glass polycarbonate sheets are actually better value than their glass equivalent (their initial cost may be a bit more but will last a lot longer and is much less easily damaged)! On top of this, due to their safer nature, polycarbonate greenhouses are a lot easier to assemble and it really takes a lot to damage these sheets which have been referred to as ‘bullet proof’.
It is easy to find specific thickness of greenhouse polycarbonate sheets depending on what you are planning on growing within your greenhouse. When you look up the importance of greenhouse sheeting then you will be faced with a lot of R and U numbers which, ultimately, tell you:
R-Value – the measurement
of the 'insulating ability' of the material. The higher the value the better it
is at insulating
U-Value - the
measurement of 'heat loss' that is capable through the material. The lower the value
the less heat can escape.
Here is a list of the common greenhouse coverings that you can get in the UK and their equivalent R and U values:
|
Greenhouse Covering |
R - Value |
U - Value |
|
Polyethylene
film , single layer |
0.83 |
1.20 |
|
Single
Pane Glass, 3mm |
0.95 |
1.05 |
|
4mm
Double Wall Polycarbonate |
1.43 |
0.70 |
|
6mm
Double Wall Polycarbonate |
1.54 |
0.65 |
|
8mm
Double Wall Polycarbonate |
1.60 |
0.63 |
|
10mm
Double Wall Polycarbonate |
1.89 |
0.53 |
|
Double
Pane Storm Windows |
2.00 |
0.50 |
|
8mm
Triple Wall Polycarbonate |
2.00 |
0.50 |
|
3.5mm Twin-Wall Polyethylene |
2.10 |
0.48 |
|
5mm
Twin-Wall Polyethylene |
2.30 |
0.43 |
On top of all this, polycarbonate is actually capable of reducing the amount of harmful UV rays that are transmitted in sunlight, meaning that it reduces the chance of sunburn. And if you are worried by what a plastic sheet will actually look like, polycarbonate sheets are 100% as clear as a glass plane!
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About Designer Desig 
Business Man
7 connections, 0 recommendations, 29 honor points.Joined APSense since, September 4th, 2012, From Lahore, Pakistan.
Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.
