ELECTRIC HEAT IN GREENHOUSES.

Shannon News, 22 May 1928, Page 4

ELECTRIC HEAT IN GREENHOUSES.

EXPERIMENTS BY POWERfBOARD

STATF.

FURTHER RESEARCH PROVIDED

FOR,

The question of the suitability of electricity for heating greenhouses was briefly investigated at the meeting of the Horowhenua Power Board on Tuesday, when Mr C. Blenkhorn called attention to an item in the financial statements showing that £26 was spent last year for experiments in this class of heating;. The engineer (Mr.J. A. Sinl'li) stated that at a-local iiurseryitlie electric heating was being used far some propagating beds.. As for the plan of electrically healing a .whole greenhouse when the temperature outside was freezing,, it did not seem successful; it had been tried afc Otaki. At Shannon the electric heat was used for a forcing bed on a small scale. In these cases, it .was quite successful. The heating of large greenhouses, however; required too much current —it was too cost■iy- . . '

Mr Blenkhorn pointed out that there was a ready market .in Wellington for early fruits. Mr. A. J. Petherick. suggested the use of electric heat for incubators, provided that a .continuous supply of current could.be guaranteed. The Engineer stated .that it was used for a brooder; also an incubator,was made in which electric current could be utilised, with cither a' device to give warning if the supply failed or a means of automatically lighting a lamp.

Mr Blenkhorn said he understood that the greenhouse experilments were not being proceeded with. The chairman said that the experiments at Otaki would have been more successful if the users of the current had carried out the officers' instructions; but other Use was made of the hot water. There must be co-ordination between the .consumers and the Board in such experiments. t Mr Blenkhorn thought it should be possible to adapt the current, to small greenhouses, as many people in the district were making a living partly, or wholly from horticulture. / The Engineer stated that, with one or two exceptions, while people liked the Board's staff to make apparatus for them, they could not be relied, upon for any help or information. Mr Blenkhorn: If a satisfactory means could be got of heating a glasshouse, it would be a' paying proposition for the Board. It is a night load, and that is one of the advantages. The Engineer: But they want to put it on in the day-time until 10 a.m. He added that he would gather as much information as possible on all the different prospective loads. Mr Blenkhorn moved that a vote be again placed on the estimates for horticultural experiments, and the chairman stated that it could be provided for under the heading of the miscellaneous vote.