Greenhouses are designed to respond to exterior control elements, to the rise and fall of the sun. The glass panels permit radiated sunlight to penetrate the walls of the structure and feed plant life, thus triggering growth cycles and maintaining the lush greenery within. The role of the evaporative cooler in this scene is to maintain the environment, for the inner atmosphere has to preserve a set temperature and humidity level while these outer variables are rising and falling. In other words, the weather outside is changing but that efficient evaporative cooler is acting as a workhorse climate controller and maintaining the growth cycle as set by the greenhouse manager.
The average layperson interacts with a greenhouse at a strictly amateur level, never realizing that immense horticultural buildings are dotted across the country. These structures grow temperature-sensitive crops in hostile regions and act as agronomy laboratories where new strains of crops can be developed. A series of evaporative coolers works in concert with automated louvre systems and low-wattage fans to create an environment that replicates a season or even a particular month of the year. Additionally, the pads of the cooler add humidity control to this artificial atmosphere, partnering with temperature control to duplicate the water-laden habitat of the crop.
The Key Elements of Greenhouse Cooling
Greenery requires light, humidity, air and nutrition. The job of the staff within the greenhouse is to take advantage of the orientation of the structure when funneling light to the crop. The staff then sets a nutrition schedule and charts the growth calendar of the produce, chronicling the natural growth cycle and adjusting the settings on the evaporative cooler to reflect the season. It’s a great deal more challenging than setting up a little greenhouse at the end of a hobbyist’s garden. Orientation and humidity are indeed key, with natural breezes stirring wetted leaves when the ceiling-mounted electric fans are activated as part of this simulated outdoor setting. Let’s just say that the evaporative cooler is a crucial part of what is in fact a fully realized artificial habitat.
Evaporative Cooling Practicalities
In a greenhouse setting, natural principles are encouraged whenever possible. Water pipes create a slight chill as they run along the length of the structure. Healthy sunlight, heavy with the light spectrum that plant life requires, filters through high-quality panes of glass. There’s a slight breakage in the environment at this point due to the low insulating properties of glass. Outer airflow, especially in warmer months, will penetrate the glass and offset the careful design of the simulated environment. Evaporative coolers draw water from the local pipes and use a fan/pad arrangement to address the infiltrating heat passing through the glass and rebalance the inner atmosphere, thus maintaining maximum growth and consistently better crops.