Vent Opener Brands

I need to get some automatic vent openers. I've noticed that the Bayliss ones cost a bit more than other brands - are they any better and worth the extra money? Are the cheaper Univent ones just as good? I've also found some no name ones on the Farmtek website - I've seen positive stuff about Farmtek and their customer service. Are there any brands or models that you've had major problems with? I've seen lots of complaints about the "Harbor Freight" automatic vent openers.

Second question: My vents are wood framed with glass, probably 2 feet wide and 6 feet long - I'm figuring one standard vent opener (lifts 15 lbs.) won't do it. There are the "Gigavent" openers that lift 65 lbs ($$$), but I think I'd be better off with two of the standard ones since the vents are so long. Does this sound right? Has anyone used multiple openers on one vent? How difficult is it to get them all adjusted to work together?

I use a Bayliss I really love it.
Not sure about using 2 I guess as long as they were adjusted just right they would work but I might really consider the more heavy duty one just to be safe.

I decided to buy the Bayliss. However, I ordered them directly from the company since they seem to be out of stock almost everywhere else and they gave me a 10% discount since I ordered more than 6. Even with the shipping from the UK, it ended up being cheaper than buying them from one of the US distributors.

I decided to go with two of the standards rather than one heavy duty because I figured it might be harder on the wood frame to have all of the weight on one spot rather than divided up on two. The wood in my greenhouse is nearly 100 years old, so I didn't want to stress it any more than necessary.

I'll tell ya how it goes.

Yeah well probably good that you went with 2 of them. I wasn't thinking on those terms. I saw they were out everywhere I need a new one mine got broke in our move from Ct to Il. So the moving company is buying the next one.
I will be curious to know how well this works, I would like to have a bigger greenhouse someday.
Is the greenhouse 100yo ? Or you used reclaimed wood? too cool on either account.
Happy growing! So glad spring is almost here.

The greenhouse was built out of the parts from a commercial greenhouse built in the 1920's. My husband's godfather tried to start a business building them and he built this one as a prototype in his yard in Ohio almost 20 years ago. He and his wife never used it. So a few years ago I spotted it and he and my husband took it apart and rebuilt it in our yard in KY. This is the first year I've been able to really use it because it took a while to get the "finishing" stuff done on it. Hopefully we'll get a heater installed and a water line run to it before next winter.
I'll try to get the vent openers installed this weekend - I'll let you know how well the "tandem openers" work.

Cool !
Sounds nice. I would love to know how that works out. I would like to get a bigger greenhouse someday.
have fun with it!

snoggle
Could you post pictures of you greenhouse?

Sure, I love showing it off. It used to be white, but since we live in a log house, we figured the brown would fit in better. It has a bunch more stuff in it now, but here it is.

Sarah

Wow it is really pretty! I love it. I bet you are ready to get busy growing in there!

Yes, I understand why you would want 2 openers on the roof vent.

me too! When you said big you meant it.
But that is wonderful to have a huge roof vent.

You seem to be at the bottom of a hill. What is the summertime temp there?

Yeah, the vents were some of the doors on the original greenhouse, that's why they're so big.

Yep, the greenhouse is at the bottom of a "hill". Actually, we have about 50 acres, 49 of which are pretty much useless because they are all on a steep mountainside (a tough transition for us after Ohio). The flat part toward the bottom of the mountain (where the greenhouse and house are) is pretty much only flat because it was bulldozed to be that way. Life in Appalachia...

Anyway, you asked about the summertime temps - we're in zone 6, bordering on zone 7. The mountains and "hollers" result in a lot of microclimates, so I'd say my yard is more like zone 7. My bulbs and perennials always seem to be a couple of weeks ahead of similar ones nearby. Summer temps - highs probably average in the mid 80's and lows in the mid 60's.

Oh Ok that makes sense for the vents to be that large.
Sounds like you have great summer time temps.

I finished installing all of the Bayliss Vent openers last night. I got the ones for the side vents installed earlier this week and they are working well, but I didn't get to the roof vents until yesterday, but so far so good. It isn't hard to adjust them to work together.