I have a polycarbonate greenhouse like this .The door is very light and it's on hinges and swings open outside like a normal door.I want to design some sort of doohickey to automatically open the door in the morning and close it at night.I am experienced in electronics so making the timer which controls a motor is not an issue , but am unable to think of some simple mechanical solution i can easily diy, that will actually utilize the motor spin to open the door itself.It also has to be possible to open the door manually if it's closed.Any ideas fellow anon frens?
>>2992936the point of a greenhouse (among other things) is to keep out pests. leaving the door open all day defeats this purpose.
>>2992941It's not like you have any choice. If you keep the door closed the plants inside will cook to death. Insects were never an issue, if you are worried about those you could install a mosquito net
I can't find a picture to make sure but I think the ones at the botanic garden are a rack and pinion system. You would have to deal with the bulk of the rack sticking out into the enclosure.
>>2992936I assume the 'door' you are talking about is the vent in the roof and not the door for people. Moving something like that if it is a tight fit would require some rather robust mechanism compared to a much simpler solution. Put a hole in the thing near the ridge and install a fan. Use a louvered fan like picture related and size it to your needs. When not blowing the louvers close to keep the heat in. Maybe add mesh if bugs are getting in. Now all you need a simple timer or thermometer. They make solar powered ones or you could just use a DC fan and rig up some batteries. It would probably need less power than whatever would be robust enough to acuate that door anyway.
>>2992946Heres a pic of what im talking about but at the Brooklyn botanic garden this whole system is on the inside high up near the roof. Can just have one motor for several windows.Use sendcutsend or something similar for the gears/racks.
>>2992948No i mean the actual door not the window. For the window you can just use this which costs like 20 bucks.>>2992951Hmm seems a bit complicated, i wonder if i can just have basically two rubber bands one that pulls it open and one that pulls it closed and use the motor as a winch
>>2992936Do this poli greenhouses make a lot of noise when it rains?
>>2992936small stepper motor with a cam on it?add in an auto door closing arm, or weight the door to swing closed if the cam is retracted. likely have to remove the latch within the door handle to simplify things.
>>2992936put you motor on a wheel and attach the wheel to the door, maybe use a gear reduction if the door is heavyor put the motor on a gear which pulls a chain like a rack and pinion
>>2992936>>2992945There exist thermally expanding greenhouse window struts (filled with some gas) that open the windows proportionally to the inside temperature, purely mechanical. Just install one sideways on the door. Theres no way it will get too hot if both ceiling windows are open and the door is at 5” gap
>>2992936>I want to design some sort of doohickey to automatically open the door in the morning and close it at night.so then do it. why are you here?
>>2992941just use meshes in the openings
