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Greenhouse tabletop warmer for plant propagation

Wayco Wayne_2
Wayco Wayne_2 Member Posts: 2,479
We have a customer who needs an agrimat for tabletop warming. They place the pots with the seedlings on top of the tubes of these mats warmed by boiler water to help the seeds grow. Up until now they have used the solar mats usually used in Florida for swimming pool heaters. Pretty smart actually, however these mats do not have an oxygen barrier and have been corroding out circulators. We could keep using them and install a Flat plate HX and an extra circ or, find another similar product that has an oxygen barrier. I'm up for making my own but they didnt seem to like that idea. :(

Comments

  • Larry Weingarten
    Larry Weingarten Member Posts: 3,599
    Hi, Are pump/s the only ferrous part being damaged? If so, going bronze or stainless would be easy. Would replacing the mats be a lot of work? If so, going the HX route makes sense... or use barrier PEX and find a way to create a flat surface over it so the pots don't tip... like plastic pegboard? Ideas are easy. Making them work is a bit harder ;)

    Yours, Larry
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,440
    We did this once and used pvc on the tables. We piped every table reverse return and ran pex up to the pvc. We insulated under the pvc and wrapped the tables in plastic. Filled system with glycol as well. It was time consuming, but it works well.
  • Wayco Wayne_2
    Wayco Wayne_2 Member Posts: 2,479
    Nice. I'd love to see a picture, but is pvc oxygen barrier? I don't think it is. I may just have to install a heat exchanger.