Modern living is convenient, instantaneous, and full of luxury, but there are some who prefer to get their hands a little dirty and others who want to take their food quality into their own hands. For those who grow their own produce crops, using a greenhouse is a great advantage, but greenhouse materials are often very overpriced. This leads many to wonder, can you use perspex for a greenhouse?
You can use perspex for a greenhouse. Perspex is tough, weather-proof, cheap, and far easier to handle than glass. Perspex is more efficient than glass for a greenhouse at a much lower price. Perspex is less environmentally friendly than glass and will not last as long.
Greenhouses are a great asset for any home-grown crops, and it can mean the difference between a high-yield harvest and a completely lost crop. The material that a greenhouse is made from is vital, and they are traditionally made from glass, but can you use perspex for a greenhouse? Let’s find out!
Can You Use Perspex For a Greenhouse?
Using a greenhouse is a great way to boost the production of crops and other plants and a way to increase the survival of the plants during the harsh, cold, or dry months of the year.
Growing produce in a greenhouse even allows you to grow your favorite crops out of season and allows you to cultivate the perfect environment for growing regardless f the time of year or the weather outside.
- This ensures that your plants and crops grow well every time.
- A greenhouse is a great asset for everyone who grows their own plants or food crops.
That being said, buying a greenhouse nowadays is incredibly expensive, and they are often the incorrect dimensions for a regular backyard. This leads many to construct their own greenhouse that suits their needs and fits their space.
When constructing a greenhouse, the first material that everyone considers is glass, as this is the traditional medium for greenhouse construction, but is there a better way? Can you use perspex for a greenhouse?
You can use perspex for a greenhouse! In fact, using perspex is the ideal construction for a greenhouse, as it has all the features and attributes of great greenhouse material.
It is weather-proof, shatter-proof, sturdy, UV resistant, thermo-insulating, transparent, cheap, easy to work with, readily available, and it can be used to construct any size or shape of greenhouse easily.
Glass was traditionally used for greenhouses because it is transparent, which allows sunlight in, while being rigid enough to form a building. However, it is no longer the best material for greenhouses, as perspex has quickly overtaken it in both effectiveness and functionality.
Here’s a good video from someone who’s owned both a glass greenhouse and a polycarbonate greenhouse:
Does Perspex Replace Glass In A Greenhouse?
Glass has been the greenhouse construction material of choice for ages, but many who construct their own greenhouses are leaning towards using perspex instead of glass. Does perspex replace glass in a greenhouse?
Glass is a good material for greenhouse construction, as it allows sunlight in, while still protecting the plants inside from the harsh outdoors while being rigid and insulating enough to cultivate an ideal plant-growing environment.
- This makes glass a good material, but these same characteristics make perspex the perfect material for greenhouse construction.
- Perspex can replace glass in a greenhouse, as it shares the same characteristics that make glass good for greenhouse construction while providing more benefits.
These two materials are both transparent to allow sunlight to shine through, and they are sturdy and thick enough to contain the environment of the greenhouse. However, these characteristics are the only benefits of using glass for a greenhouse, while modern perspex offers far more.
Perspex is the perfect material for greenhouse construction because it shares these characteristics, but it is also far cheaper, much more durable, more readily available, weather-resistant, and far easier to work with than glass.
Perspex has become more widely used than glass or other materials for greenhouses worldwide, as it is simply the superior material for greenhouses.
What Are The Advantages Of Using Perspex For Your Greenhouse?
Greenhouses are becoming more widely used all over the world, and greenhouse construction is becoming more sophisticated.
We have established that perspex is the ideal material for greenhouse construction, but what are some of the benefits of using this material as opposed to using a material such as glass or other plastics?
Some of the benefits of using perspex for a greenhouse rather than other materials are:
Inexpensive – perspex is a far more inexpensive, far more cost-effective material than glass. This allows a greenhouse to be built larger than it would be with glass, and it allows for more transparent areas of the greenhouse to allow light in.
Easy to cut and process – perspex is far easier to process than other materials because it is easy to cut and simple to join. It can be joined with glues or epoxy or with screws and cable-ties. It is a vastly versatile material that is easy to work with.
Durable and strong – perspex is very tough. It is far more durable than other plastics and much stronger than materials like glass. Perspex can be dropped or mishandled without taking much damage. This plastic is also rigid, which makes it good for construction, and it is unlikely to be broken easily.
Weather-proof – perspex is weather-proof. It is not affected by rain, snow, sunlight, heat, or cold. This makes it a great material for making a greenhouse, as it effectively protects the plants inside from the harsh outdoor environment.
Shatter-proof – perspex is shatter-proof which makes it far safer to use than glass and other plastics. It will not break into thousands of tiny shards of dropped or if something smashes into it. This makes perspex incredibly safe to use and reliable for a greenhouse.
Just as effective as glass – perspex has the same attributes that make glass good for a greenhouse while being as effective and far cheaper and easier to work with.
Traps heat – perspex is a good thermo-insulator. This means that it is effective for trapping heat within the greenhouse, which makes heating the greenhouse much cheaper and easier in winter.
Allows more light into the greenhouse – perspex allows more light into a greenhouse than other plastics, and even more than glass does because it is less reflective. This helps to promote the growth of the plants in the greenhouse if it is managed well.
UV resistant – perspex is UV resistant, which means that it takes less damage from the sun than other plastics do. This also helps to block some of the harmful sun rays from reaching the plants.
Conclusion
Perspex is a modern construction material that is often used in lieu of glass, and as it shares many of the same properties while being far cheaper and stronger than most types of glass.
This material is also weather-proof, hardy, and easy to work with. All of these attributes make perspex a great material for greenhouses.
This means that you can use perspex for a greenhouse safely and easily, knowing that it is a perfect material for the job.
Using perspex will reduce costs, allowing your greenhouse to be larger and more effective while also protecting the plants inside very well. It is a good insulator of heat, which makes keeping the internal environment of the greenhouse ideal for growing much more easily.
Perspex is perfect for greenhouses! Far better than other plastics and more efficient and cost-effective than glass. Using perspex for your greenhouse will be a choice that you do not regret!