After decades of iterative development of the greenhouse planting industry, temperature control and ventilation has become the core link in determining the survival rate of crops, harvest yield, and quality of agricultural products, and the greenhouse window system is the indispensable hardware carrier in the entire greenhouse ventilation management system. Greenhouse is closed or semi-closed space, solar radiation during the day continues to raise the temperature in the shed, high temperature, high humidity in a closed environment is very easy to give birth to mold, whitefly, aphids and other pests and diseases, while the imbalance of carbon dioxide concentration will impede the photosynthesis of the plant; the shed cools down at night, the condensation of wet air to form the dew on the surface of the leaves, the long-term accumulation of water will be induced by the root and stem rot, the reasonable opening of the windows and ventilation can be accurately regulated in the shed temperature and humidity, air oxygen content and carbon dioxide ratio, from the greenhouse ventilation management system, the greenhouse ventilation system is the essential hardware carriers. Reasonable ventilation can accurately regulate the temperature and humidity, air oxygen content and carbon dioxide ratio in the shed, to ensure the healthy growth of crops from the bottom of the environment, which is also the underlying logic of the modern greenhouse standardized window opening equipment.
Before the popularization of automatic window products, the vast majority of small and medium-sized growers rely on manual completion of the greenhouse windows, window operations, artificial ventilation drawbacks in the actual planting scenarios are infinitely amplified: spring and summer high temperatures at noon in the shed for a short period of time to heat up rapidly, planting staff is difficult to squat in the greenhouse around the clock, often miss the best window cooling nodes, short-term high temperature burning will cause vegetable leaf burning, melon and fruit deformities; the large temperature difference between day and night in the Spring and autumn season, the evening cooling speed, artificial window closing is not timely, the night low-temperature frost damage will directly damage seedlings; large-scale continuous greenhouse parks can easily be thousands to tens of thousands of square meters, one by one greenhouse manually open and close the skylight, the side windows need to spend a lot of manual labor, labor costs rise year by year in the modern agricultural environment, the artificial ventilation has become an important short board of compression of the profitability of the planting. In contrast, the automated greenhouse window opener relies on temperature sensing, electric drive, solar energy storage and other technologies to realize unattended automatic opening and closing of vents, significantly circumventing the lag of manual control and labor consumption, and becoming a modern greenhouse renovation, new greenhouse projects just need accessories.
This guide is accurately oriented to the three major groups of users: the first is the open-air greenhouse, self-built courtyard greenhouse gardening enthusiasts and home growers, such users greenhouse area is small, priority attention to the cost-effective, easy to install, free wiring products; the second is the scale of fruit and vegetable nursery, flower planting, Chinese herbal cultivation of commercial planting bases, the base of the greenhouse area is large, the shed structure is complex, the window opener load-bearing, durability, The third category is greenhouse parts dealers, agricultural stores, greenhouse engineering supporting suppliers, suppliers need to rely on product parameters, category advantages and disadvantages, applicable scenes to complete product selection, source screening, end customer promotion.
Input compliant and durable greenhouse window opener can create benefits for users from four major dimensions: first, energy saving and consumption reduction, automatic temperature control window can be ventilated on demand, reducing the frequency of starting and stopping high-power water curtain fan in summer and heating equipment in winter, reducing water and electricity energy consumption; secondly, saving labor costs, completely eliminating the need for round-the-clock manual inspection of the window of the labor expenses, the continuous greenhouse can save tens of thousands of dollars of labor expenses each year; thirdly, improving crop Yield and quality of crops, the shed environment in the crop suitable for long-term growth zone, the incidence of pests and diseases decreased, the rate of commercial fruit yield significantly increased; the fourth extreme weather protection, unexpected high temperatures, cold weather, the window opener in accordance with the preset parameters automatically open and close, to avoid the extreme weather for a short period of time to destroy the crops in the shed, reduce the natural disasters brought about by the planting of the loss.
The core function of the greenhouse window opener is to rely on the sensor element or power structure, according to the environmental temperature change to complete the greenhouse skylight, side window opening and closing, according to the power source is divided into passive temperature control drive, active energy drive two major technology routes, different categories of products core operating logic there is a clear distinction between the overall structure of the overall structure by the main body of the power, transmission support accessories are composed of the two basic modules.
From the general core accessories disassembly point of view, regardless of passive wax window opener or electric motor models window opener, the basic spare parts contain power cylinder/piston structure, fixed mounting bracket, push-pull transmission arm three major parts. Cylinder is the core of the power source: the wax window opener relies on the thermal wax in the cylinder to expand with heat and contract with cold to generate mechanical thrust; electric models rely on the built-in motor, gear structure to output push and pull power; hydraulic models rely on the volume of hydraulic oil to achieve transmission. The mounting bracket bears the fixed role of the whole equipment and greenhouse frame, window frame, bracket material, hole specifications directly determine the window opener installation firmness, poor quality thin tin bracket is very easy to deformation in the windy weather fall off. Transmission arm as an intermediate force components, connecting the cylinder piston end and greenhouse window, the thrust generated by the cylinder into the window opening and closing mechanical displacement, arm length, load-bearing strength to determine the maximum window opening stroke and can bear the weight of the window. In addition to the basic mechanical structure, the intelligent upgraded window opener is additionally equipped with ambient temperature sensor, humidity probe, WiFi control module and external thermostat, which can be detached from the body with its own temperature control logic, and accurately start and stop according to the instructions of the external controller.
The passive window opener takes the physical property of thermal expansion and contraction of thermal wax as the core working principle, also known as thermal window opener in the industry, and the whole process does not require external power supply, solar panels and other external energy supply accessories, and belongs to the non-energy-consuming automatic ventilation equipment. When the temperature inside the greenhouse rises to the preset opening threshold, the special heat-sensitive wax encapsulated inside the cylinder is gradually melted from solid to liquid by heat, and the volume expands regularly, and the internal pressure brought by the expansion pushes the piston forward, and the transmission arm opens the greenhouse window in the same way; when the temperature inside the greenhouse falls back to the preset closing temperature, the wax inside the cylinder cools down and solidifies, and shrinks, and the piston slowly shrinks back under the tension of the window’s self-weight and the built-in reset spring. When the temperature inside the greenhouse drops to the preset closing temperature, the wax inside the cylinder cools and condenses gradually, the piston slowly retracts under the weight of the window and the tension of the built-in reset spring, which drives the window to close automatically.
Active window openers include electric motor drive, solar power storage drive, hydraulic drive three categories, all need to rely on external energy to provide power, relying on electrical energy, hydraulic energy into mechanical thrust to achieve the opening and closing of the window. Electric motor models through the external 220V alternating current or low-voltage direct current for the built-in motor power supply, supporting the external thermostat to set the start-stop temperature, the temperature reaches the set value after the controller sends the signal to energize the motor forward and reverse drive the screw or gear drive, complete the window, close the window action; solar energy models belong to the essence of the low-voltage electric window opener variant, relying on solar panels during the day to absorb the light energy is stored to the built-in storage battery, battery Power supply for the motor, cloudy and rainy days, the amount of stored energy can still support several opening and closing operations; hydraulic window relying on hydraulic pumps to transport hydraulic oil, through oil pressure changes to promote the hydraulic cylinder piston to complete the transmission, power output stability is stronger, more for ultra-heavy-duty large-size ventilated windows.
The market circulation of greenhouse window opener in accordance with the driving principle, the energy supply mode is divided into wax thermal cylinder window opener, solar powered window opener, electric motor window opener, hydraulic heavy-duty window opener, manual lever window opener five categories, each category of product production costs, performance ceiling, the use of the threshold difference is significant, adaptable greenhouse specifications, planting scenarios are different, the following sub-category dismantling of the advantages and disadvantages of the product and the landing of the applicable scene. Scenarios.
Thermal wax cylinder window opener is a global family greenhouse, small single shed with the highest popularity rate of the window category, but also a representative of the passive window products, the product internal sealed encapsulation of industrial-grade thermal paraffin wax, relying on the wax body thermal expansion and contraction of the completion of the mechanical transmission, the factory is preset with a fixed trigger temperature, the conventional product opening threshold is mostly in the range of 22 ℃ to 28 ℃, part of the customized models can be fine-tuned opening and closing temperatures.
Product advantages: First, zero energy consumption, no wiring, no need to install solar panels, installation can work on their own, no late electricity, accessories, power supply loss costs; Second, easy to install, the whole set of equipment accessories streamlined, a single person with the help of a hand drill, screws can be completed to fix the installation, novice horticultural users can be independent of the construction; Third, the price of cheap, single conventional load-bearing models of the market price of low, small-scale greenhouse batch purchases Costs can be controlled; the fourth failure rate is extremely low, no motor, circuit boards and other precision electronic components, not subject to rainy days, lightning and humid environment, almost no daily maintenance.
Product short boards: the first opening and closing temperature factory fixed, ordinary mass production models can not be customized to adjust the trigger temperature, special hardy, temperature-loving crops can not be flexible to change the ventilation threshold; the second thrust upper limit is limited, the maximum load bearing conventional products more than 50kg or less, can not be adapted to a large area of fiberglass windows, heavy tempered glass skylight; the third low-temperature environment, slow response, the temperature fluctuations between day and night in the shed during the winter is small, the slow warming, wax When the temperature fluctuation between day and night in the shed is small and the temperature rises slowly in winter, the wax deformation speed becomes slower and the response of window opening lags behind; fourthly, the service life is greatly affected by the quality of wax, the paraffin wax in the cylinder of the low-end low-quality products is prone to evaporation and leakage, and it loses the ability of expansion and contraction in 1-2 years.
Applicable scenarios: courtyard household PC sun panel greenhouse, small single arched greenhouse, seedling shed within 100 square meters, succulent flowers mini greenhouse, is also the main product of agricultural stores volume, suppliers stocking the preferred basic models.
Solar window belongs to the low-voltage electric window branch, by the monocrystalline / polycrystalline solar panels, built-in lithium batteries, micro-drive motors, temperature control probe four-piece suite, solar panels during the day to collect light energy stored in the built-in battery, the battery for the motor to provide power supply, temperature control probe real-time collection of the temperature in the shed, to reach the set temperature after the motor to complete the operation to open and close the window.
Product advantages: First, get rid of external wiring restrictions, no utility access conditions of the field greenhouses, mountain greenhouses can be used; the second temperature parameters can be freely adjusted, the user on-demand set the opening and closing temperatures, adapted to the strawberries, blueberries, melons and other different crops temperature control needs; the third degree of integration is high, the new products are gradually equipped with a simple timer function, can be set to set fixed periods of time to force open the windows and ventilation; the fourth environmentally friendly and energy-saving, relying on natural light to store energy, long-term use of the motor to complete the opening and closing of the windows. Relying on natural light energy storage, long-term use without electricity expenses.
Shortcomings of the product: Firstly, in cold and rainy areas where it rains continuously for more than 7 to 10 days, the battery cannot work normally after the storage power is exhausted, and needs to be charged manually; secondly, there are many electronic parts, and there is a risk of moisture damage to the circuit boards and sensors under the environment of high humidity and greenhouse; thirdly, under the same load-bearing specifications, the product price is higher than that of a wax window opener, and the initial purchasing investment is higher.
Applicable scenarios: open-air greenhouses in mountainous areas far away from the utility power supply, simple arch greenhouse renovation projects in the field, small and medium-sized greenhouses for sightseeing and picking, which is the preferred category for the upgrading and renovation of suburban growers.
The electric window opener relies on 220V civil alternating current or 24V safe low-voltage power supply, divided into stand-alone independent temperature control models, bus linkage intelligent models, high-end models can be connected to the greenhouse environment control system, with temperature and humidity, CO₂ multi-type sensor linkage start-stop, is a modern greenhouse standard products.
Product advantages: first, strong power, large thrust models can drive hundreds of kilograms of heavy tempered glass skylight, suitable for oversized ventilation windows; second, temperature control parameters adjustable refinement, some models support segmented temperature control, set up more than one group of opening and closing temperatures in a day; third, intelligent expansion of space, WiFi intelligent models can be viewed remotely through the cell phone APP temperature in the shed, remote one-key window switching, to facilitate the management of the base of the off-site; Fourth, stable operation, not subject to rainy, light environment, all-weather stable operation.
Product shortcomings: the first must be laid power lines, no utility supporting greenhouse wiring construction costs are high in the early stage; the second daily electricity costs, uninterrupted operation of continuous greenhouses all year round will accumulate electricity costs; the third structure of the precision, motor, controller failure requires professional overhaul, the ordinary growers can not repair themselves.
Applicable scenarios: more than 1,000 square meters of continuous glass greenhouse, flower industrialization cultivation base, vegetable seedling factories, scientific research and experimental greenhouse, but also greenhouse engineering supporting suppliers of large orders of core products.
Hydraulic window to hydraulic oil as a transmission medium, relying on a small hydraulic pump station to provide hydraulic pressure, drive the hydraulic cylinder to complete the push-pull action, the product focuses on large load-bearing, high stability, belongs to the industrial-level greenhouse window equipment.
Product advantages: the first instantaneous thrust is much higher than the motor models and wax models, a single device can drive hundreds of kilograms of super-large roof ventilated windows; the second smooth operation without lagging, windy weather window force shift when the window is still smooth opening and closing, anti-deformation ability to pull the full; the third excellent resistance to high and low temperatures, the northern cold greenhouses, the southern high temperature and high humidity greenhouses can be run stably, the extreme environment of the failure rate is low.
Product shortcomings: the first set of equipment procurement cost is high, pump station + hydraulic cylinder complete set of selling price is far more than the rest of the categories, small area greenhouse input cost-effective is extremely low; the second installation and construction is complex, the need for professionals to lay hydraulic piping, debugging hydraulic, installation labor costs are high; third hydraulic piping there is aging oozing oil potential, the need for regular annual inspection of the oil seals, replenishment of the hydraulic oil, the maintenance process is cumbersome.
Scenario: large-scale modern agricultural industrial park greenhouse, high-standard sightseeing glass greenhouse, large-scale closed cultivation of edible fungi greenhouse, mostly greenhouse projects agreed upon supporting, scattered retail purchasing volume is very small.
Manual window openers rely on human levers, hand-cranked screw to realize the window opening and closing, without any automatic sensor components, is a pure mechanical human drive products, more as a backup package after the failure of automatic window openers.
Product advantages: First, the price of the whole category is the lowest, the procurement cost is almost no pressure; Second, the structure is very simple, all-metal mechanical structure without fragile electronic parts, the service life is almost not affected by the environment; Third, it can be controlled at any time, power failure, automatic window failure can be an emergency to open and close the window.
Product shortcomings: the whole process relies on manual operation, the loss of the core advantage of automatic ventilation, large greenhouses open the windows one by one, time-consuming and laborious.
Applicable scenarios: small simple shed spare parts, low-cost temporary nursery, remote farmers economic greenhouse, suppliers generally as a complementary gifts, packages sold in conjunction with the product.
Growers and suppliers in the screening window products, not only reference price and categories, need to combine their own greenhouse actual conditions check the core parameters, parameters match directly determine the use of the window opener effect and service life, the following item by item dismantling of the nine hard to buy indicators and additional reference conditions.
load-bearing pushing force
Thrust refers to a single window opener can stably carry, promote the maximum weight of the window sash, the industry commonly used kilogram (kg) labeling, market conventional products thrust spanning from 15kg light models to more than 50kg heavy-duty models, super-specification hydraulic products up to 200kg or more. Selection formula: the overall weight of the window sash × 1.3 safety factor = the minimum required thrust, reserve a safety factor to avoid the extra weight brought about by wind pressure in windy weather. pc sunlight panel lightweight window sash low weight, 15 ~ 25kg thrust wax casement windows can meet; single-layer tempered glass skylight weight is large, you need to choose more than 30kg thrust models; double-layer insulating glass heavy-duty window priority 50kg or more! Electric or hydraulic models. Suppliers need to stock up in accordance with light, medium and heavy specifications, matching the needs of customers with different window frame materials.
Temperature trigger interval
Trigger temperature that is, the window opener starts to open the window, close the window of the critical ambient temperature, wax quality production models are mostly fixed factory temperature (conventional open 25 ℃, close 18 ℃), adjustable models of solar energy, electric window temperature range generally support the 5 ℃ ~ 40 ℃ free setting. Cool crops (lettuce, cilantro, succulent) need to open low threshold products (about 20 ℃ window); heat-resistant fruits and melons (watermelon, pumpkin, dragon fruit) can be used above 28 ℃ high-temperature open models; northern spring and fall day and night temperature difference in the region, give priority to the use of adjustable temperature difference between the motorized models, flexible to adapt to seasonal temperature changes.
Piston stroke length
Stroke on behalf of the window opener piston maximum outstretched distance, directly determines the maximum width of the greenhouse window opening gap, conventional product stroke range of 80mm ~ 300mm. side window ventilation needs small, 80 ~ 150mm short stroke can be; top skylight needs large ventilation, priority 200mm or more long stroke products. When choosing the actual measurement of the maximum opening distance of the window frame, the stroke is slightly smaller than the limit of the window frame opening size, to avoid too long a trip top bad window frame.
Body materials and anticorrosion durability
Greenhouse internal high humidity, high water vapor, fertilizer volatile corrosive gases, window opener metal fittings anti-corrosion performance is the key to determine the service life. High-quality products cylinder body selection of 304 stainless steel, aviation-grade aluminum alloy material, bracket and transmission arm to do galvanized, spray anti-corrosion treatment; low-quality products using recycled thin tin, non-standard cast iron, greenhouse high humidity environment in 3 to 6 months will be rusted and stuck can not be retracted. Coastal saline air area, the use of organic fertilizers in large quantities of nursery sheds, must be full body stainless steel material products, inland dry field shed can choose conventional galvanized aluminum models.
Power supply mode
Power is divided into no energy consumption (wax passive), solar energy storage, 220V utility power, hydraulic pumping station energy supply four categories. No utility access to the field, mountain greenhouse priority wax or solar models; continuous standardized greenhouse has a perfect distribution system, priority utility electric models; ultra-heavy-duty large glass greenhouse optional hydraulic pump station models. Suppliers do customer selection recommendation, the first time to confirm the customer greenhouse power supply conditions, from the power dimension to lock the product categories.
Greenhouse frame compatibility
Different greenhouse frame profiles (galvanized steel pipe shed, aluminum alloy glass shed, brick window frame shed), window position (top skylight, side window) corresponding to different specifications of the mounting bracket, confirm the thickness of the window frame profiles, the installation of the reserved holes before purchase. Universal bracket is suitable for most of the round tube, square tube shed, customized bracket for aluminum alloy glass greenhouse separate molding; skylight vertical force, the priority of thickening the bracket heavy-duty window, side window lateral force can be selected from the light conventional models.
Intelligent expansion of additional functions
The basic model has only temperature control automatic start and stop, and the upgraded intelligent model is equipped with WiFi cell phone remote control, timed start and stop, greenhouse center control linkage, and high and low temperature overload protection. For large-scale growers who own multiple bases and can’t stay in the field, they should give priority to the APP smart model; the basic temperature-controlled model can meet the needs of retail home cultivation, and they don’t need to pay extra for the extra smart functions.
All-weather weather protection performance
Products need to withstand summer ultraviolet sun, heavy rain splash, winter frost, high-quality products circuit board to do sealing waterproof irrigation processing, cylinder sealing ring resistant to high and low temperature aging; low-end products without waterproofing, rainwater infiltration into the interior is very easy to cause wax body leakage, circuit board short circuit. Rainy and humid areas in the south must be IP65 or more waterproof grade products, frosty areas in the north to choose low-temperature modified wax, anti-freeze hydraulic oil models.
Installation difficulty and maintenance costs
A single person can independently install the simple models suitable for retailer self-installation, heavy-duty electric, hydraulic products require professional workers on-site construction, resulting in additional installation labor costs. Daily maintenance level: wax models almost zero maintenance, only wipe the surface dust every year; electric models every year to check the terminals, motor lubrication; hydraulic models every year to replace the oil seal, replenish the hydraulic oil. Growers comprehensive accounting of the whole life cycle of the use of cost, can not only compare the purchase price of a single product.
In addition, the product warranty period, brand reputation, budget is also an important reference: a regular brand warranty of 1 to 3 years, miscellaneous brands more than only 3 to 6 months short-term warranty; small budget family users prefer wax quality economic, long-term operation of the commercial base of the priority brand in the high-end electric products.
Installation of the necessary tools
Basic installation supplies: hand drill, stainless steel self-tapping screws, movable wrenches, tape measure, marking pen, level; electric / solar models additional equipment: insulating tape, wires, ties, waterproof junction box; hydraulic models supporting: hydraulic tubing, sealing washers, pipe pliers.
Step-by-step installation process
The first step: on-site measurement and positioning, using a tape measure to take the center point of the window frame and the greenhouse trellis fixed points, marking pen to mark the position of the openings, the level meter to calibrate the installation level, to avoid tilting the installation caused by the transmission of the jamming; the second step: fix the host bracket, the cylinder base bracket is firmly fixed in the greenhouse main frame profiles, screws are tightened all the way through the no loosening, the windy environment bracket shaking will directly shorten the life of the equipment; the third step Step 3: Installation of the transmission arm, one end connected to the output end of the piston, the other end is fixed in the window force points, reserved 5 ~ 10mm micro-gap, to prevent the window from closing the transmission arm after the long-term holding force; Step 4: power commissioning (electric / solar dedicated), the solar models to set up solar panels toward the optimal location of the south lighting, electric models standardized wiring to do a good job of waterproofing packages, power on to set up the opening and closing temperatures, manual simulation of temperature rise Test open windows, cooling test closed windows, confirm that the opening and closing of the smooth without stagnation; Step 5: wax models static test, outdoor sunlight static 2 ~ 3 hours, relying on natural warming to verify the action of the window, cool environment to see the effect of the automatic return to the closed position.
Optimize the installation location to enhance ventilation efficiency
The skylight opener is preferentially installed in the upper one-third position of the center of gravity of the window, which makes the force more stable; the side window equipment is installed in the middle and upper part of the window, so that the cold air enters from the lower part and the hot air is discharged from the upper part, which optimizes the convection of the air in the shed; and the point position of the opener is uniformly distributed in many consecutive windows, so as to avoid deformation of the window caused by the unilateral concentration of the installation force.
Automated window opening equipment is a greenhouse cost reduction and increase production of fresh inputs, short-term procurement expenditure can rely on savings in labor costs, improve the crop yield rate of fast payback, poor-quality, low-priced products may seem to save money, and the late frequent failures brought about by crop frostbite, high temperature yield loss rather than pay for itself. It is recommended that all purchasers based on the long-term use of demand, priority matching with qualified products suitable for working conditions, relying on standardized automatic ventilation system, maximizing the benefits of greenhouse planting.
