Cooling it down- how do you do it?

[kath]

I'm planning to grow a Heliamphora inside, on a windowsill, with a container over the top of it for humidity. Now, of course the main problem with this, is the temperatures, because it will warm up in an enclosed space, so i've come up with a few ways of stopping it warming up to much. I thought I'd post them here, so you could comment and give feedback on them...

1. Ventilation: cooling the 'mini greenhouse' by having holes ('vents') in the greenhouse to allow hot air out, and cool air in.

2. Shading: Diffuse the light, or block some of it out, to block out some of the heat.

3. Circulation: Place a small fan in the container to circulate the air and keep it cool.

4. Evaporative Cooling: Position a small fan so it blows over the surface of a pot of water (or the damp soil) and so as it evaporates the water, thus cooling the air down.

5. Reflecting: Reflect the excess light which is what creates 78% of the heat, out of the greenhouse.

6. Cooling: Wrap a bottle of frozen water in tin-foil, and place it in the container to allow it to slowsly cool down the air.

So, those are my options. Quite a lot of them. (Whoever said you can't grow Heliamphora on a windowsill!!) What do you think?

 

[JMurphy97]

I know the fan will blow the humidity away so that's not good. You really should not shade because well windows you don't get a lot of light as it starts with. What about open the window?

 

[theyellowdart]

I really don't think you'll have to much of a problem with heat. I have a greenhouse style terrarium with ventilation holes and it never gets very hot.

But if you're really worried about it...
I would use a combination of option 1 and 3.
Pick up one of those mini pocket sized fans, like this one

Cut a hole about half the size of the blade (to prevent humidity loss) in the side of the greenhouse and put the fan in front of it on the outside. Cut another whole on the opposite side for circulation.
If the holes are small, you shouldn't lose too much humidity.

-Matt

 

[Not a Number]

Jury rig a "swap cooler" or "wet wall":

Reservoir of water up top, netting draped out of the reservoir into a tray underneath. A fan blows or draws air through the netting. Water evaporating from the netting cools the air and adds humidity. Recirculate and top off the water from the tray to reservoir. Capillary action, gravity and evaporation should draw the water down the netting.

Factors such as ambient temperature relative humidity, air flow from fan and the netting material will effect relative cooling.