THERMO-CUBE!

[osideterry]

Already thinking about next winter. I came across this thing. The TC-3 turns on when temps reach 35F, and shuts off when it hits 45F. Might be nice to use in heating a greenhouse.

http://www.thermocube.com/

[MattyB]

Hmmmmmmmmm.  It's a thermostat.

[PalmGuyWC]

I must be sick, sick, sick!  It's 95F (35C) outside and I'm already worrying about the coming winter. I have plenty of bamboo to make frames this winter. I should have bought that property in Hawaii 40 years ago. By today's standards it was a giveaway, but it was 5 acres in the middle of a cane field. (with an ocean view and beautiful soil).  Augggggg. I was young, no money, and stupider then.

Dick

[osideterry]

This summer is even more hot and humid than last year, and it's making me paranoid that we're in a weird pattern. I'll have to pay for this summer humidity with the exact opposite whether in the winter. Wondering where to go to buy frost cloth. I'm more like a neurotic Woody Allen character than Eor.

[Palmy]

95!? Man we have been chilly all day. May have hit 73 today. Crazy microclimates. Im worrying too, hope we dont have one of those big ole nasty freezes. Actually Im working on a little greenhouse to stick over palms when we have a freeze.

[WestCoastGal]

Yes, I know this is a very old thread..... but I just came upon a garden forum site that mentioned this product to use with christmas tree light to add warmth during the winter temps and did a search for it here and voila thread was already started.

We are contemplating palms and other plants now for our landscape plan and while going for more cold hardy ones would like to have some potted higher zone ones that could go into the garage maybe during frosty times. Seemed like a product worth considering. Has anyone ever used one of their products?

[Alicehunter2000]

WCG....don't know about the products but the late Dick Douglas....PalmguyWC...who posted on this thread has some great threads of his garden that may pertain to alot of the species you would be able to grow. I think that your climates may be similar ....yours may be a bit warmer. He was heavily into Butia and cocoid hybrids and had a lot of mature specimens to see. It might help in planning your landscape.

[MattyB]

Thermocube! Cool! I forgot about that. Very interesting. I have no idea.

[Mandrew968]

  On 2/22/2013 at 4:30 PM, MattyB said:

Thermocube! Cool! I forgot about that. Very interesting. I have no idea.

I looked at the device and was even more confused!

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks David. Yes, we were living in similar weather climates although Dick's was more humid than ours. We have low humidity except for the winter when the fog is present. Few to no mosquitos is a plus for where I live though. We may also get a bit colder than his area. 113 one summer was the highest since living here but that was a record I think, probably hotter than his area as well. Dick was kind enough to extend a offer to visit when I first came to the forum and unfortunately the timing was bad for us. I have been through many, many of his posts and photos of his garden for inspiration though.

My interest in the Thermo Cube is more for those plants I know won't do well outside during our winter dips, like our bouganvillea trees, crotons, and potted higher zone palms that I want to add outside for color and interest during the spring to fall timeframe. Neither my husband nor I want to start frost clothing every night and morning when it get too cold. From posts here it sounds like more people have come to that conclusion after this winter as well. The Thermo Cube would be for plants housed in our garage mostly, although we have recently added in-use covered outlets to our yard so potentially could run holiday light strands in places we really couldn't before. I liked the idea that it turns off and on by itself when within a particular temp range so wouldn't waste electricity.

I see that Home Depot sells them so may stop in and see if any are in stock. Might be able to give it a test run this season. Am still hoping someone has tried this out and can give feedback. It's not expensive, but if it's not reliable than kind of pointless, and we'd be better off just using outdoor holiday light timers with or without remotes to turn on the light strands.

[Moose]

  On 2/22/2013 at 9:50 AM, Alicehunter2000 said:

WCG....don't know about the products but the late Dick Douglas....PalmguyWC...who posted on this thread has some great threads of his garden that may pertain to alot of the species you would be able to grow. I think that your climates may be similar ....yours may be a bit warmer. He was heavily into Butia and cocoid hybrids and had a lot of mature specimens to see. It might help in planning your landscape.

[Jimhardy]

  On 9/6/2007 at 6:49 PM, osideterry said:

Already thinking about next winter. I came across this thing. The TC-3 turns on when temps reach 35F, and shuts off when it hits 45F. Might be nice to use in heating a greenhouse.

http://www.thermocube.com/

Terry

I use them for my T.ferns(also a T.Martianus)and my Washy-they work great!

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for posting your experience JimHardy. I was actually wondering if you used it or something like this after seeing your Iowa garden thread. Despite seeing the product listed on the above companies' websites, when I called our local stores none of them said they had the product in stock locally so I may have to order it onlne without actually seeing it. Good to know you have found it reliable.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

This looks interesting, except that the cubes have temperature selections that are utterly useless for my climate. On at 35F off at 45F would result in an enormous energy bill. I need an "on at 30F, off at 35F" unit, now that would be useful. I have a number of orchard heaters that could be programmed to come on below 32F. The best type of unit I have relies on propane and has an electric fan that blows warm air into the surroundings. Not only can it keep air from going stagnant and freeze, but the convective nature of this unit means it's actually effective especially in densely packed under-canopy palms. It would be great to install these permanently in the Winter and let them do their job unattended.

[WestCoastGal]

Hear you about the temp settings. I wonder how they arrived at them. Maybe they figure shutting off and on more frequently as the warm air cools a few degrees wasn't worth it. I'm planning on just running a few lights bulbs, low wattage, to heat up a greenhouse set up inside our garage, so doubt it will be that costly for us. Main plan for it would be for small potted palms and plants like my bouganvillea trees.

JimHardy, think I asked this over on your garden thread but what wattage light bulbs were you running in your Ice Station Zebra tenting there in Iowa?