Overall, in greenhouse sheds, the proportion of tempered glass used is much higher than that of insulating glass.
Core conclusion: Tempered glass is the absolute mainstream
The vast majority of modern glass greenhouses, especially large multi-span greenhouses, use tempered glass as their covering material, particularly diffused tempered glass. The application scope of insulating glass is very limited.
Cause analysis: Why is tempered glass the mainstream?
1. Advantages of tempered glass (Meeting the core requirements of greenhouses)
High safety (the most crucial factor) : Greenhouse sheds need to withstand hail, strong winds, snow accumulation and even occasional accidental impacts. The strength of tempered glass is 3 to 5 times that of ordinary glass. Even if it breaks, it will shatter into small and blunt particles, greatly reducing the risk of injury to people. This is incomparable to ordinary glass and insulating glass (untempered).
Strong thermal shock resistance: The temperature difference between the inside and outside of the greenhouse is large. The surface temperature of the glass is very high under direct sunlight during the day, but it may drop rapidly at night or on rainy days. Tempered glass can withstand such drastic temperature changes very well without cracking easily.
Relatively low cost: Compared with insulating glass, the production cost of single-pane tempered glass is much lower. For a greenhouse project covering a vast area, material cost is a crucial consideration factor.
Light weight: Under the same area, the weight of a single piece of tempered glass is much lighter than that of insulating glass, which means lower requirements for the greenhouse frame structure and can save a large amount of steel costs.
Specialized development: In recent years, scattered tempered glass specifically developed for greenhouses has become very popular. It can convert direct sunlight into scattered light, allowing the light to be more evenly distributed to all parts of the plant (including the middle and lower leaves), reducing leaf scorching and enhancing the overall photosynthetic efficiency.
2. Disadvantages of Insulating Glass (in Greenhouse Scenarios)
High cost: Insulating glass is composed of two or more pieces of glass, aluminum spacers and desiccants. Its production process is complex and the cost is much higher than that of single-pane tempered glass.
Heavy weight: Its weight is more than twice that of a single piece of glass of the same area, which imposes extremely high load-bearing requirements on the greenhouse support structure and will significantly increase the construction cost.
Core function mismatch: The core function of insulating glass is heat insulation and heat preservation (with a low K value), mainly achieved through a dry air layer or inert gas layer in the middle. This is crucial for building doors and Windows, but for plant greenhouses:
During the day, heat is needed: The greenhouse itself is a "collector", and during the day, it is hoped that as much sunlight as possible can enter to raise the indoor temperature.
Insulation requirements can be replaced: Although insulation at night is important, for large production greenhouses, there are usually more economical and efficient insulation measures such as dedicated insulation curtains, rather than relying on expensive glass materials themselves. The insulation advantage of insulating glass is not cost-effective in greenhouses.
There is a risk: If the edge seal of the insulating glass fails, fogging and condensation will occur inside, affecting the light transmittance and being irreparable.
Application scenarios of insulating glass (a Few Special cases)
Although not mainstream, insulating glass may be used in the following specific situations:
Research or display greenhouses: Some greenhouses used for precise botanical research or high-end flower display have extremely high requirements for the stability of environmental temperature and may spare no expense in using double-glazed glass to achieve the best insulation effect.
Small family sunroom/eco-house: When this space is used both for plant cultivation and as a living space, there is a dual demand for heat preservation and sound insulation. Insulating glass will then become a suitable choice.
Special projects in extremely cold regions: In regions with extremely cold winters, in order to significantly reduce heating energy consumption during winter, some projects may consider using insulating glass.
