Running a greenhouse or indoor grow operation is a tireless endeavor requiring significant resources. Managing the variables involved in running a commercial greenhouse or indoor grow space is a massive undertaking, but technology is changing that.
Greenhouse environmental controllers bring a high degree of efficiency in greenhouse management through automation, allowing growers to maximize their yields while keeping lowering expenses. Here are a few ways grow room controllers can save money in your greenhouse or indoor grow operation:
Labor Costs
Automated solutions can improve every aspect of the growing cycle from a single programmable controller. By monitoring and analyzing environmental conditions, you can easily program a controller to create environmental consistency by turning devices such as lighting, curtains, vents, exhaust fans, and more automatically.
Sensors throughout the greenhouse measure temperature, humidity, CO2, light, and VPD so that your grow room controller can automatically adjust conditions to ensure your growing environment has the ideal conditions at all times. You'll spend less on labor and save hours by monitoring the dozens of variables that go into greenhouse management virtually through an app.
Increase Energy Efficiency
Growers are increasingly turning to technological enhancements, especially around environmental controls, to reduce overhead. Most industry pros agree that commercial greenhouses can save the most significant amount of money by implementing solutions geared toward energy efficiency.
Greenhouse controllers increase efficiency by using automation and sensors to adjust environmental conditions automatically.
It's estimated that a dynamic control system that lowers greenhouse temperature in the morning can lead to a reduction of 25 to 40 percent in energy costs with no other significant investments and zero loss of plant quality. With a grow room controller, these processes are automated so you can efficiently leverage mother nature's natural sunlight and heating at the right time in the right way.
Boosting the Bottom Line
Beyond savings from increasing energy efficiencies, and labor costs, greenhouse controllers can impact the bottom line in other ways.
Resources: The internet of things (IoT) has delivered a robust solution with sensor triggers and automation. By automating processes, growers can increase crop yields by ensuring a consistent environment and save money in the process by lowering energy use and decreasing labor costs. Better yet, this means growers have the time and energy to pursue business expansion, collaborations, or other interests.
Data: Greenhouse controllers can track data over time, giving the grower insight into which combinations of irrigation, nutrition, lighting, and humidity promote the highest yields. Leveraged across multiple harvests, this data can help growers maximize their output while making effective use of resources and minimizing operating costs.
Controllers can be accessed remotely via a smartphone app giving growers access to data, alerts, and controls 24/7.
Leverage Better Accuracy
Temperature, lighting, irrigation, air quality, and water conservation account for most of the energy consumption in an indoor grow or commercial greenhouse. Remote control of these variables assists the greenhouse operator to adapt to the specific needs of the crop with a high degree of precision, fine-tuning energy consumption across the plant's life cycle. The net result: healthier crops and lower energy expenses.
Invest in The Future
Ready-made systems can be easily implemented to maximize crop quality and production while optimizing energy use, labor, and other operating expenses. With the right controller, growers can do more with less, increase energy efficiency, create more ideal and accurate growing environments, and boost the bottom line.