[buckskin]

Hi I'm Buckskin I'm new and I'm about to buy a green house. I live on top of a hill and its VERY windy. Are polycarbonate greenhouses ? ? better or worse for windy conditions?

[agapanthus]

Hi Buckskin! I should'nt bother with them    We get some fair winds here in Fife and have had to put lots of panes back with gaffa tape on at least 6 occassions  Quite pretty though if you use different coloured tape!! 

[tode]

Hi Buckskin,
we put up a polycarb GH last year, and have had no probs. In fact, I manage to trip over a stone (untidy  ) and fall against a panel: didn't budge. And not long ago one of our cats jumped out of upstairs window onto roof: no prob either.
Our panels are held in with black rubber joints all round, and I think you'd have to smash the panel to make it come out !
Did very well in winter: we kept it frost free and didn't notice much difference in electric  bill.

[hamstergbert]

If possible, orient the thing so that the entrance points downwind, ie away from the direction of the prevailing wind.  That way the air pressure inside the greenhouse will tend to be ever so slightly below the outside atmospheric  whereas if the opening faces generally into the wind (unless the door is in fact near as demmit airtight) the air pressure inside can build to be significantly above the outside pressure even though inside may actually be pretty well still.

Same consideration applies when deciding where to put your opening skylight if there is one and you have the choice -  once again best if on a downwind pent of the roof.  The combination therefore suggests that the sensible way to orient it - in the absence of other constraints of course - is to point the non-door end corner that is the opposite side from the rooflight into the oncoming gales....

In compass terms, say for example your prevailing wind comes from the from West (as is the case for much of the UK - W or WSW), length of greenhouse ideal is NW-SE with the door on the SE end and the rooflight on the NE facing pent!

However.... consider where your gales usually come from.  Although your prevailing minds may generally be from WSW say, it is quite possible that the strong winds that may do the damage happen when it is blowing from another direction entirely - say the N.  Can result in a decision to do a different layout - and gain the benefit of being able to capture the summer gentle breezes (ha!) ot keep the place ventilated during the midlew season.

[Lee1978]

i would avoid like the plague, we have 1 on our site and everytime we have strong winds the damn thing blows all over the site.
Lee

[tode]

Think the probems are probably with the thin polycarb sheets held in by clips. Its far too flexible. Twin wall is far more rigid, and keeps the toms nice and warm 

[Zeb]

I have an 8' x 6' with that twin wall poly.
I had no choice really with young footballing mad kids and a stupid Labrador
Had no problems with it (so far)

[flipper_roo]

Hi, ive a 10x6 polycarbonate greenhouse and ive only lost one window in a number of storms.  Lucky i was able to retreive it unbroken out of the forest behind me.  Its located at the side of the house which is a wind tunnel and can take a battering.  The pains are twin walled and held in by clips. after the first incident i did add extra clips and since have had no problem.