As part of HortiDaily’s ‘Climate Special’ this month, they’ve interviewed renowned greenhouse climate engineer, and the inventor of DryGair – Dr. Avraham Arbel.

Dr. Arbel recently retired from his position as Head of the Agriculture Engineering Dept. at the Volcani Institute, where he developed the DryGair solution.

In the interview, Dr. Arbel discusses the problems humidity poses in greenhouse cultivation.

“Most humidity-related diseases and molds develop in very high humidity, or require free water, which is also a result of high humidity. Needless to say, if you have mildew in your greenhouse, plants won’t grow as well, and the quality of your product will suffer.”

The DryGair solution is designed to provide a simple answer to these problems. But it’s not just about optimizing yields. During the interview, Dr. Avraham Arbel shows exactly how using DryGair saves energy.

 “Let’s use an example. Say a grower needs to remove 45 liters of water per hour during the night to maintain ideal humidity levels – around 80% RH. We found that using heating and venting, they would need to invest an average of 75kW to reheat the greenhouse back to optimal temperatures – around 18°C.”

DG-12, for example, only needs 10kW to remove 45 liters per hour, under the same conditions of 80% RH and 18°C. So, you’re already saving a substantial amount of energy. But even the electricity the DG unit uses ends up back in the greenhouse in the form of heat. So, in essence, it’s an 85kW difference.”

For more details, read the full article on HortiDaily.