I work at an assisted living facility and our residents manage a greenhouse on the property. One of the autovents malfunctioned last year and we have been manually opening the vent ever since. The product that we purchased was exactly like the one that broke. It arrived two days after I ordered it and took ten minutes to install. Going forward, all of our greenhouse needs will be coming from ACF Greenhouses. Thank you!

I restored a vintage Eden aluminum framed glasshouse from the UK. The European glasshouses are different than American products, they are solid and built to last generations. An entire culture there built around horticulture in everyone’s back yard and re-use. I joined a FB group in the UK and let them guide me how to turn a pile of aluminum and dirty old glass, into an amazing greenhouse of yesteryear. I imported new rubber glazing, W and S clips designed to fit the old glasshouses, and solid aluminum bolts. They sent me a copy of the original install manual from the 1980s for my glasshouse which was key to my success as it showed a diagram of the glass sizes and layout. Well when the house was built and it was time for shade cloth and auto vent openers, I let the UK group guide me. They all agreed that the British company Baylis has the best openers, and I went with the MK7 hydraulic because it is their premium offering designed for windy locations like my hillside property. Due to Trumps tariffs and international post taking such a long time, I wanted to find them in the US so I could get gardening. ACF did not disappoint. I paid a little more for each opener vs buying from Baylis directly, but did not have to deal with international shipping or potential damage on such a long trip. The openers are not the easiest ones to install, you need to measure, drill, screw, adjust them. Models are available that just clamp on. However the MK7 is a fantastic quality opener that you leave on all winter because it sucks the vent down tight and won’t budge. There is usually some slop in closed vents with standard openers and you need to remove the piston in winter. A little extra effort in setup on the MK7 and I feel very confident after testing them that I will be glad I picked these when they weather their first big wind storm this fall.

 

Good product at a fair price

I made a cold frame and installed the unit so that the top would open when it got too hot inside. Seems to work fine. My only complaint is that it would be really helpful if the opener had a quick release mechanism to separate the top and bottom parts. Right now, I have no means to easily open the entire top because it's completely attached to the main frame with the solar opener. How do I plant or harvest since I can't open the top more than the 12" that it does when hot?

ACF Greenhouses: Bayliss openers are not made for your application. We recommend the Univent opener for cold frames. It has a quick disconnect feature and larger 18" opening.