Florist News

now that the suns decided to show itself, and having a south facing shop front, i think i might need some sort of cooler/air con. I do have a v large cool cellar so i store weddings, funerals etc down there.

question is what works best?

i've seen the floracool rooms, which look to be expensive to buy, they maintain the temp inside and seem to be fixed so i won't be able to move it about but i've been told about an air con unit which fits over the door and blows air directly down, so i can have the door open which is a must for me. the guy says that the temp will be maintained at 8 -10C or what ever i set it to - min 8 max 16] therefore the whole shop will be cool, of course it does'nt need to be switched on if it does'nt need to be, these work out about 2k. he says that they are'nt that expensive to run as it may need to be left on overnight when i can't be arsed to take everything down into the cellar that is!

i know some of you have the coolers & i'd be glad of your opinion, but has anyone tried, or knows about, the other option?

hi ruthie, i had thought of this option as well but people have told me that air con dries out the flowers. I assume by this they mean the leaves and petals would be shriveled where as in a cool room because they are built especially for flowers they have the right atmosphere moisture etc. This is my understanding anyway. I know cool rooms are expensive but they would be worth it for the amount of stock you would save especially if your shop is on the sunny side of the street. I dont have one yet but it is on my list of must haves when i get some spare cash..........will be waiting a while then, although i am lucky to be on the shady side of the street as well as being busy enough for fairly fast stock turnover. Maybe someone else could explain things a bit more technically

thanks apple, was at smiths on sunday & their very large cool room felt very cold, but when i asked it was set for 8C, it was the dampness which made it feel colder - would make sense with what you say. It looks like its the humidity factor.

just me going off on a random thought, but if you take flowers out of a cooler set at 5C or so, into the warm sunshine we had today - 23C - would the flowers react to this by wilting quicker?

& i've been corrected by hubbie its called an air CURTAIN not air con! does this make a difference?

i just answered an old thread that you might want to read, not much help on air con though

having air con is a waste of money if you are going to have the door open all the time. The hot air will just come in from outside and the shop would never get to the temperature you want it. It is for enclosed spaces where the warm air is removed and cool air is blown into the room. It is not designed for to keep flowers at the right temperature, though it is better than nothing at all.
If you were set on air con the one of the ways it would work would be if you had two doors like a porch area. The front one could be open and the inner door closed, which would keep the shop cool.
You can however have a cooler motor fitted in any size space, a large or small room, a glass display room or even a small cupboard depending on your the size of your shop and the stock that would need to go in it.

I have a glass display cooler with a motor in it. It is set at 5 degrees with a variance of two degrees. So when it gets to 7 the motor turns on and when it gets to 5, it goes off. We mainly use it to put things like lilies and roses in and weddings bouquets etc.

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Sarah Creating Bespoke Wedding Flowers Cheshire

TBH i dont see how u could keep the temp as low as 8 or even 14 with the door open (depends on size of shop i suppose).... u Really need to keep it closed for any decent effect..........

Been using Air cons for the shop for about 12 yrs.... never seemed to be a problem with drying the flowers... DO NOT blow the air directly at the flowers.... air cons def reduce the humidity in the shop and also reduce the damn condensation,,,,,,,, we keep ours running 24/7 and it def works for us, I would also like to back it up with a flora cool chiller but that can wait..

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ta folks!
I thought the open door policy would negate an air con unit but its not an air con but an air curtain, its a cassette type thing which sits above the door & blows air directly down, i've seen similar when i've been on holiday in Europe. Its supposed to stop the warm air from entering - i'll see what the guy says when he comes, they say they have fitted them for florists before, i'm going to ask if i can get in touch with them.

hubbies come up with an evaporative cooler with humidity control its an air con type unit which blows water out too! any way, something else to look at.

thanks for the other thread apple, interesting to see what others think, it looks afs if its the usual different things work for different people does'nt it!

btw, bought a max & min thermometer & today outside it was 85F insde 21C, don't ask me to convert! I'm going to see if there is a 'cold spot' in the shop i can make use of, i still have my cardi on where i work, i might have to swap places with my flowers!! luckily everything is movable.