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Cold frame or greenhouse: pick the small box

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1What a cold frame is doing

A cold frame is a raised, bottomless box with a clear cover that acts like a small greenhouse: the ground and frame heat up in the sun during the day and radiate that heat back at night, protecting plants from wind, rain, snow, ice and cool temperatures without any power hookup.

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2What it's actually for

Cold frames are most used to harden off transplants in spring and to keep salad crops and other cool-tolerant vegetables going into fall — they extend the season at both ends rather than letting you grow heat-loving crops out of season.

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3A real greenhouse has a real running cost

Heating a greenhouse through winter is a genuine, ongoing energy cost, enough that extension services publish guidance specifically on managing greenhouse energy bills — conserving heat, choosing fuel sources, and deciding when it's worth heating a greenhouse space at all versus consolidating into less of it.

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4Match the structure to the goal

The honest first question extension guides ask is whether a cold frame or hot bed would actually meet your needs before you commit to a heated greenhouse — the jump in cost and complexity from an unheated box to a climate-controlled building is large, and a lot of home growing goals don't need to make that jump.

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