P.M. van Dijk, the founder of the company and the person who gave it his name, started to manufacture retarders in horticultural premises in Nootdorp. These eddy-current strips increase the turbulence of flue gases in boiler flame tubes, resulting in improved heat transfer. Saving energy and improving yields have been a constant priority throughout the company’s history.

The turbulent 1970s: Following the oil crisis in 1973, the price of gas increased significantly and growers started to become more interested in saving energy. It soon became clear that the installation of retarders in boiler flame tubes yielded savings of 2-3%. Mr van Dijk recognised this fact and it was this that gave rise to Van Dijk heating in 1975. Today we are still producing large numbers of retarders, primarily for boiler manufacturers in Europe, at our current premises in Bunnik.

Further growth
At the end of the 1970s, the development of a flue gas condenser kick-started the next phase of our growth. This equipment also enables growers to save a lot of energy. During and after the oil crisis in the 1970s, this flue gas condenser helped us gain a significant market share, thus strengthening the foundations of the company.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the horticulture industry made a cautious start with dosing CO2 from boiler flue gases. By supplying guaranteed high-quality products and by advising on and producing calculations of systems tailored precisely to customers’ needs, we were able to secure our position as market leader in CO2 dosing systems in the greenhouse horticulture industry.

New introductions
In about 1990, a demand for disinfection systems for excess drainwater arose as a result of the increasing pressure from environmental requirements and the introduction of substrate (hydroponic) cultivation. In response to this situation, we developed the ECOSTER series of drainwater disinfectors. Our heat-based drainwater disinfection system is a simple one and the only system to guarantee 99.9% disinfection.

Conditioned cultivation facilitates energy savings, improves the greenhouse climate and delivers better crop results. One of the aspects in Next Generation Growing is dehumidification of greenhouse air with relatively dry outdoor air. In response to this, in 2008 we developed the Active Ventilation System (AVS). This system makes an active contribution to an improved greenhouse climate, resulting in energy savings and greater efficiency. In 2012, this product group was extended to include the AVS WTW, the AVS-C and our very own climate greenhouse.

Model AVS-C -Active Ventilation System

Advantages