whats the best a/c unit for a small barn ??? Calf Climate ? Is putting a/c unit in really worth it ... what the cheapest and best route....? any input would help ... Would love to find a good used one just not sure many out there...
AIR CONDITION BARNS / BUILDINGS
- Thread starter odoyle69
- Start date
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It all comes down to math/engineering.
A fat steer will put off about 10,000 BTU of body heat per hour. Providing that the cool room is sealed well and insulated well, that means that you need a 10,000 BTU A/C unit just to keep the room at the outside temperature. Good rule of thumb is to double the BTU that your cattle will be emitting in body heat.
So, if you have 2 fat steers in a well designed cool room, that equals 20,000 BTU that those 2 steers will emit. Take that number times 2 and you then will need 40,000 BTU worth of A/C units. You at that point will be able to get it about as cold as you want to.
Is it worth is...it is to me. Where we are, you are wasting your time showing cattle with no hair.
A fat steer will put off about 10,000 BTU of body heat per hour. Providing that the cool room is sealed well and insulated well, that means that you need a 10,000 BTU A/C unit just to keep the room at the outside temperature. Good rule of thumb is to double the BTU that your cattle will be emitting in body heat.
So, if you have 2 fat steers in a well designed cool room, that equals 20,000 BTU that those 2 steers will emit. Take that number times 2 and you then will need 40,000 BTU worth of A/C units. You at that point will be able to get it about as cold as you want to.
Is it worth is...it is to me. Where we are, you are wasting your time showing cattle with no hair.
HomeRaised
Well-known member
I always used 8K BTU for a fat steer, but thats still gets you pretty close. I have some old posts on here of the cool room I built and the automatic door that I use. It works great.
I had 2 head with a 25K window unit and a coolbot and kept it at 57 all summer in Iowa, the first year I used it. I could have run it colder.
This year, I had three head in the 12X16 room and needed to add another unit to keep it cold. The additional unit was a 18K BTU unit dated 1985. I bought a cheap ($35) hog barn thermostat and wired it in place of the existing thermostat to allow the unit to run lower. I kept the room at 54 this year. I could have run this colder as well.
Window AC unit thermostats are only going to go down to 60-62, so the coolbot and alternative thermostat is what allows you to go colder.
So at 43K BTU this year, I am about equivalent to a 4 ton unit.
I had 2 head with a 25K window unit and a coolbot and kept it at 57 all summer in Iowa, the first year I used it. I could have run it colder.
This year, I had three head in the 12X16 room and needed to add another unit to keep it cold. The additional unit was a 18K BTU unit dated 1985. I bought a cheap ($35) hog barn thermostat and wired it in place of the existing thermostat to allow the unit to run lower. I kept the room at 54 this year. I could have run this colder as well.
Window AC unit thermostats are only going to go down to 60-62, so the coolbot and alternative thermostat is what allows you to go colder.
So at 43K BTU this year, I am about equivalent to a 4 ton unit.
