Low-cost solar heater for poultry barns

Sanjay Shah I am amazed that the landscape fabric heats up so much and that you can capture this heat by pulling air through it. I am building something also very low-tech but quite different. We started with an old hog barn that had 3' half walls down the north and south sides (155') with 4' of open space above. Last year we put reflective insulation on the upper space of the north wall and poly on the open space of the south wall. This did not capture measurable heat, but worse, it made the interior quite dark despite good quality poultry lighting. We are at 50 degrees latitude in a valley that is semi-desert; winter weather is below freezing for about 4 months, but there is a lot of sun. I think putting dark fabric on the south wall would made the barn too dark and the cost of running fans to pull air through it would be high.

What we are planning this winter is to insulate the outside of the north wall with rigid styrofoam on the outside of the building, reflective insulation on the inside wall. On the south side we have taken out the concrete half wall entirely and are replacing it with double glazed sliders (french doors) and fixed windows to let max sunlight in and warm the floor and litter on the south side of the building. (Used insulation, windows etc., all very cheap or free.) I will attach photos of the north wall as it is in summer, and the south wall as it is now waiting for door/window installation.

The flock is only ~700 heritage breeders so the need for ventilation is much less than would be needed in a high concentration poultry building.

We expect the building to drop below freezing during our coldest winter weather, especially over night, so the waterers are thermostatically heated and there are radiant heat panels above the roosts. The cost of heating this large space with a gas furnace for such a small flock would be prohibitive.

In any case, I am intrigued by your idea with the landscape fabric, but I hate to keep chickens in the dark, especially during the winter when the days are so short anyway.

Emily Robertson