Smart air wall saves on energy costs

Heating broiler houses is a major cost factor, particularly in cold and moderate regions. Since the floor is usually still wet when the day old chicks arrive and warm air is moving in an upward direction, much energy is needed to create a comfortable climate at chick level.

The inflatable “smart air wall” of Sidijk from the Netherlands is a solution to create a smaller brooding section and thus a smaller volume inside the house. As a result, less energy is needed to warm it up. After all, the day old chicks don’t need all the space from the beginning.

The Smart air wall is a 70 cm thick inflatable partition. It exactly fits into the interior cross section of the building. The tubes of the frame are inflatable, whereas in the space of the double wall in between, there’s no air pressure. Holes at floor level allow room for the feeder and drinker lines. Underneath the roof, there is a fan that proportionally moves warm air to and thus pre warms the part of the house next to this brooding section.

The idea of the smart air wall came from broiler farmer Tseard Snoek from the Netherlands. He hired Sidijk to make this according to his specifications. Meanwhile he has used it for growing one flock and the results are satisfying. The system seems to work very well.

Setting up the air wall takes only half an hour and taking it down only just a few minutes longer. At the start of the growing period, the temperature difference between the brooding area and the rest of the house was about 14 degrees Celsius during the first round. The birds were kept in the brooding section for two weeks after which they were given access to the full space in the house. At the moment the smart air wall was taken away, temperature difference was only two degrees. Snoek expects a return on investment from the system within only two years.

Source: Sidijk