Project : Russellview Chicken Farm
Rental: Ottawa area
Mechanical contractor: Fernand Denis Inc.
System Designer: Klimar Agency Inc.
General contractor: Brian Shane Construction
Total area: Approximately 24,287 square feet
Designed heat: 38 BTU/sq. ft.
Loop lengths: 400 ft. (max.)
Tubes: 5/8” PEX
Spacing: 9” on center
Feed water temperature: 125°F
Return water temperature: 105°F Flow: 4 gpm
Pressure loss per belt: 14 feet
What do you do when you're installing an underfloor heating system for a poultry farmer who has already ordered the chicks to inhabit the coop you're still building? First step: breathe. Then you double-check your dimensions and heat load requirements and look for heating system options that will reduce the time it takes to go from a gravel base to an installed underfloor heating system slab.
A poultry farm normally orders day-old chicks from a hatchery, raising them for about eight weeks before the birds are harvested for food. When Tony and Wilma Baas, the Ottawa-area farmers whose barn was under construction, informed the plumbing crew at Fernand Denis Inc. that their first shipment of poultry would arrive on a scheduled date, Pascal Denis knew the building had to be ready. There was no wiggle room for him, nor for the girls.
Pascal enlisted the help of Klimar to design the radiant heating system. Since timing would be the deciding factor in the project's success, he opted to use prefabricated PEX radiant conveyor belts, which would be encased in concrete to create the radiant slab. These would be part of the 1 million BTUH hydronic in-floor heating system used throughout the 64-foot by 400-foot structure.
Radiant heating systems are more common in poultry houses than forced-air heating systems, but the most common style of radiant heater is the tube or pancake-type "brooder," as they are called in the poultry industry.
This particular farmer took the next step and opted for a radiant floor heating system. A radiant floor heating system has the added benefit of even heat distribution across the entire floor surface, compared to the hot spots that can be created directly beneath traditional overhead radiators.
Note: This article was originally published in Mechanical Business July/August 2016.
A consistent floor temperature in all sections of the barn allows for an even distribution of birds throughout the space, instead of having groups of birds under a heater when they are cold or bare spaces on the barn floor when one area is too hot.
Although radiant mats are a bit more expensive than PEX coils, the cost can be offset by the labor required to install the piping, and the fact that the mats can be installed in a small installation window made them a viable and attractive option for this project.
Because each mat is custom-built, Pascal placed his order weeks before the scheduled installation date so they could be built to his specifications while the building's frame and walls went up.
Leaving no time to chance, Pascal actually went to the supplier to collect the product himself, rather than having it shipped and risking delays from a third-party logistics company. This ensured the tube he needed would be by his side when he needed it—an extra step for Fernand Denis, but an impressive level of customer service that demonstrated the company's commitment to its client, the project, and animal welfare.
The use of mats on the project helped keep construction on schedule. Pascal's team was able to install nearly 25,000 feet of tubing in a single day (see the QR code on the previous page to watch the installation video).
By 7am the tube was in place and ready for concrete pouring at 1pm.
Once the piping was in place, the system was pressurized with air to approximately 80 psi to ensure no leaks were created during the concrete pour (4-inch slab using fiber mesh concrete) the following morning, at which point the focus turned to commissioning the heating.
With everything up and running within a few days, the farmer was able to fill the barn with chicks, as planned.
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First vehicle of Fernand Denis Inc.