posted 17th December 2023
When you are building a new poultry house, or refurbishing an older house, it is important to specify the correct number of LPG blown air heaters to ensure that the required temperature is easily attained and maintained. This short guide will help ensure that your new heating system is efficient and fit for purpose.
The Magic Formula.
Start with the floor area of the house, expressed in square metres.
Decide the type of construction; is the house a new, metal building or an older, timber type.
Use one of the formulae shown below:
New metal building: 0.18 kilowatt per square metre
Older timber building: 0.24 kilowatt per square metre
Multiply the square metre area of the house by the kilowatt value shown above, and this will give the kilowatt heat requirement for the building.
Example 1.
A new metal building measuring 70mx20m = 1400 square metres
Multiply 1400 by 0.18 = 252 kilowatt heat requirement
If you will be using the Zephyr 75 heater (66 kilowatt output) thn divide 252 by 66, which equals 3.81, meaning you will therefore require 4 heaters.
Example 2.
An older timber building measuring 31m x 12m = 372 metres.
Multiply 372 by 0.24 = 89.28 kilowatt heat requirement.
If you will be using the Zephyr 75 heater (66 kilowatt output) then divide 89.28 by 66 which equals 1.35. You will therefore require 2 heaters.
By carrying out the above calculations you will ensure that your heater system will properly attain first day temperature requirements and will respond quickly to colder outside temperatures.
Using LPG Heaters to support Biomass Heating.
Biomass heating provides a steady form of heat, but will struggle to respond quickly to sudden drops in the outside temperature. Biomass also struggles to attain 32degC or 36degC that is required for day old chicks. There is also the risk of breakdown with biomass heating.
LPG blown air heaters provide excellent support to biomass heating by providing additional heat as and when required. They will assist in attaining the first day temperature and will quickly respond to colder conditions.
When installing an LPG blown air system to support biomass, it is important to ask, "what happens if the biomass totally fails?" The answer is to specify an LPG blown air system as if it were to be stand-alone. If the biomass system fails, the LPG heating system must be capable of satisfactorily heating the house. This point is made as there may be a temptation to say, "I only need LPG to assist the biomass and therefore do not need the full requirement of heaters." This view overlooks the scenario of total biomass failure. If the full requirement of LPG heaters has not been installed, then in the event of total biomass failure the LPG heaters will be incapable of maintaining the required temperature, and this may lead to failure of the LPG heaters.
When specifying LPG heaters to support biomass, please regard each heating system as separate and stand-alone .
For further assistance or advice, please either email or call our mobile number.