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Smart energy use in barns and outbuildings

Using energy efficiently in your barns and other buildings helps you control operating expenses.

By upgrading equipment, improving insulation, and taking advantage of new technology, you can also improve your bottom line.

Of course, safety is always important, and proper maintenance of power lines and equipment will help you avoid injuries and possible interruptions of service.

For tips on how to make the most of your heating and environment control expenses, and to maximize your savings on lighting your farm buildings, have a look at these pages:

• Heating Tips for Barns and Outbuildings
  
• Lighting Tips for Barns and Outbuildings

Maintain and upgrade your equipment
Older motors and machinery, or equipment that is not functioning at its full capacity, may be draining your energy dollars. Ensure that all of your equipment is well maintained, and consider upgrading older equipment to take advantage of recent energy saving advances. In many instances, electric motors can be superior to gas-powered engines for certain applications. Among other things, electric motors are quieter, more reliable and do not produce harmful emissions.

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Energy tips for grain drying and storage
Drying is a major source of energy consumption for producers of grains such as corn and wheat. On the average, drying grain corn requires the removal of nearly 5kg of water per bushel of grain. Wet harvest and drying seasons can increase this requirement even further. Therefore, it makes sense for Ontario grain producers to consider various long-term strategies for energy conservation!

Various methods are currently available for increasing the energy efficiency of the grain drying process. For example, newer, more efficient dryers can reduce energy consumption by as much as 35%. Energy savings can be increased through the implementation of other drying methods, such as dryeration, low-temperature drying and combination drying.

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Energy savings opportunities for grain drying
Improved technology:

• More efficient dryers
  
• High-moisture storage
  

Improved practices:

• Crib drying
  
• Combination drying
  
• Low-temperature drying
  
• Dryeration
  

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Energy tips for housing livestock
Space heating for animal housing accounts for the majority of your energy consumption in the livestock production process. Some barns may be equipped with older, fuel oil heating systems that may not be very efficient and should be replaced. It's also worth looking at motors and other machinery that may be consuming more energy than you realize.

Other areas of potential energy savings include improvements to insulation, ventilation and space heating strategies. For more information, see Heating tips for barns and outbuildings.

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Energy conservation opportunities in animal housing
Improved technology:

• Insulation
  
• High efficiency equipment:
  
  • More efficient dryers
    
  • High-moisture storage
    
• Heat reclamation:
  
  • From ventilation
    
  • From milk
    
• Heat/ventilation control
  
• Interlock

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