Many energy intensive operations are a part of swine production, including ventilation, lighting, space and creep feeding, power washing and more. Energy prices keep increasing so that it is now the third highest cost of hog production. Ventilation and heating use a lot of energy and will be further examined. A forced air-convection heater and infrared radiant heater were installed in grow finish rooms. The radiant heater transmits heat to the surfaces through radiation and heats up faster at the pigs level compared to the forced air-convection heater which heats the air and then the air needs to be circulated. Gas concentrations and animal performance was not effected. Similar uniformity in air temperature distribution was observed. No major difference in energy use (natural gas and electrical energy) between the rooms was noted.
Comparison of Performance of Radiant and Forced-Convection Heaters in Swine Grow-Finish Rooms (full article)
