Colleen Vanderloop uses an earth-tubing system to heat and cool air at her heifer-raising operation near Brillion, Wisconsin.
A system that heats and cools air at Colleen Vanderloop's heifer-raising operation helps improve heifer comfort.
Drainage pipe is installed for an earth-tube system that Colleen Vanderloop uses for heating and cooling the heifer barn.
A tile plow prepares a field for an earth-tube system.
BRILLION, Wis. – An earth-tubing system is being used to heat and cool air at a heifer-raising operation near Brillion. The system has helped reduce energy costs as well as improve heifer comfort, says owner Colleen Vanderloop of AVA Group.
Vanderloop was raising veal calves in a barn in the 1990s but then the veal-calf market declined in the early 2000s. She took the opportunity to remodel the barn to custom-raise heifers for other dairy farmers. With help from her daughter, Brooke Vanderloop, she currently raises 1,500 heifer calves from one day to seven months of age. They also raise bull calves for a feedlot.
As the business grew they decided to build another barn. Colleen Vanderloop said she wanted to have another heated indoor facility but needed to consider fuel costs. A pre-weaning area needs to be maintained at 62 degrees and a post-weaning area at 42 degrees. She had been introduced to the earth-tube system in the early 2000s, but didn’t have a way to use it then. She thought it was a good alternative for heating – and provided cooling benefits.
The system was installed in a field adjacent to their new barn. It consists of 21 feeder tubes, each 12 inches in diameter and 290 feet long. Each of the tubes, placed 8 feet apart, is a corrugated pipe that starts about 3 feet above ground level where each has a rain cap and screen to keep birds and rodents from entering. The rest of each tube’s 290 feet is buried 8 feet underground where the underground temperature ranges from 48 to 55 degrees.
The 21 tubes run into a main “manifold” before entering the barn. The manifold consists of a pipe that starts at 18 inches in diameter, gradually increasing to 48 inches in diameter. Air is drawn into the area via a three-quarter-horsepower exhaust fan.
From there air is pushed through a positive-pressure system into the barns, said Fred Daniels of the Energy Efficiency Services team – shared between We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service. The positive-pressure system incorporates radiators for the pre-weaning barn that warm the air to reach 62 degrees. Post-weaned animals usually don’t need their air heated further; air comes into their area at underground temperatures – about 52 degrees.
Daniels said there’s a significant savings in gas consumption during the winter by using an earth-tubing system.
“The system also has benefits in the summer,” he said. “When a typical tunnel- or cross-ventilated barn pulls ambient air in the barn – many times in the 90-degree range – the (earth-tube) system allows the barn to pull in 60-degree air. That can improve cow comfort.”
Corrugated pipe is used for the tubes to slow airflow; that allows air more time to reach the underground temperature. PVC pipe isn’t recommended because the wall is too thick and too smooth to work properly, Vanderloop said. And she said she learned it’s important to use proper tile fittings for the system.
“We have installed a small sub pump to collect any condensation that may accumulate in the summer,” she said. “The field used for the tubes also can be used for crops, giving it a dual purpose.
“Reducing energy costs and finding a more energy-efficient way to run a business is always a win. The earth-tube system can be easily installed to alter outside temperatures.”
Visit www.facebook.com/avagroupinc for more information.
This is an original article written for Agri-View, a Lee Enterprises agricultural publication based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.
Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.
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Colleen Vanderloop uses an earth-tubing system to heat and cool air at her heifer-raising operation near Brillion, Wisconsin.
A system that heats and cools air at Colleen Vanderloop's heifer-raising operation helps improve heifer comfort.
Drainage pipe is installed for an earth-tube system that Colleen Vanderloop uses for heating and cooling the heifer barn.
A tile plow prepares a field for an earth-tube system.
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