The Little Red Barn Needs Fans....feedback please? UPDATE 5-16-16

[fergusnc]

I know that back on the UBDD there was a thread about stall fans...good, bad and ugly. And now I need that wisdom so I can get some pretty soon...NC temps are rising quickly.
Help please? What do you recommend and why? What would you avoid and why?
Thanks all!

[Chisamba]

Irecommend a timer and make sure your barn has correct wiring. Do not use staples to secure cables but plastic ties.

Other than that, keep the fans dusted and lubricated. I use cheap box fans on the front of each stall

[heddylamar]

I've been planning the future barn for years and am leaning toward Big Ass Fans.

[khall]

I would love the Big Ass fans and have thought about them but the barn would have to be rewired for them. So I use the TSC barn fans with enclosed motors. Spendy compared to box fans but I feel safer. I live in GA and it has been in the 80s this week. Horses are in and under their fans now. I used box fans for years and never had an issue but those open motors collecting dust just scares me.

[Hayburner]

I have used box fans - I do clean them out yearly of dust and hay. I only wish the other boarders would clean or replace theirs. I think it should be a requirement that the $20 fan be replaced yearly - or at the least CLEANED ! I find it amazing that we have some very nice/expensive show horses at our barn, and the owners don't worry about using a cruddy old fan!

I also have one of the black round, enclosed motor fans from Farmtek- it has a lot of power - and if the motor starts to get too warm, the fan automatically slows down. While that's a nice safety feature - my poor horse does get quite warm when it slows down. It it's really hot - I put one on his stall front and one across the aisle ( the Farmtek one) to just keep some air moving around without blasting him! LOL

[Canyon]

Horse Journal article on The Best Stall Fans.

[Quelah]

I bought the speedy sealed motor safe in wet dusty locations fans from either Agtek or Farmtek two years ago. Glad I did. After that cheap box fans catching on fire article a few years ago, I never felt comfortable leaving the property with the fans running.

[fergusnc]

Thanks all…i will check out the link Canyon, TSC and look into Big Ass Fans.

The barn has brand new wiring and has the same size breaker box as the house so we have lots of juice. Right now, we have the basics in there (one outlet in area that will eventually be the tack room and two lights…one in stall area one in back area where wash bay/tack room are/will be)…we did it that way so that we could pass the inspection and get power turned on, with plans to have electrician add later. Its got the special vapor/dust proof lights, and the barn-required conduit for the wires to run through. As the barn reno continues, the electrician will come back and put lights and outlets and such just where i want them.

So I think we can handle any fan eventually (though I know nothing about Big Ass Fans just yet). Until the next stage with the electrician, we will have to run extension cords from the outlet, up through the rafters, to put two fans up in the "birthing stall" (Fergus' stall is actually 2 stalls without a divider wall, and two doors, in case we ever have a third animal…right now, both horses can come/go from it 24/7 and use it like a run-in).

[Fatcat]

After years of using box fans, I finally bought a pair of these sealed motor, outdoor rated, UL listed fans from Farmtek:

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/pr ... 04668.html

They've been great!

[redsoxluvr]

I second the Big Ass Fans. I even more strongly recommend that they be professionally installed by an electrician, with the wiring
in conduit, etc as per building codes. I was standing in our barn aisle one evening when a box fan caught on fire right in front of me.
It was 8PM and the barn was supposed to be closed. I still have nightmares about what could have happened
had we not been there. We had a full barn of FEI horses, beloved pets, etc. etc. I close my eyes and can still see the smoke

That and Chisamba's tragedy are why I have no electricity in my barn. I don't run cords out there, everything like clippers and such
I have is battery powered. If I need electricity, I use Mr. Redsox's heavy duty electrical cord ( for his welder) and unplug
it immediately after I am done using it.

[Hayburner]

Redsoxluvr - Do you know what caused the box fan to catch on fire? Oh goodness, how do I get other boarders to either buy new fans or clean theirs out before they use them? I'm OCD when it comes to safety/fires and barns....Our facility already has tons of cobwebs that can't be reached to get down and loads of dust and we store hay in the barn...UGH!!!

[fergusnc]

Good info all...thanks.

So I looked briefly at the Big Ass Fans...are they all ceiling fans? Not sure if ceiling fans that will work in TLRB.

Fatcat...re:the Farmtek fans....which size did you get? I love the write up and they sound perfect for an open barn like TLRB...in case rain blows in, in the wash bay, etc....did you choose that company based on prices, reviews, etc? Just wondering if I should continue to dig for something comparable at less than $175 per fan (for 18"). Also hoping they'd last a long time and be a good investment?

[Fatcat]

Good info all...thanks.

So I looked briefly at the Big Ass Fans...are they all ceiling fans? Not sure if ceiling fans that will work in TLRB.

Fatcat...re:the Farmtek fans....which size did you get? I love the write up and they sound perfect for an open barn like TLRB...in case rain blows in, in the wash bay, etc....did you choose that company based on prices, reviews, etc? Just wondering if I should continue to dig for something comparable at less than $175 per fan (for 18"). Also hoping they'd last a long time and be a good investment?

I'm pretty sure I got the 18" version, with three speeds, they're more than powerful enough. I have one mounted in each stall up high on the wall (too high for horses to mess with them), pointing down into the stall. You could also mount them from a ceiling rafter if that's all you have. I have a GFCI outlet for each fan, so no extension cords. The pull cord is also run high along the wall and comes down outside the stall along the wall so I can turn them on without going in the stall. In the summer I plug them into a timer than has them come on at noon and go off at 10pm.

I chose them based on their closed motor, outdoor rating and UL listing.

[redsoxluvr]

Redsoxluvr - Do you know what caused the box fan to catch on fire? Oh goodness, how do I get other boarders to either buy new fans or clean theirs out before they use them? I'm OCD when it comes to safety/fires and barns....Our facility already has tons of cobwebs that can't be reached to get down and loads of dust and we store hay in the barn...UGH!!!

It wasn't cobwebs or anything like that. It was literally running fine, then smoke started billowing out of the back of it.

[fergusnc]

So I put two of the FarmTek fans in my cart…$175 each, ouch…and shipping was going to be $65!!!!!!!! So I am on hold for a minute. Other fans I have seen locally didn't have the water resistance, the overload shut off, etc, so I really like these fans…but yikes on shipping!

[Canyon]

I wonder if this one would be suitable:

http://www.amazon.com/TPI-Industrial-Do ... TPI+U18-TE

[fergusnc]

I found these. http://www.industrialfansdirect.com/out ... POW18.html

Same features, except slightly lower CPM numbers...but that actually places them in a range that seems to be better suited to my needs (based on articles I read). Much cheaper. And FREE SHIPPING! I ordered two...will keep you posted once they arrive!

[fergusnc]

So, in case anyone else is shopping….the fans arrived. At fist I thought they'd be too powerful (even with the lower CPM as compared to Farmtek), thought I'd only be able to use lowest setting. Found out return policy is not customer friendly with this distributor, so DH and I went ahead and put them up. Turns out low AND middle speeds will be fine in the "birthing stall" where we hung 2 fans (both horses use it as a run in during the day as it has 2 ways in/out). High setting is really high. We did have to tighten a bolt or two with a wrench to get its adjustability feature to actually STAY pointed where you adjusted it to…otherwise gravity worked…but no big deal. Pretty quiet out in the barn. Horses seem happy. Now we see if the life span is good and long.
Only thing to know going in…rad return policy before you order and make sure you probably won't want to return.