Lighting a cattle shed

[MR GUS]

Due to Inconsitencies of wind turbines (ie flat spots -through to disasterous locations) please pop up a digital photo or two of the proposed site with building that you are considering supplying to) for the folk here to assess
As Martin said to plough the wind you need plenty of open space without obstructuion or else a very effective workhorse becomes a chocolate teapot!

Any attaching of a turbine to a building may distress the amimals somewhat due to vibration transferral ..not good for the ease of the herd, so the higher the better, the more open area the better!

[guydewdney]

You have forgotten your labour costs.

Heres an alternative - a startomatic lister - flick switch, genny starts, lights glow...

[MR GUS]

valid point! ..& favours frotter lard if available locally.

[Billy]

Oh yes, we could render the cows that succumbed to the whine of the turbine.  Mrs B nearly succumbed and I nearly succumbed to Mrs B until the low noise blades came.  How much lard does a cow make, surely it is proportional to a human?

 

[renewablejohn]

I think you are missing a trick here. Cattle shed = Cow pooh. Jump on the Biomass bandwagon and install an anerobic digester to power your Lister engine and with the Round 5 CHP grant get the government to pay for it. Long term solution light with excess exported into the grid to give an income and free heating for the proposed house.

[daftlad]

Adam
Please please please protect those luvly big batteries (to replace them would cost a fortune)
Regs Regs Regs
For SELV and PELV (12 volts) a degeree of protection of IPXXB or IP2X is requred so no hole bigger than 12 mm so keep those British Standard fingers out. Does festoon comply? i assume it does?

laters

[Adam]

Adam, in the UK festoon lighting in a cow shed would contravene the Wiring Regs as all luminaires in agricultural buildings with livestock are required to be IP rated. Can't remember the actual IP number but I can look it up later.  Pretty sure this applies irrespective of voltage being used.

The festoon will be tied to the purlins with baler twine (farmers best friend) so i guess it can be classed as temporary lighting

Thanks billi, battery protection is a good idea would prefer something audible so he wont het plunged into darkness whilst attaching the tractor to charge them up

I havent forgotten labour costs, mates rates

Noise is not a problem to cattle, it is better to have a constant noise at it can block out bang's (stressfull noises) we play a radio loud a few week's prior to mart as it gets them used to the loudspeakers at the mart, since the radio they are much calmer on sale days.

[billi]

Noise is not a problem to cattle, it is better to have a constant noise at it can block out bang's (stressfull noises) we play a radio loud a few week's prior to mart as it gets them used to the loudspeakers at the mart, since the radio they are much calmer on sale days.

It took me 6 years to figure  out that the music in the prairie ,near our house ,  was not from a party (all night long and days )    , no it came from the the cow shed half a mile away     , bloody useless these cows  when they give only milk and you are in a party mood

[northern installer]

my cattle shed has illumination for feeding up by the following: 3x 15 watt solar panels connected via a cheap charge controller(free with the panels) to a pair of trojan 105  6v batteries,via fuses,then wired to four ip65 'drum' type bulkheads,each with a 11 watt 12 volt cfl.The system performs ok,giving enough light for feeding up;I sometimes swap the trojans for a tractor battery if it needs a charge:we call it the 'light-o-matic'. A 12 volt wind turbine is still in its crate in the shed,but it will be needed when I wire in the well pump ,for cow drinking water,currently powered by a battery taken to the pump.Thats the 'well-u-like'.
The diesel generator for 240 volts is rarely used these days,but there when needed.

[Eleanor]

NI, there you are!  I've been wondering when you would get stuck into this thread. I couldn't remember the details of your setup 

[Adam]

I spoke to my friend today and explained how much cheaper installing a generator would be for his needs but (thankfully) he still wants to go ahead with the turbine as he will mainly use the lights for checking the cattle and ewes when lambing/calving so they will mostly be on for 5-10min so starting a genny would be a faf.
However he does intend buying a portable genny (prefer diesel) for Clipping (sheep shearing) as he does a few thousand/year, he intend's using the genny for topping up the lighting battery.

Still thinking about using the naviton portable 300w and mounting it on top of the shed (can i hear you all shouting NO!!!!) the shed is ontop of a hill and the highest point is on top of the shed, cable run would be short, installation would be easy and if it was installed near to the shed, the shed would blind it from a wind direction.

Have ordered 20, 10w cfl's and a 100m, 33 lamp festoon, festoon will divided into switched sections.
How long can i make the scaffold pole (above top mount) for the turbine before i need guywire's?

[martin]

about 3"
As predicted, I'm howling "don't do it!" - if you really are daft enough, use a scaffold pole mounted close to a corner, and stay it into the ground (NOT to the building)- otherwise you'll spend the whole time putting it back up when it detaches itself from the building, and the racket from bearing noise is utterly horrendous if transmitted into a building - with a scaffold pole and ground stays, all the noise is well damped (I wouldn't wish it on cows or hard-bitten farmers, even for a short while!)

[billi]

However he does intend buying a portable genny (prefer diesel) for Clipping (sheep shearing) as he does a few thousand/year, he intend's using the genny for topping up the lighting battery.

Thats what i meant before  perhaps a big battery on the truck  could do all , depending on the truck and the setup   and sounds a bid Mad but works fine ....  for me
supply power to my house in the evening when parked and power at work during the day ( have to improve the setup )    and did ... here is a tryout   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2cBUwl-p5A

a always full battery  can do the whole lot   and charged while driving , sure you need more diesel   to recharge but less then  a Generator 

Billi


But sure a small renewable off grid Island   to give the cattle/sheep  light is the way to go  .... and no arguing with the client if he likes that idea and pays for it

[Adam]

about 3"
As predicted, I'm howling "don't do it!" - if you really are daft enough, use a scaffold pole mounted close to a corner, and stay it into the ground (NOT to the building)- otherwise you'll spend the whole time putting it back up when it detaches itself from the building, and the racket from bearing noise is utterly horrendous if transmitted into a building - with a scaffold pole and ground stays, all the noise is well damped (I wouldn't wish it on cows or hard-bitten farmers, even for a short while!)

I can see were you are coming from but there is so much noise from the shed itself on a windy day i doubt the turbine would make an impact, the turbine would be mounted at least 10m above ground level and attached to an "H" gurder (main frame of the shed) i doubt if it would dettach.

There is a telegraph pole in the same corner as the batteries and at the lowest part of the roof which would be ok for the turbine (would be shaded by a N wind by the pitch of the roof) but he intends taking it down, i'll have to work on him
I'll get a pic next time i'm there

[MR GUS]

If you get this licked, I anticipate a visit by countryfile! 

..very progressive farming ideal programming, but get ready for jokes down the pub! ..they'll be picking up on all sorts of facets of your less green life ((just like my friends))