Livestock and Barn Insulation Protects Your Livestock From The Weather

Why insulate your barn?

Attention to livestock and barn insulation and insulation for steel buildings is of utmost importance in maintaining a high standard of quality in livestock and crop production. Correctly installed barn insulation will easily control heat, cold, condensation, rust, mold, and fungus growth. If it is not installed correctly, or the wrong type of insulation is installed, you could be setting yourself up for wasted time, wasted energy, and wasted money.

The most common need for barn insulation is to prevent heat stress on your livestock, which is a serious concern for any barn that houses animals such as horses, cows, poultry, sheep, llamas, etc, during the summer and warmer months. Heat stress is caused by the absorption of radiant heat, high humidity, low air flow, and high temperatures. Without an emphasis on maintaining a cooler temperature inside the barn the animals will suffer and performance often drops.

For dairy farms, the cows often eat less and milk production falls. This also affects breeding through decreased calf birth weights due to strained lactation. Cattle are most at ease with temperatures at 40 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

How will reflective insulation help?

Reflective Insulation is the best choice as barn insulation, steel building insulation, metal building insulation, and trailer insulation. Not only is it the best barrier against heat stress and the transfer of solar radiation, it is also a very efficient vapor barrier to protect against any moisture or condensation problems that occur with other types of insulation. Fiberglass, for instance, absorbs moisture and traps it in its fibers. The trapped water becomes a good heat conductor which defeats the whole purpose of having insulation.

Fans and a proper water supply are very important in keeping the horses, cows, and other livestock cool, as they sweat at a much lower rate than humans, but the installation of reflective insulation for steel buildings and barns in the roof and walls is absolutely essential as a radiant barrier to reflect 97% of solar radiation. Low absorption of solar radiation keeps the horses, cows, and other livestock happy and productive.

What is reflective insulation?

Reflective insulation, also called a radiant barrier, is a specialized system of materials made of layers of insulating, heat sealed air bubbles encased by a 99% pure aluminum foil outer surface. It resists all three methods of heat transfer:

Conduction- Direct Contact: Transfer of heat from one solid object to another when they are in contact with each other.

Convection- Circulation: Transfer of heat in the air caused by the movement of heated air.

Radiant- Electromagnetic: Transfer of heat from infra-red waves at the contact of a material.

Therma-Comfort reflective insulation is advised for all aspects of your home from the basement to the attic. Even more so, Therma-Comfort, along with proper ventilation, is essential for barn insulation, steel buildings, and metal buildings to assure the health and quality of whatever you store within your building, from livestock to farming equipment.

Why is Therma-Comfort the best option for Reflective Insulation?

Therma-Comfort is a very high quality reflective insulation and an amazing alternative to ordinary fiberglass, mineral wool, and loose fill. Therma-comfort is specially suited to satisfy the purposes and functions of barns, no matter what is stored inside. Our insulation reflects 97% of radiant heat, which makes up 65-85% of all heat that is transferred. It also acts as a strong vapor barrier, eliminating moisture and condensation that cause mold, fungus, and rust in metal and steel buildings.

The R-value of Therma-Comfort insulation is very high. It maximizes the thermal resistance without adding significant thickness to the insulation system. The typical R-value for fiberglass is 3.14 per inch, and blown-in loose fill is 3.70, whereas Therma-Comfort has an R-value of up to 14.6, depending on the direction of the heat flow.

Installation of Therma-Comfort is extremely easy. It is lightweight, clean, and non-toxic. It requires no gloves or breathing gear.

Our staff is knowledgeable and skilled in all options of Therma-Comfort reflective insulation. We can advise you in the best product for your needs and we can give you a price quote to assist in the process. If you have any questions about the best reflective insulation for your barns, steel buildings, or metal buildings, please contact us at (951) 675-1207.