The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 43Brad and Janet Westerhout
have long wanted a
ventilation system that was
capable of regulating all temperature
and air quality in their broiler barns.
They hope they’ve found it in the
Vencomatic Eco-6 heat exchanger
which was unveiled at an open house
in their new broiler barn on July 26.
It was built by Vanden Heuval
Structures of Clinton.
Hundreds came out to see the new
technology, imported from Europe
and installed by Pols Enterprises
Ltd., out of Wainfleet and Lucan. It’s
the first of its kind in North America.
“I wanted to have total control on
the environment in the barn,” says
Brad, who has been chicken farming
for over 30 years, first with his
parents and now with Janet. This is
the fifth new barn he’s built to both
replace aging chicken barns and
increase flock numbers. The new
barn can house about 24,000
chickens.
Brad has always installed heat
exchangers in the new barns he has
built. “It’s been an evolution. We
made changes as the technology
improved”, he says. However, they
all required supplemental fans to cool
the birds.
The Eco-6 heat exchanger is
capable of keeping the barn at an
ideal temperature by heating and
cooling using adiabatic cooling in
combination with water cooling.
Cooling with water also reduces fine
dust in the barn.
The few fans in the barn are there
“just to make sure the Eco 6 does
what it says it does,” says Brad.
Neither does the barn have any inlets.
The heat exchanger controls all air
movement, says Ron Pols, owner of
Pols Enterprises.
Maximus controllers and software
run the heat exchangers on site or
remotely via Brad and Janet’s laptops
Janet and Brad Westerhout hosted an open house at their new broiler barn
near Clinton in Huron County for chicken farmers to see the new heat
exchanger technology that improves animal health and gives Brad and
Janet total control over the barn ventilation.
• By Lisa B. Pot •
Poultry
New heat exchanger warms and cools
Remotely controlled and self-
cleaning, the Vencomatic Eco 6 heat
exchanger is the first of its kind to be
installed in North America
September 2019 39