Ventilation and Solar Fan Build for a Backyard Chicken Coop
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- We are so proud to show you this! RSM and RSD have added some solutions to keeping their backyard chicken coop cool during the hot Texas summers (which have already started!). See some simple ideas and the big deal: a solar fan build. Get lots of tips and learn strategies, as well as what to look for, to keep your flock from getting too hot. RSM has lots of other videos about how to keep your chickens cool so please subscribe and check out the channel!
Because we don't get our products for free, we're happy to share our affiliate links (no extra cost to you but we do get a small percentage, so thanks!)
realsimplemama...
Solar panel kit: www.amazon.com...
Battery:
www.amazon.com...
Thermostat:
www.amazon.com...
Fan:
www.amazon.com...
La Crosse Wireless Digital Forecast:
www.amazon.com... 
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Hi! I was wondering, 3 years on, if this is the same setup that y'all are continuing to use? Or have you tweaked/modified it over the years? I remember in another video the consensus was that one battery might not be quite enough to run both fans...would adding a second 12V battery maybe help with that? Or have you found other hacks to get around this? I just got this same coop and working on painting/sealing/assembling but definitely thinking ahead...I'm in north Texas so basically it still gets realllyyyy hot in the summer but it also doesn't rain hardly at all between end of May and mid September. :) So definitely will need some system to keep the new chicks cool this summer after they arrive.
Hi! Yes it’s essentially the same system. Right now we haven’t played with a new battery so it’s just “When the panel has sun, the fans are running” but it’s not charging or storing energy for later use. The fans still work great! You can buy all kinds of AC fan kits that are originally
meant for attics and garages too. And I’m from the Lewisville area and went to UNT for college so I remember that dry heat! ✌🏻❤️🐓
Black roofs attract heat. What are your thoughts on painting the asphalt roof a lighter color to keep the coop from getting too hot? Can asphalt roofs be painted 🤔
You actually are not the first person to suggest that! It is an interesting suggestion for sure, my fear is that the type of material, you regardless of what color it is, will continue to hold the heat anyway. But you were right in that black does hold of the heat in more, I am just not sure it would actually help. I have also looked into putting some type of foil or some thing on the inside of the roof to help bounce the heat back out but I am not sure. Right now with the two fans and us leaving everything open during the summer, we have not had a problem yet!
Help, we got the solar kit and not everything is connecting up 😢😭 and it came with no directions. It's a 110 here in AZ. HELP 😢
Live in San Antonio too, is there anyone that might be interested in a Rooster? We thought he was a she and we are not equipped for a rooster, neighbors are not thrilled!
Aw man! There is a SA chicken group on MeWe which is an app/website to buy and sell. And if you’re not already on the Facebook group SA Backyard Chickens look for us there and ask 👍🏼
@@realsimplemama Thanks🐓
Thank you 🙏 my chickens will be much cooler
You are welcome! We are adding a second fan this weekend
Was thinking staking down a canopy over the entire coop. Then mounting the solar panel on a stake. Love the 2 fan concept.
That could work! I wanted to make an upcycled structure on the sunny side of the run too, but it’s not going to work. So may be getting a canopy too.
Great system. I may do this as the fans I had were just for the nest boxes and only lasted 1 year.
Try it and let me know! It wasn’t expensive and should last for years if it can stay dry and clear of dust.
A ridge vent would help even more I would think. Top looks sealed to me :-/
Yes that’s true. It is.
real simple mama thanks for the video though. I found a digital forecaster on offer up for half the price.. i notice the temp in the coop during the day is in the 90s at peak. Working on more ventilation now, thanks for the tip.
It is in the high 70s lower 80s at night but because we are having cool nights in south texas atm. So i need some more air asap.
You’re so welcome. We are doing more things too. Added a second fan, using a resistor to the setup so the fans can run longer at a slower speed. Also got a canopy for outside.
Why not paint your roof white? White won’t draw heat like black does. Or you could adapt roof turbo where the wind powers it
Yep we are looking into that too 👍🏼
I sprayed over mine using rustoleum white rubber...
Hi Sarah! I purchased all the items from your links and my husband was wondering how did you hook up the brushless motor fans (with the 3 wires) to the thermostat?
Hi! So it gets a bit weird but our order of operations goes: solar panel, solar controller, battery, thermostat, fan. If you look on the item photos of the fan on Amazon it has the wires labeled BUT for our setup you only need the grounding wire and the 12v positive.
The thermostat also has the images with a diagram on how to hook it up.
@@realsimplemama thank you! 😊
I am new to chickening. My run will be completely covered/roof and the sides are open, and my coop is off the ground like yours. It has a window on each long side and the roosting bar also runs side to side. With the window's across from each other, I was going to put a fan on the outside. It will blow in one side , across the roosting bar and out the other. So a fan blowing on them at night won't hurt the chickens, right?
I don’t think they need a fan blowing across the roosts at all except maybe a bit during the day to help with smell. Why are you thinking you need it?
I have been using a small fan as an exhaust on one window 24/7. At night when it’s hot i put a small rechargeable fan facing in the coop. In Fl where I live the temps haven’t been dropping much at night. When I go to tuck them in for bed, I can see them panting. Otherwise I wouldn’t put a fan on them. I have 5 different fans right now around the run. Hopefully I can consolidate when a new fan I ordered arrives. I am in the process of installing this type of solar for them. This video really helped me figure out how to do it!
Question please… Is it more important to pull hot air out of the coop or have outside air blowing in during hot summer months. Not sure we have room for two fans so trying to figure out how to keep my girls cool before it gets super hot here. They won’t be ready for the coop until late July so trying to get everything else ready. We will have predator proofing underground around the coop & run as well as hardware cloth on the sides of the run and a solid roof over the run as well so wondering if we can just leave the windows open (covered with hardware cloth) with one window fan. Help!
Hi! I’d pull out the hottest air if possible. In the summer no one will be in the coop during the day unless they’re laying an egg. My fans auto run when it hits 88 on the thermostat (which is in the coop) and I also leave a door or two open when I’m home.
@Real Simple Mama…Thank you for replying. We have a lot of predators like coons, fox, coyote and hawks so doing everything we can to keep them safe in the coop and run but the heat here in summer is my biggest unresolved issue right now. Whatever we do will have to be battery & solar powered since the coop is too far from the house for electrical to reach. Maybe I need to cut another window opening in the back higher up to pull hot air out and use the front window to pull air in. Would that work? I even considered a small battery powered desktop AC but they create moisture so that won’t be good in a coop. Ugh… so many things to consider.
Hey I think extra windows high up is ALWAYS a good idea as long as you can keep rain out (make an overhang) and predators (secure with hardware cloth). Remember that hot air rises like you said. Think about the best place for a solar panel and when in doubt buy a too-big battery so it’ll definitely hold charge. I also have an old video about insulation versus ventilation that can help. Or you can email me! theMama@realsimplemama.com
@@realsimplemama Thank you! I’m going to check out the video you suggested and cut another window opening on the opposite wall up high to pull air out. We have decided to move the coop to another location on our property so electricity isn’t an issue. Thanks for the great ideas. We will be implementing them for sure.
Can you use a thermostat from a house?
Hi, quick question. The temp sensor you have inside the coop (the white rectangle box) is that just for you to have a general idea of what it is since you can view it inside?
Hi! That actually talks to the fan setup - it will automatically turn the fans on or off depending on the threshold we set up. I wrote an article about this build too on RealSimpleMama.com that shows how it all hooks up together 👍🏼
@@realsimplemama Hi yes I checked it all out. Just confused, does the wires run from the white rectangle censor where the roost is in the coop house to the other censor that you have in the battery container? Or is it just the censor that is in the battery container your main censor?
There isn’t a sensor in the battery. I have a drawing on the article that shows what hooks into what. The temp control connects the battery power to the fan so it’s the gateway (go-between) that allows power to go from battery to fan, when the temperature is at the range I set. If I didn’t have that, the battery would always run power to the fan 24/7 until the battery dies. I hope that makes more sense!
@@realsimplemama It makes total sense. I think I'm just wording it really bad. The censor that you have in your coop that you can view inside your house does not connect to anything right? It's just so you know what the temp in?
Ohhhh I’m so sorry. THAT one! Ok I got it now duh. Right it doesn’t connect to an app or anything else. It’s the wireless remote sensor, and then the panel display in my house. What an idiot 😄🤦🏻♀️ I’m sorry! It’s made by La Crosse and it’s called a wireless forecast station. It’s an old model but it has stuff like weather, indoor and outdoor temp. Ok NOW I hope that helped 😄
Sorry if I missed it someplace ... what size panel are you using? And you said something is about half power so would you recommend a larger panel and or battery than you are running?
Hey! Yes on the bad days we shut it off for a few hours so it can fully charge before the girls go up in the evening. It’s a 25 watt panel and a 12 volt battery but we might add another battery. The panel is not the issue for us, it’s needing more juice saved up! This is the panel (affiliate link): www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PFGP0EA/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=reasimmam-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00PFGP0EA&linkId=528e16486c55f46a02ccfcacf0703115
@@realsimplemama Thanks. Do you manually switch on the fan at night? Or it is 100% dependent on the thermostat to turn the fan on/off?
Thank you! I have all of the parts, but I'm stumped on how to connect the controller to the thermostat and the thermostat to the fan. Please advise. Thanks, Steph & Chick Chick
Hi! My husband is the electrician but he said to go back into Amazon for the thermostat listing, go through the description and find the link for the manual/instructions. That’s what he used. But email me if you need more help and I can try to explain better! theMama@realsimplemama.com
Nice
What happens when it goes over 90 degrees?
To the chickens? Risk of overheating and death.
How are all the fan, battery and thermostat connected together?
Hi! You can look on my website for the companion article and the diagram but it’s linear: battery, thermostat, fans. The thermostat is the gateway to allow power to the fans as needed. RealSimpleMama.com
Hi! Thank you! So I did look on your website and I see how it all works together. However the Solar fan that I got didn't come with the proper cables to connect anything to the Solar charge controller :( so I'll have to get the proper connectors/cables. I was also wondering what Watts is the Solar Panel you got? Is it the 25 Watts?
Hey welllll that’s poopy. I’m sorry. Yes ours is the 12V 25 watt solar panel kit!
Thank you SO much for this!!! Here in SW Tennessee, our temps are hovering around 75°-80° on average, but that is NOT gonna last long. Temps will soar to the high 90’s very soon. My birds are already panting occasionally now....... 😣 I have been wanting to check out solar panels for a while now, and now I’m going to really get serious about it. I bought a mister that connects to the hose, and I tried it out the other day and they ran and hid from it until I turned it off 😕 but then they came out after it turned off. Then I gave them a nice cold head of cabbage to snack on and they cooled right down.
You’re so welcome! Yes we do the mister for about 5 min only, just to get the ground wet. They hate it on them but will come get their feet cool and wet when it’s off (which is what you want). So I would do it for 5 min once an hour maybe? Let me know!