Padcooling interview Maartin van der Velden
Maartin van der Velden: "PadCooling in my pig houses is a small investment with a short payback period from which I also benefit in the long run."
Maartin and Leon van der Velden have a pig farm with Danish top and sub-breeding gilts, sows and meat pigs spread over four locations in the Netherlands and Germany. Their motto is “What is good today must be better tomorrow.” This summer they used PadCooling by Inno+ for the first time in their houses for the Danish breeding gilts in Asten and his guste and farrowing sows in Ospel. A relatively small investment that contributes to improving the quality of the pigs and the business process in the short and long term. Maartin expects to recoup the investment in one year.
Heavier weaned piglets and fitter sows thanks to padcooling
In his pig houses in Asten and Ospel, Maartin van der Velden and his company VeVar always suffer the most from hot summer weather. This is partly due to the system of ceiling ventilation with an air inlet through the underside of the roof. Even at outside temperatures of 23°C or 24°C, the effect of heat is clearly noticeable in breeding gilts and sows. “The animals take in less feed, lactation decreases and weaned piglets have a lower weight. In addition, stalliness in sows decreases and fertility and gestation decreases.” Since last spring, Maartin van der Velden has been using PadCooling from Inno+ in these pig houses. In his locations in Asten and Ospel, Maartin had special cool pads installed in the air intake openings. At an air intake temperature of 22°C or more, the PadCooling now starts up automatically. Cold water then flows continuously over the coolpads. The air flowing through the coolpads absorbs the moisture. The water evaporates, reducing the temperature of the ventilation air flowing inside. Of course, the Pad Cooling system automatically shuts off when the desired temperature in the stalls is reached.
Improved working conditions thanks to padcooling in stables
The effect of PadCooling was very noticeable during the past hot summer months. The temperature inside the barn was much lower on hot days. On the very hottest day of last summer, it was even 38°C outside. Maartin van der Velden then managed to lower the temperature in the stables by 6°C. The animals are a lot fitter on hot days. That must have an effect on the quality of the piglets and the performance of the sows. Working conditions on warm days have improved a lot. It is more pleasant to work at more comfortable temperatures. On hot days there is now much less stress and much more peace and quiet on the farm.
Limited investment with short payback period is always interesting to do
An additional advantage of the PadCooling is that on hot days we have to ventilate the stables a lot less. Therefore we save energy. On cold and windy days the PadCooling captures wind fluctuations. In this way we also improve the barn climate in autumn and winter. PadCooling provides up to 10 Pa extra resistance. As a result, we use slightly more energy year round when ventilating. The investment in PadCooling is not that high. Around € 40 to € 50 per farrowing sow place. The PadCooling of Inno+ was easy to apply. “It is a relatively small investment that I think I will earn back in one year. We also benefit from the advantage of PadCooling in the long term with our pig houses. So such an investment is financially interesting and you create better conditions for the pigs so they perform better. So definitely a good thing to do.”