Horse barn wiring

[Wingnut]

power for farrier???
Our farrier uses files, clippers and awls .... what would they need power for? But, yes ... I also have a receptacle at the beginning of the stall section for any power "tools".
The receptacles at each stall are high enough so the horses can't reach ... but the normal tool cord could (the cord for the buckets have to reach).

I haven't mounted fans in the barn (yet) but I did mount fans in my shop and wired them all together on one switch (if I need to turn on off, they all have pull switches).

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Pete, is that Weedsport NY?
Smoke detectors won't work in a horse barn, too much latent dust. Products of Combustion detectors won't work either, due to ammonia content in horse liquid effluent. Even Beam Type smokes down the main walkway would be prone to false alarms. Rate of Rise detectors will work, as will an Incipient Fire Warning System (super big dollars). Horse barns are hard to fire alarm.
If you will be living on the property, I suggest you bury a couple TV cables from the barn to the house, RG6 or RG 59, depending on distance. A TV camera beats the crap out of having to walk to the barn to check a pregnant mare at night.
Ground testing- I'll post a couple sites later today. Basicly, it involves metering the resistance between ground rods with a special meter.
Romex in Horse barns should be type UF minimum. Big problem with horses, they wear steel shoes, and KICK. Conduit is a much better route to take.

 

[weedsportpete]

Thanks Gary.. the more I hear about it, the more I want to do it.. I have to think about scheduling.. how long the barn will be without power while I make the changes. I'll probably put in the new box and the first two sets of fluorescents and receptacles, and wire the first two stall (incandescent) lights in series (and add the rest of that side in later). Then I can add other sets of aisle lights and stall lights as I go with the breaker box already in place.

If I make all the fans on a side in series, controlled from one switch, then I would want one half of the receptacle to be switched and the other unswitched. But the switch for the fans is a different switch than the one for the overhead lights. So do I have to now run two lines of conduit/romex? Or can I use some new combination (12/4??) ?

Maybe I should back off this configuration and change it so that each row of stall lights are combined with the switched plug of the receptacle, but I still want the stall light switch separate from the fan switch..

/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Pete

 

[weedsportpete]

Good point about water heaters (and automatic waterers?).. I'd better boost the breakers.. do you know, roughly, how many amps the water bucket heaters take??

I'm going for the high output fluorescent lights to be able to start in cold weather. Although that means the lights will not help to heat it in the winter..

Pete

 

[weedsportpete]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Yup, Weedsport, NY - are you familiar with the area? I'll try to get to the Farm Show next month. Maybe I'll see ya there.

Too bad about the smoke detectors.. I've wanted to put cameras in the barn for a while.. probably too expensive in the immediate future. Its about 400' to the barn.. does that mean RG59 cable? I'd have to put that in PVC, down 24" ? Is there an easy way to put the signal on our cable tv? or does it have to go to its own monitor(s)?

I am using flexible metal conduit.. it will all be over the horses heads. But if they break it, can I make them (the owners) can pay for it??! Would be nice.. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Pete

 

[hayes]

All the fans on a side of the barn are on 1 switch.

Our farrier backs up to the center isle at one end of the barn.
He wanted an outlet at that end to plug into. I don't think
height matters as they probably have an extension cord. His reason was to keep the cord away from where the horses are standing, in case one freeks out, they don't get tangled up in it.

Larry

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Pete, I hope you do pursue this yourself. I think you'll be amazed at how easy the meter base and breaker box are to wire properly. I sure was. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Honestly, it's easier than wiring the half switched, half unswitched duplex outlets.

For great info on those and other things you might want to do (like putting a switch at either end of the stall area to control the lights so you can go in or out either end and turn them on or off), go to your local library and take out one of those basic wiring books and flip through it. Everything you'll likely want to know for your project will be right there. You don't even have to memorize it. The job can be done with the book right there next to you. Trust me on that. I've done that very thing in the past. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Besides, there no extra credit for not looking it up. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[rozett]

Re: Horse barn wiring

I have surveillance cameras in our barn. My daughters gave me the basic system for Christmas. It came with two cameras, a B&W monitor, power cubes, and cables. I really didn't want to deal with the hastle of trenching the cables or running overhead conduit from the barn to the shed and then down through the house. So I purchased two 900 Mhz transmitter/reciever pairs at $50 each.

I mounted the transmitters and power cubes to a 1x 8 and attached it to a beam in the corner of the barn. Then ran the cables along the beams to the stalls. I had to modify the cables myself with parts from Radio Shack. I did the same with the receivers in the house. I think they are good for about 300 feet. You could invest in 2.4 Ghz transmitters/receivers, but that is a lot more $$.

My cameras include IR for night vision and single-channel sound. Right now I have the volume turned off because I must have a ground loop somewhere and it is very noisy.

My wife and I are fascinated watching them sleep at night. My quarter horse likes to lay on his side and spread his legs. Her Appy lays down on his legs. Funny though.... they never both lay down at the same time. One is always "standing gaurd" while the other lays down.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Re: Horse barn wiring

What brand did you get and how is the picture quality? I'm asking because I'd like something for security but have either seen terrible quality or terribly high pricing.

 

[Wingnut]

FWIW ... I have a separate 15A breaker just for the heaters ... but I only have 4 stalls ... nope, scratch that ... I added to the circuit to add another heater outside ... so 5 - 1500w buckets.
I guess it'd be easy enough to do the math knowing what buckets and heaters you'll be running simultaneously. I have 2 - 2500w heaters to keep the outside water ice free in the winter and 4 heated buckets in the stalls ... plus the heat tape to keep the hydrant from freezing. Can you tell I spent most of my life in winter country?

High output fluorescents? These light in cold temps? The standard lamps start having trouble when it gets near freezing so I find this intriguiing. Got any specs? Cost vs standard?

another Pete

 

[rozett]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Gary,

During daylight, the picture quality is fine. It leaves a little to be desired at night, but it is pitch black out there in the barn. The wife and I can make out which stall we're looking at and where the occupant is standing/laying.

The basic setup was $109 and came from Spy Cameras for Less. It is at the bottom of this page Wireless.

I will warn you that these folks are importers and have absolutely zero technical support. I called to ask about using the wireless kit and they said that it couldn't be done because the cables with the basic system had "custom" connectors. Fortunately, I've had 30 years in the computer business and know better. I did find that the wireless units were a known brand but built in China. And I couldn't find them at a price that even came close to the $50.

I can help you through the cable mods if you decide to go this way. Overall, I am very satisfied with the setup.

 

[Wingnut]

Re: Horse barn wiring

<font color=blue>Is there an easy way to put the signal on our cable tv? or does it have to go to its own monitor(s)? </font color=blue>

like anything else electronic, the answer is, sure, if you got the money. Once you get the signal to the house, then you can use a "modulator" to move the signal to an unused channel ... usually UHF ... and add it to whatever you're currently using for TV signal. You can get whole hole modulators that allow you to add 2 different signals and split them to multiple tv's in the house.
As soon as I find the time to replace the (main) VCR with the new DVD/VCR combo that's still in the box after 4 months ... and replace the satellitle receiver with the new 4DTV receiver that's still in the box after 5 months and put up the tower so I can move the antenna to the other side of the house and raise it ... then I will jam all the signals together and send them to all the TV's in the house.
Isn't there something insane about a couple, living alone, who have 6 TV's in the house? (ask me how many minutes I watch a week)

btw ... my barn is a little further back than yours ... and I plan to experiment with broadcast camers ... and likely a repeater setup ... because we really want cameras on the pregnant horses too ... and besides, cats/kittens are hilarious to watch when they think they're alone.

 

[weedsportpete]

Hey Wingnut,

I heard about them from the electrician, then I found them on Lowes hardware store website (www.lowes.com) under fluorescent lighting / strip lighting. The manufacturer is Lithonia and they have a website (www.lithonia.com) which I am currently searching to see if they have anything better.

The lights at Lowes do not have reflectors, but that might be ok in the aisle in the barn.

Lithonia 8' Fluorescent strip light $44.90, takes (2) 110W tubes. Will start up to -20 degrees F.

Lithonia might have better lights direct from them, but the shipping will kill ya.

I am confused about the wattage.. Lowes says the lights take 110W bulbs, but all the fixtures I've seen on the Lithonia site specify 253 Watts.. Does that mean there is 33 Watts left over??

I'll put the water heaters on a separate circuit then. This is really starting to add up!

Pete

 

[weedsportpete]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Do you know what the range is for that wireless unit?? If I get more than one set, would there be interference (same frequency)?

If it is too far for me, do you know what I would need to boost the signal in the cables to reach 700 feet??

I eventually want to have cameras in the eaves of the barn looking out at the pastures. I'll probably have 6 to 10 cameras feeding one monitor (possibly two - one in the home and one in the barn). I'd have to do it a little at a time.

Do you like your system?

Pete

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Horse barn wiring

For information on CCTV equipment, try www.vsscctv.com
the site has good information, but the prices are slightly high.

For a system with multiple cameras at the barn feeding to a single monitor at the house, you can either use a combiner or a switcher.

For lo light applications, there are many slef illuminating cameras available that have LED arrays built into the camera.

Wireless CCTV is a poor substitute for wired equipment. There are inexpensive devices (that act like a modem) to run CCTV signal over phone wire for up to 1/4 mile. Decent wireless equipment that will cross the same distance would run close to $2500-.

 

[bgott]

I ran into this on my travels...HTH.

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/farmbuildings/g845.htm

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/farmbuildings/g846.htm

 

[rozett]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Pete, the range on the units that I bought are spec'd at 300 feet. They are the 900 Mhz units. I know that you can get a lot more range from the 2.4 Ghz units, but they are a LOT more money. The units I bought have a selector switch for 4 channels. Each xmt/rcvr only supports one channel of video and one stereo audio, but you can use four of them, on different channels, without interference. I have a pair of each for two cameras.

But with that many cameras, you need to invest in a multiplexer to feed them onto a single video channel. That'll run you some bucks. There are lots of surveillance equipment sites on the web that offer that kind of equipment.

 

[gerard]

Re: Horse barn wiring

pete,
I'm in pompey NY, just south of Syracuse - hi neighbor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
I use heated water buckets and they don't draw much - 40 watts each I thionk and they don't run 100% of the time.

re GFCI - you can use a gfci breaker and everything on that circuit is protected but they cost about $30 each. OR you can put the gfci as the first outlet and tap off of that. Everything BEYOND that will be protected. Might also consider using outdoor boxes with the spring loaded cover doors so the outlet is covered when not in use. Just another safeguard as you know how "curious" horses can be sometimes.