Brrr Barn

The Farm and Ranch lifestyle aren’t always as glamorous as the movies portray. One instance are the cold and blustery days of winter. All you really want to do is stay inside tucked under a warm blanket, curled up in front of a roaring fire with hot chocolate or a bowl of soup sitting nearby while you watch the snow swirl around outside. Unfortunetly, your animals will starve if you don’t get out there and feed them.

While there is no doubt a short walk from the house to the barn, there is no reason why it can’t be comfortable inside the barn. Sure, it can be a large building, possibly old, but here are 5 tips to keeping warm and keeping your animals from freezing.

1. Foam insulation. It can come in two different forms. Foam can come in sheets. You can cut these by saw or carpenter’s knife depending on the thickness you buy. Foam can also be sprayed which can be great for those older buildings with interesting or hard to get to areas. Simply putting in a little bit of insulation, you can save your energy bills by 52%!
2. Blankets. If you have horses, you know how useful insulating blankets can be. This can be a nice addition to the insulation keeping heating costs down or for those cooler spring and fall nights when it isn’t cold enough to really turn up the heat.
3. Gas space heaters. These work fast to heat up an area. Depending on how large the space is, you may need more than one. Space heaters come with some safety precautions, and without some basic insulation, can end up costing you a lot of money to try to heat a space.
4. Radiant flooring. If you are looking to build a new barn or stable, consider spending a little more upfront and when pouring your foundations, put in water-based radiant heat. Heat rises, so if your floor is reasonably warm (think no more frozen water), some heat will rise warming the space a few degrees. There are some systems that can integrate solar heat.
5. Use the sun. Get the most out of windows by keeping them clean and allowing sunlight to pour in for the limited number of hours we get during the day, and as the sun starts to set, use shutters as an insulating barrier from harsh cold and winds, and keeping some warmed air inside.

Most of these are minimal or free investments other than your time. Of course, you can end up spending a lot as well, so get quotes and do your homework.