# A thought on Ventilation



## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

I'm starting to set up my racing loft. It is 3 feet above the ground. The floor of the loft is all open grating. I was thinking of running duct work across the center of the cealing. I would run a fan to blow the dryer air in from the cealing instead of letting the damp air rise from the ground. The air flow will be directed in a way that there is no direct draft on the birds.

What do you think? 

Do you see any flaws in this ventilation system?


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

It's what you think that counts, if you think that's the way to go why not try it? You learn more from your mistakes then you do from you successes as they say! Now if you really just want an opinion? i would say it's over kill but then again nothing wrong with that go for it!


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## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

I have been learning from my mistakes all my life! I was hopping to learn from yours. This way I can save some time and maybe the racing season. I will be asking many questions throughout this first season back into the pigeon racing world. All input would be welcome. I like to get as much information on something before I make up my mind on exactly how I will do it. I have less chance of really messing it up that way.

Mark


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Hello Ace,

You can take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but I think you are attempting to reinvent the wheel so to speak. One way to test your "new" design theory is to take a device such as a bee smoker and fill your loft up with some smoke and see how such a design will ventilate. Your design must also take into consideration the type of weather in your area. A proper design for a loft in the desert conditions of the South West in the USA, would need to be different from let say a loft in the New England states. 

You also can not over look the laws of physics, which I think your proposed design will do just that. I suspect that your design in your location, will allow very cold damp air to blow into your loft on those types of days, and will do little to provide fresh clean air on those hot days of summer. You will have a much more difficult time maintaining the form in your birds, and it will show up in your race reports. The best birds in the world, would have a difficult time overcoming a poor loft condition. An ideal design would allow the fancier to maintain his birds in a dry loft, with plenty of fresh clean air, while avoiding drafts. If the design is not right, then the birds will not be able to breath right, and a bird forced to live in bad air, will not be able to preform. Also I think a good design will allow the fancier to make adjustments to air flow based on weather conditions. I have had experience with open bottom lofts, and on those cold and wet days, the inside of the loft is very damp, and a damp loft will kill any form in your birds.

But, that is just my two cents.....fanciers have a tendency to build sheds to fit their own agenda, sometimes based on building skills, available materials, or something they saw somewhere, etc. Instead of building a loft which will make the birds happy and comfortable.....


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

*Just a thought*

Hi Mark,

This may be one area that you can pick up a lot of insights by seeing what the people locally are doing. The best flyers in your area are probably not going to give up their best birds, but you will be able to see how they handle the ventilation issues just by an innocent visit on your part. 

For me, I visited a lot of local lofts and found that virtually everyone had solid wood floors with ventilation supplied from the front of the loft near the floor. There was also ventilation available in the rear towards the roof. This provided an airflow that went from front floor to rear roof. 

Now, keep in mind that I am in Georgia and our concern is the heat and humidity of summer, not the cold of winter so much. I am sure your circumstances will be different in Michigan. This very well may be an instance where the local hot flyers might be able to unknowingly give up some of their "secrets" just through your powers of observation!

Like Warren said however, you can't fight the laws of physics so just try to think through how the airflow would work in any design you may propose and then test the results.

Hope this helps.

Dan


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

You mean front floor to rear roof correct? but wouldn't that create a draft? wouldn't it be better say from front floor to ceiling, meaning the highest point of loft which should be most likely the center of the loft as seen in some loft plans that i looked at! I'll see if i can find an example of what i mean!
this shows the center point
http://www.redroselofts.com/images/Ribaudo_4.jpg
this shows the front without the floor vents because the front is open!
http://www.redroselofts.com/images/Ribaudo_6.jpg
I think if floor vents were used you could control towards the bottom of loft this would be an ideal situation for air flow!


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Deejay,

Thanks for the heads up on my spelling faux pas! Yes, what I meant was that I have air flow from the front floor to the rear roof. This is from the lowest point to the highest as far as roof height goes as my loft roof is sloped from front, at 7 feet, to rear, at 11 feet.

Thanks,

Dan


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## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

Here's one for you. I just came from a loft in Florida that has the same set up as I descibed for my loft when I started this thread. 

Believe it or not it is also over water. It does have more ventilation on the sides than I would have in Michigan. The loft is on posts about three foot over the water. With an open bottom and a cottage roof, with all four sides of the roof comming together at the peak. Located in the peak is a fan that directs the air flow down and out the bottom and sides.

The important thing to mention here is that this is not a racing loft but a breeding loft. He does very well with this desine as a breeding loft, but did tell me this desine would not be good as a racing loft.

Just thought you might want to know.  

Myself, I have chosen to run ventalation along the length of the floor on the south facing side of the loft. This will also be the side of the loft with the trap in the center and aviaries on each side of the trap. There will be vents at the top of the walls front and back that can be opened and closed as needed. There will also be roof vents down the center of the cealing.

Now that problem is solved, on to the next one. My first birds will be comming friday. 

Ace


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Sounds great, all i can say is i wish you had a camera to take pictures of that breeding loft! We all love pictures, as the saying goes, one picture is worth a THOUSAND WORDS! Have a nice day!


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## k-will (Dec 15, 2007)

you are setting yourself up for disaster by what you are talking about doing.and yes,if you can learn from other flyers mistakes without doing it yourself,why not?you are going to create a draft that will keep your birds from ever coming into super racing form.i will tell you how to fix it.1)put a floor,solid piece of plywood underneath your grated floor that is hinged and leaning at an angle towards the back of your loft.have it open only about 12 inches.your ventilation at the top of the loft should allow for stale air to escape out the top,but not right over where the birds perch.out in the center if possible.getting back to the floor underneath i suggested,my idea will allow you to let fresh air in,but you will be able to control it more.you wont have drafts!you cannot have a drafty situation in your loft and expect your birds to come into and stay in form.if your loft is set-up properly,the air will naturally flow out the top.you could light a cigarette and the smoke would slowly flow up and out.in belgum the fanciers laugh at the term "belgian grated floors".they do not race with those floors.most of them that have them cover them with plywood before racing.they were created for breeding lofts and holding pens.however,i used those floors with the solid floor underneath with success for years.you just have to control the airflow.the floor will also allow you to scrape droppings out the back to discard.im just getting ready to build my new widowhood loft and yb loft,and i will have solid floors in mine with proper lower and upper ventilation.its so much easier to maintain form in the birds once racing.just my .02 k-will


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