All About Metal Barn Ventilation
Are you planning and designing a new prefab metal barn? When covering the most critical aspects of this new building, its durability, the foundation type, doors, and windows all probably come to mind. But what about your ventilation needs? Believe it or not, ventilation is a crucial part of a metal barn because it allows the structure to be usable and livable.
It might sound like an exaggeration to say that ventilation is the most important part of your metal barn kit, but it isn’t. Ventilation accomplishes three main things: it controls condensation, regulates temperature, and preserves your air quality. These are critically important factors, no matter how you plan to use your prefab metal barn. Proper ventilation helps ensure that you and your animals stay healthy, avoid sickness, and prevent toxic fumes from building up from equipment. Not to mention it saves you money on your energy bill each month, too!
Why Should You Ventilate Your Prefab Metal Barn?
There are many reasons having proper ventilation in a metal barn is essential, but let’s take a more in-depth look at three main ways ventilation benefits you and your prefab metal barn. Here is a brief overview of how ventilation can help control condensation, regulate temperature, and preserve air quality:
• Controlling condensation
Condensation can be troublesome in almost any situation. It makes your cup slippery, fogs up your glasses and car windows, and can damage your metal barn kit. Condensation often forms due to changes in humidity. When cooler outside air temperature meets warmer interior air, it often causes condensation. These humid conditions can be a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and bacteria. One of the best ways to prevent this condensation is to have a well-functioning ventilation system. A sound ventilation system will allow air to flow in and out of your building in regular movements, keeping the interior from getting stagnant and humid.
• Regulating temperature
Preventing the buildup of condensation and humidity is vital for any building, but did you know it also plays a critical role in regulating your metal barn’s temperature? Without a steady flow of air between the interior and exterior of your building, your metal barn can become uncomfortably warm in warmer months or cold enough to make your teeth chatter in the winter. This is often due to the temperature of air trapped inside your metal barn. Circulating that trapped air through a ventilation system can help your interior temperatures remain more reasonable year-round.
• Preserving air quality inside the building
Maintaining proper ventilation is one of the best ways to ensure that you always have good air quality. Without good ventilation, any building can trap harmful air contaminants inside your structure. This can be extremely harmful to breathe. The best way to meet OSHA recommendations and avoid this is to install a properly functioning ventilation system that pulls contaminants out of the air.
How You Can Ventilate Your Metal Barn
By now, it should be clear that proper ventilation is key if you plan on installing a metal barn kit. However, there are multiple types of ventilation features and systems. Metal Barn Central wants to help you determine which ventilation system is right for you by walking you through each ventilation type.
1. Metal Building Ridge Vent
A metal building ridge vent is the first type of ventilation you can have in your metal barn. We highly suggest this ventilation component because it sits at the highest part of your structure. As we all know, hot air rises! And metal barn ridge vents will efficiently regulate your metal barn’s temperature and keep it from staying too warm.
2. Metal Building Louver
Metal building louvers are air vents that are installed in the walls of your prefab metal barn. They are designed to be pest-resistant, so they won’t let bugs in while they ventilate your metal barn. They are also designed to prevent rain from blowing into your prefab metal barn. Coupled with the fact that they do not require extra trim, this makes them an excellent ventilation solution.
3. Circular Vent
Much like the previous options, circular vents are designed to prevent bugs, birds, and rain from making their way into your prefab metal barn. These vents are placed near the top of your structure and use gravity to help regulate your air quality. Circular gravity vents make use of wind to quickly ventilate your metal barn.
4. Metal Building Roof Jack
Metal building roof jacks are different than the previous options in that they are designed to seal any pipes in your metal barn. This prevents the air transfer that causes excess condensation and humidity and bolsters the airflow created by other ventilation systems.
5. Metal Building Exhaust Fan
Similar to the metal barn louver, metal building exhaust fans are installed in your prefab metal barn’s walls. These fans allow air to ventilate through the structure the same way as louvers. However, these have the additional strength of a powered fan to move the air more efficiently. These are highly recommended if your metal barn consistently has equipment or other harmful fume sources stored there.
6. Metal Building Flood Vent
Unlike the other options, metal building floor vents are not designed to allow air to pass through them. These metal barn vents are designed for water to pass through. They are highly recommended and often required in flood-prone areas. These vents are an ideal way to prevent humidity caused by evaporating floodwaters inside your metal barn.
7. Doors and Windows
One of the simplest ways to ventilate your metal barn or metal barn kit is by installing doors and windows. Having doors and windows gives you the ability to actively ventilate your prefab metal barn whenever you want. All you need to do is open a window or door!
Yes, You Do Need Ventilation
Everyone needs some ventilation system in their metal barns, but the type you’ll need depends on what kind of metal building you design. And the kind of metal barn you create is dependent on several other factors, including your geographical location, weather, and intended use. It’s important to remember that all of Metal Barn Central’s metal barns are entirely customizable. No matter what you need, we can make it happen. You can customize the framing gauge, the paneling gauge, the types of doors and windows, the dimensions, the colors, the add-on features, and everything in between.
If you are a skilled contractor or handyman or have experience reading engineering drawings, we have the perfect option for you! Metal Barn Central offers premium metal barn kits. These kits come with everything you need to get the prefab metal barn of your dreams, and you get a discount for installing it yourself! This means that you won’t have to worry about installation prices or the headache of arranging your schedule around installation day.
Here is everything you can expect to find in your metal barn kit:
- Metal framing
- Metal wall paneling
- Metal roof paneling
- Trim
- Fasteners
- Doors and windows
- Ventilation systems
- Add-on features
- Foundation anchors
- Engineering drawings
Connect with Metal Barn Central to Get the Steel Barn You Need Today
Metal Barn Central aims to be your one-stop-shop for everything metal building-related! Our durable structures are designed to make your life easier, regardless of how you use them! Whether making a barn for your horses and farm animals or storing sizeable agricultural equipment, we’ve got the solution for you! We are the industry leaders when it comes to providing high-quality metal brans and superior customer service. Our specialists are highly trained and ready to help you design the building of your dreams. What are you waiting for? Give us a call today at (980) 365-8481, and let’s get to building!
