Now that the ice cap has melted, the biomeiler temperatures are steadily increasing. A consequence of this temperature increase is that the air pulled into the coop through the air pipe in the pile is now being warmed, rather than cooled.
Although this action is entirely in accordance with the original purpose of the biomeiler, warming the coop in the summer is not desirable. So, I set out to reconfigure the system.
The wye fitting on the pipe leading into the coop allows air heated by the biomeiler to enter through the lower leg and had the upper leg blocked off. The original purpose of the wye fitting was to allow for mixing outdoor air with the heated air, should the coop temperature rise too high in the winter. It has never been necessary to exercise that option, but my forethought has paid off by allowing me to make a simple revision to suit the summer conditions.
I removed the cap from the upper leg of the fitting and used it to block the air from entering the air pipe that connects to the lower leg.
I connected a spare section of insulated air pipe to the upper leg of the wye fitting and moved the other end to draw air from the area between the biomeiler and the coop.
Because of the surrounding trees and shrubs, this region of the back yard is perpetually shaded and remains cooler than the rest of the yard.
To prevent opportunistic squirrels from getting into the pipe, I fastened some wire mesh over the open end. Any squirrel who finds the motivation to bypass the wire mesh will only be able to travel about twelve feet before it finds a set of whirling fan blades blocking its entry to the coop.
For now, this new arrangement guarantees that the fresh air entering the coop will not be heated above the temperature of the outdoor air. As soon as I can, I will arrange for the air pipe to draw air from beneath the coop. The ground under the coop has always been exposed to the winter temperatures and shielded from the summer sun. Air drawn over that ground will likely be colder than the outdoor air.
There is also a purely aesthetic secondary benefit of such an arrangement, seen in the title image of today’s post. One of my favorite movies is Brazil by Terry Gilliam. Now, I can boast about my more-expansive custom ductwork. I made a special effort to leave the fireweed undisturbed during the work so as to emphasize how well this project blends with the natural surroundings.
It helped to see several pictures of what you were revealing in words. Now I am wondering how much difference there is between air beneath the coop and outside the coop.
The saga marches on!