The project? Insulation! The bug barn itself is a shipping container, all metal skin. Great longevity and strength but wow is it hot! When that direct sun hits the outside, the walls get so hot you can't hold a hand against it inside. With an air temp of 11p, that makes the bug barn into an oven, quite literally!
We tried insulation on the inside, but that didn't work out. Didn't help much with the radiant heat, and attracted mice. So we are doing something new... Insulting paint!
Insulating paint is a new technology (apparently developed for NASA) that blocks radiant heat quite effectively. For situations such as this metal building, the paint reflects the radiant heat instead of absorbing it and transferring to the inside. Does nothing for conducted heat, only radiant, but that ok for the bugs. If it can just stop the heat gain from direct sun, the bugs will he happy!
There are several brands, all claiming to be the best, most seem to be scams or at least cheap knockoffs. We chose one that seemed most legit.. insuladd. This is an additive to be put into any exterier paint to create insulting paint.
Fortunately, by God's grace, we were given a free contractor grade ( but older) airless paint sprayer to apply this with! It needed some work, and a new tip, but I got it working enough to build pressure with only a small leakage around the old seals. Woohoo! As a test, I painted the top of the brooder a nice avacado green .
Yes, the pain itself was also donated ! We ended up with about 25 gallons of free exterior paint, various colors. Not sure which color the barn will end up, maybe a rainbow!
So back to today... I spent the afternoon pressure washing the outside to knock off as much of the old crumbly paint as possible. Took a while, but ended up nice! Now I just need one more day of moderate sun o apply the paint itself. (Just wait till you see my fancy homemade paint mixer!)
Stay tuned!
posted from Bloggeroid
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