Ventilating system for livestock houses

In combination with a livestock house having side and end walls, a pitched roof, and a horizontal ceiling below the roof, the ceiling together with the roof enclosing an attic and together with the side walls enclosing a living area for housing livestock, and fans for exhausting air from the living area, an improved ventilation system for supplying fresh air to and removing stale air from the living area, said ventilation system comprising a heat exchanger having intake channels and exhaust channels which are separated by heat conducting members;

• means defining an elongated opening in the ceiling;
• an elongated distribution plenum located close to but being spaced from the ceiling, the plenum being connected to the intake channels of the heat exchanger, the plenum having a generally horizontal upper surface that is located directly below the opening in the ceiling and also having apertures that are directed such that air which is introduced into the plenum will flow out of the plenum generally horizontally;
• rigid baffles located between the ceiling and the upper surface of the plenum along each side of the opening, the baffles being hinged to the ceiling along their upper edges and normally contacting the upper surface of the plenum along their lower edges to isolate the opening from the living area and thereby prevent warm moist air in the living area from rising into the attic through the opening, the baffles being oriented obliquely with respect to the upper surface of the plenum such that the lower edges of the baffles along each side of the opening are spaced farther apart than the upper edges, the weight and angle of inclination of the baffles being such that a slight decrease in air pressure within the living area will cause the baffles to pivot at their hinge connections and swing upwardly to provide a space between the lower edges of the baffles and the upper surface of the plenum so that fresh air will flow from the attic, through the space, and into the living area, the material of the baffles being for the most part rigid and light weight and also being distributed such that normal movement of the baffles does not significantly change the lengths of the moment arms created by the weight of the baffles acting about the hinge connections for the baffles;
• first air delivery means for causing air from the living area to flow through the exhaust channels of the heat exchanger and to thereafter be discharged at the exterior of the building;
• second air delivery means for deriving fresh air at the exterior of the building and causing that air to flow through the intake channel of heat exchanger and thence into the plenum such that the fresh air to a limited measure pressurizes that interior of the plenum, whereby the fresh air is heated by the exhaust air within the heat exchanger and is thereafter discharged from the plenum horizontally into the living area.