EMT in poultry house
- Thread starter augie47
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Buck Parrish
Senior Member
- Location
- NC & IN
PVC would be better. I haven't an NEC reference. But, I have worked gathering eggs when I was very young. It is a very corrosive environment.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
i'd think PVC would be preferable.... i looked at doing work in a duck factory a few years
back, and they had EMT, and all you had left was wire running thru minnies... honest.
i'd think that poultry facilities would all be the same in terms of wiring methods that would succeed.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Depends how long you want it to last. What about using aluminum? Just guessing but probably the best would be PVC coated RMC. 
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
I don't know that you gain much, other than cost, buy going to PVC coated rigid, other than if you have physical damage issues.Depends how long you want it to last. What about using aluminum? Just guessing but probably the best would be PVC coated RMC.
The do make stainless and aluminum EMT now, but expect that would be more expensive than PVC.
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
I haven't done a poultry house, but I have a done a lot of dairy work. We've ran EMT in the barns for years, but only for ceiling work. The first barn our shop did 16 years ago, still looks fine. Anything down low depending on location would either be pvc, pvc coated rigid, or just regular rigid.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Us city slickers don't know much about chicken barns but PVC sounds like the logical choice to me. Maybe Frank Perdue Jr. can chime in. :lol:
but PVC sounds like the logical choice to me. Maybe Frank Perdue Jr. can chime in. :lol:Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
The problem with pvc in barns, especially roofs, is expansion. We're getting ready to do some 2200' long dairy barns that I'm going to wire in EMT just because pvc is so labor intensive with expansion fittings, straps every 3', two screws per pvc strap instead of one for regular emt 1 hole straps.
PVC is okay for stubups and small stuff, but with any length to the runs, it becomes a real pain.
PVC is okay for stubups and small stuff, but with any length to the runs, it becomes a real pain.
JFletcher
Senior Member
- Location
- Williamsburg, VA
Never done a barn/chicken house, so a few questions: how far down do you worry about washdown/chicken excrement being a factor? Would LF(N)MC be used along with water-resistant enclosures? As for mains runs, even EMT is going to need expansion joints if run the better part of 3/8ths of a mile, yes?
I remember staying at a chicken farm in AL overnight. Even in March, the smell was beyond hideous...ammonia. I'd think corrosion resistance would possibly take priority over anything else, but ofc that's to make a 'bulletproof' design, and cost is always a factor.
I remember staying at a chicken farm in AL overnight. Even in March, the smell was beyond hideous...ammonia. I'd think corrosion resistance would possibly take priority over anything else, but ofc that's to make a 'bulletproof' design, and cost is always a factor.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Your dairy barns, especially modern ones, probably have 14-20 foot side walls and probably have a lot more natural ventilation putting the ceiling mounted items further away from the corrosive source.
Poultry barns have low ceilings and could have less natural ventilation meaning more corrosive elements are in the air inside the building as well.
The dairy barn probably gets the floors flushed but seldom if ever has anything else washed except in milking areas. Poultry barns may be washed, everything including ceilings, periodically. I have a turkey grower I have worked for over the years, they don't wash the grower barns very often, the brooder houses are washed between every brood though.
Add: The grower barns have mostly natural ventilation, the brooder houses are mostly power vented.
Brian Dang
Member
- Location
- Burbank, Ca, US
PVC: a soft shorted circuit in the conduit not enough to trip the breaker but could generate a fire and gone the barn. I vote for non-corrosive metal conduit.
- Location
- Massachusetts
:lol::lol::lol:
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
I had never seen commercial farming operations up close until I traveled to Ohio. I had the opportunity to check out a hog CAFO (confined animal feeding operation.) I wanted to go inside but as I got near it the smell was so bad that I almost lost my lunch. I literally had to stop to regain my composure. I was able to hold it down and walked along side of it, but just couldn't stomach going inside. I have never smelled anything that bad in my life. I asked the farmer if he smells it and he says he doesn't even notice it. :huh:
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
It usually isn't as bad inside as it is outside, or at least doesn't seem as bad for some reason.
qcroanoke
Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
- Location
- Roanoke, VA.
- Occupation
- Sorta retired........
We have sure taken a familiar journey from the OP of EMT being allowed to installing Rob-Roy
I agree. The question was:Would EMT be an allowable wiring method in a chicken house ?
I think yes, If it complies with 358.10 (B) and 300.6 (A) and (A) (1)
It is certainly "permitted"... just not explicitly.
See 547.5.
FWIW, I grew up on a farm with 100-150 indoor hens at most times... cooped, not caged. We had galvanized steel nesting boxes for the hens to lay eggs. For the thirty some years the farm was in my family, there was no sign of corrosion on the nesting boxes.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
I'll take your word for it. :lol:
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
I bet same hen house had NM cable and surface mounted plastic body switches, receptacles, lampholders as well.
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