Equilux

Sam Murphy of Equilux will unveil a new product at the ITBA Expo that aims to improve the air quality and environmental living conditions for horses. Murphy has designed a ventilation system that can work in tandem with the company’s stable lighting products or independently.

The system is a simple and programmable extractor fan that can be set to come on up to eight times a day in each stable to extractor dirty air and replace it with cleaner air. A button outside the stable allows the fan to be turned on for additional periods.

“You can programme the fan in every stable with its area in cubic metres which it then extracts, for a 64m cubed stable it takes about seven minutes to remove the dirty air and replace it,” explains Murphy. The times of each extraction can be specified and after mucking out in the morning and evening stables, the fan can be manually activated to remove the dust and dirt thrown into the air by cleaning and grooming.

“Ammonia gases from urine, fungal spores, bacteria and dust can all circulate in the air contained within a stable,” says Murphy. “The idea behind this ventilation system is to create a better quality environment for the horses which should improve their performances. It won’t turn a bad horse into a good one, but with clean air they should be better able to perform to the best of their ability.”

A prototype of the fan will be on display at the ITBA Expo and Murphy expects the ventilation system to cost around €300 to install per stable and around €1 per month in electricity costs for each fan running 10 times a day.