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With ChillMaster, Big Dutchman, in collaboration with its Dutch partner company Inno+ from Panningen, is introducing a ground-breaking innovation for climate control in pig houses. The system is based on mechanical, non-adiabatic cooling via a cooling unit and eliminates the risk of heat stress all year round: a significant step forward for animal welfare and production reliability.
Unlike conventional evaporative cooling systems, ChillMaster reduces the enthalpy of the inside air without adding water. As the fresh air is cooled to below the dew point, the relative humidity actually drops. The closed-cycle system consumes no water at all. The by-product, condensation, can be reused as process water, for example for cleaning.
“With ChillMaster, we are making farmers completely independent of outside conditions for the first time. The house climate becomes not only predictable but can be scheduled – 365 days a year,” explains Uwe Beuse, product manager at Big Dutchman. “Negative effects on the indoor environment caused by draughts, day-night temperature fluctuations and sudden weather changes are now a thing of the past. It’s a whole new level of animal welfare, something the industry has never seen before.”
A particular advantage of the system lies in its reversibility: if required, the cooling unit can be operated as a heat pump to heat the house during the cold season. Furthermore, ChillMaster can be configured so that several houses at the same location are controlled centrally via a single system.
“The reduction in enthalpy makes it possible to work with only half the usual air flow rate. In hot regions, farmers can even forgo tunnel ventilation altogether,” says Beuse. “When combined with a well-designed photovoltaic system, energy costs can be reduced much further.”
The system, developed in collaboration with Inno+, is thus a prime example of Big Dutchman’s commitment to combining technological innovation, animal welfare and profitability. With ChillMaster, the partners are setting a new standard for consistent, precisely controllable climate conditions in pig houses – regardless of the season or weather conditions.
September 22, 2026 - Big Dutchman
