These 6 Tips Can Make the Most of Natural Light in Your Barn
When you design a horse barn, you need to focus on many elements, including stall size and design, the barn layout, and ventilation. All of those factors work together to help keep your horse safe and healthy. But the barn lighting also plays an important role in your horse’s health and the atmosphere in your barn. By designing your barn to take advantage of natural light, you can save on your utility bills while creating an ideal space for horses and humans.
These tips can help you make the most of natural light. While it’s ideal to include these design elements when building your barn, you can also incorporate most of these ideas when you renovate your existing horse barn.
Position Stalls on the Outer Walls
When you plan your barn’s layout, try to position all of your stalls so that they’re on the outer walls of your barn. When stalls are on the outer wall, you can easily add windows to let in natural light. That’s difficult to do when you have an interior line of stalls in your barn, and those stalls tend to be naturally dark. Plus, windows provide important entertainment for horses, which can help reduce boredom.
Strategically Choose Stall Partitions and Stall Fronts
Consider how your Horse Stall Partitions and stall fronts will affect how light travels through your barn. Solid stall partitions will significantly limit the amount of light that can travel between the stalls. While some horses and situations may require solid stall partitions, partitions that feature at least partial grills will allow more light to pass through.
The same applies to your Stall Fronts. If you want to maximize natural light in your barn, European Stall Fronts can be a fantastic choice. These horse stall fronts do an excellent job of letting plenty of light travel through the fronts. When you order from American Stalls, we’ll custom-design and build your Stall Fronts to order, allowing you to choose from various finishes and fill options that bring your vision to life.
Carefully Choose Reflective Materials
The materials that you use in the interior of your barn can also impact how light travels in the space. For example, if you choose light-colored paints for your interior barn walls, they can help reflect light and make the space feel larger. In comparison, darker paints or very dark wood stains will limit the amount of natural light that travels through, and the space will feel darker and smaller.
To maximize the effectiveness of natural light inside your barn, select materials that help reflect it. In addition to light-colored paints or stains, roofing materials that are light-colored on the interior, as well as steel siding painted a light color, can help transfer natural light.
Add Structures Like Cupolas or Dormers
When designing your horse barn, look for ways to bring natural light in through the roof. Depending on the size of your barn, you can incorporate multiple cupolas in the roof. Cupolas not only allow natural light to enter the space, but they can also aid in ventilation to support your horse’s respiratory health. If you’re going to install a hayloft, consider structuring it so that it’s centered in the upper floor; leaving the sides open allows light to travel down to the stalls below.
You can also plan your barn to incorporate dormers, which are structures that project outward from the sloped edge of your roof. Dormers create extra space to place windows, so you can let extra natural light into the horse stalls below.
Install Skylights or Clear Roofing Panels
To let in extra natural light through the roof, plan on a barn with skylights or clear roofing panels. Skylights are more structurally sound, so they may be a must-have if you live in an area with severe weather or heavy snow loads. Fixed skylights won’t open, but they’re a more affordable option compared to vented skylights. Vented skylights give you the advantage of being able to open them for extra ventilation. Both options can significantly enhance the natural light in your barn.
Clear roofing panels function similarly to fixed skylights, and they’re quite affordable. These panels aren’t as durable as skylights, though, and they can scratch or become yellowed over time. They can also affect your roof’s structural integrity, so if you decide to use them, consult with a skilled contractor and plan on reinforcing the panels.
Install Plenty of Large Windows
Look for numerous ways to incorporate windows into your barn. In addition to letting in natural light, windows are helpful because they can maximize ventilation when open. That ventilation can help create an environment that supports your horse’s respiratory health, plus it can help keep temperatures down on hot days.
Horse Barn Windows can maximize airflow and natural light inside your barn, and we custom-build our hinged barn windows so they perfectly fit your barn. You can choose from numerous design options, including yokes and grills.
You may also want to choose Horse Barn Doors that incorporate windows. We custom-build our horse barn doors to order, allowing you to choose from numerous window options and create a unique, personalized entry into your barn.
Beautiful Barn Designs That Embrace Natural Light
Explore how these beautifully crafted barns use natural light to elevate everyday horsekeeping, reduce energy use, and create serene environments.
Contact American Stalls for Natural Light Solutions Today
At American Stalls, we can help you choose and design barn components that maximize natural light. If you’re designing a barn, we encourage you to get in touch as early in the process as possible. We’re happy to be a part of your design process and can work with your team to custom-build horse stalls and more, helping you complete your vision for your horse barn. Contact us today at (855) 957-8255 or email us at sales@americanstalls.com to schedule a sales and design consultation.
