The rational use of energy in swine nurseries can be made possible without affecting the productive performance of animals, aiming the sustainability of the sector. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of two technologies for temperature control of resistive heating system for swine nursery on the use of electricity by the systems and on the weight gain of the piglets. The evaluated systems were: overhead electric heaters with PID (proportional, integral and derivative) control and suspended electric heaters with thermostat. The experiment was conducted during the winter period between May and September 2013. The comparison criteria were: electricity consumption (kWh), specific consumption (kWh kg-1), specific cost (R$ kg-1), indicator of electrical efficiency in heating, weight gain (kg) and daily weight gain (kg d-1). The heating system with PID controller, although showed a higher average consumption, was more efficient as the electricity used to produce 1 kg of body weight (2,88 kWh kg-1), as the specific cost (0,75 R$ kg-1) and for weight gain of piglets (7,3 kg) compared to the system with thermostat (3,98 kWh kg-1, 1,03 R$ kg-1 and 5,2 kg, respectively).
swine; saving; electrical energy; weaned piglets; temperature control
