Cookie Tin water heater

it gets mostly in the high 20's just below freezing wind is not bad usually dies down at nite iam going to make a cozy for them i have it out on porch tonite to see how it does

All I can say is three cheers to the OP who posted this origianally. Twice a day water for 29 ladies at colder than I can stand temps. Amen!

Thank you for posting these pics! I was just about to throw away a few old cookie tins that had a little rust in the bottoms of them. Do you have instructions on how to make these?

Here's the instructions I posted a few pages back.
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I got a couple of candle warmers that I am going to try out as heating elements in an incubator. Then it dawned on me that they might work well in a cookie tin water heater as well. If they get warm enough anyway.

what a great idea. Let us know if it wrks. I have several of them as well. Do not use them anymore sense I have the Scentsy candles now. Be really great if they wrk with the tin can warmers

deana

In engineering speak - there needs to be "thermal mass" to hold the heat. The tin warmers can't concentrate enough focused heat to keep the water ice free. Here is an inexpensive alternative to the cookie tin heater:

I made a coop water heater that seems to be working very well. Today it is 0F outside and it was 20F in the coop. I bought a standard base cleat light socket from the hardware store and screwed it onto the center of a board about 12"x12". I attached a length of lamp cord to the cleat socket and added a plug end (hardware store). I swept away all the deep litter from the floor where I wanted to set the heater. Set down the board, and centered a 6" thick concrete block over the socket. Make sure there is no combustible bedding or straw in the open cell of the block. I bent the edges of a sheet of galvanized flashing to create a water shedding lid for the block. I set my plastic waterer on top. I changed the bulb to 75W when the temps dropped, but a 40W was keeping the water ice free just fine. All the extra heat keeps the concrete block radiating warmth all day. I think I spent $5 on the entire setup.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/65938_img_0569.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/65938_img_0571.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/65938_img_0572.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/65938_img_0566.jpg

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I haven't seen a problem not having a big thermal mass for my water heater. The water itself is a thermal mass and heat transferred to it will buffer the temp changes. I use an old cookie sheet on top of my ciookie tin to keep the hens from sliding the waterer off but even at -13 last week the water never froze. The concrete block is a great idea.

David

what a great idea. Like this one to and even easy enough for me to do. Wished I had it a few weeks ago when we were having out Texas freeze.

Like your water idea, Would not have thought of a dog water dish. Think I have a bottom like that, have to see if it has a crack in it or not. I know one of the girls tried to use and said it had a hole but not sure if its the bottom or the water bottle.

deana