Cookie Tin water heater

[CGinJCMO]

Quote: Thanks. I'll try looking tomorrow.

 

[RonP]

I use a flood rated for outdoor usage, 38 watt.

These are rated for 2 years, 2-3 hours per day.

I always keep a spare ready.

1 bulb seems to last 2 and a half seasons, but I'm only on my second bulb

.

 

[radar-jack]

This is a brilliant (no pun intended) idea and a wonderful use for an old cookie tin. However, it has a potentially deadly flaw and I do not exaggerate. Using a two conductor wire enables the potential failure mode of having the hot wire come loose and touch the metal of the can. If that happens, it will electrify the can and the waterer that sits on top of it - killing any chicken that tries to drink from it and potentially the farmer who grabs the handle to change the water. A three conductor cord should be used and the ground (green) wire fastened securely to the metal tin with a machine screw and a nyloc nut. Use a crimp-type connector to put under the screw. The outlet that feeds the cord should also be a GFIC outlet. This way, if the hot lead ever hits the metal, it will immediately kill power.

 

[RonP]

All outdoor wiring must be plugged into a GFI period.

This I will agree with you 100%.

In my opinion, everything else is redundant.

 

[radar-jack]

Like any device, GFI's can fail (I've had it happen many times, though they usually fail open or more commonly by nuisance-tripping, a power-on failure happens occasionally) or be mis-wired, negating the protection the circuit is supposed to provide. If they do, a grounded circuit is your next best hope for not dying. I don't like to bet my life on the function of a single system. Redundant safety systems is a good thing! Just sayin'...

 

[RonP]

No argument on safety first.

My coop's power is fed through a GFCI circuit from the house.

All outlets supplying power in the coop are also GFCI circuits.

Quite frankly, for a catastrophic failure to occur on ANY of my electrical circuits, a minimum of 3 GFCI failures must occur simultaneously.

I'm pretty well covered, but others may not, so good advice to evaluate your safety margins.

 

[Hooligans7]

Like any device, GFI's can fail (I've had it happen many times, though they usually fail open or more commonly by nuisance-tripping, a power-on failure happens occasionally) or be mis-wired, negating the protection the circuit is supposed to provide. If they do, a grounded circuit is your next best hope for not dying. I don't like to bet my life on the function of a single system. Redundant safety systems is a good thing! Just sayin'...

radar-jack, you're exactly right! My water heater isn't even a cookie tin for those very reasons, and also the fact that they can become quite hot on the sides and bottom. Do chickens know that they need to keep their flammable bedding materials away from the hot steel cookie tin? Nope, so a Thermo Cube *helps* to prevent overheating, but it isn't infallible either.

So instead of a cookie tin, I opted to build a heater out of 100% nonconductive materials, as well as include a Thermo Cube for the ultimate "belt and suspenders" approach! Some may call me overly cautious, but I sleep very well knowing that it cannot start a fire or shock my girls — ever. As you said, "Redundant safety systems is a good thing!"

 

[RonP]

Not arguing about safety here or ever.

Everyone should do their due diligence...

Point of fact though, a 75 watt light bulb may reach 300F under perfect conditions.

Not nearly hot enough to even smoke (451F) dry bedding under perfect conditions.

 

[Hooligans7]

Not arguing about safety here or ever.

Everyone should do their due diligence...

Point of fact though, a 75 watt light bulb may reach 300F under perfect conditions.

Not nearly hot enough to even smoke (451F) dry bedding under perfect conditions.

Point taken, but there's more to consider. If one is using the increasingly popular "deep litter method" and manure is allowed to build up and decompose in an enclosed space, then heat will be generated. Additional wood shavings on top will have an insulating effect.
Fires have started that way all by themselves (spontaneous combustion) — no incandescent bulb required.
Is a chicken coop fire likely under those conditions? Perhaps not terribly likely, but certainly more likely with the addition of a hot steel can.

 

[willr]

This is a brilliant (no pun intended) idea and a wonderful use for an old cookie tin. However, it has a potentially deadly flaw and I do not exaggerate. Using a two conductor wire enables the potential failure mode of having the hot wire come loose and touch the metal of the can. If that happens, it will electrify the can and the waterer that sits on top of it - killing any chicken that tries to drink from it and potentially the farmer who grabs the handle to change the water. A three conductor cord should be used and the ground (green) wire fastened securely to the metal tin with a machine screw and a nyloc nut. Use a crimp-type connector to put under the screw. The outlet that feeds the cord should also be a GFIC outlet. This way, if the hot lead ever hits the metal, it will immediately kill power.

So the cord coming into the can from the plug should be a "3 conductor cord". Two wires go to the socket, the green ground goes to the can? I am clearly not a electrician!

I bought a heated dog bowl that I was planning to use but it came with the instructions: "Do not use with extension cords". Since my coop is powered by extension cord I was thinking of creating a tin can heater instead.