Cookie Tin water heater

[prairiepearls]

B'villechicken, Smoky73, reranch, et. al.: What, oh what, is a Thermocube? I mean, I know it must be something to thermostatically control whether the light is on or not, but is it something you plug the light cord into & then the thermocube is plugged into the outlet? Where would one get such a thing.

Another dumb newby question: y'all are talking about putting metal and/or plastic "waterers" on the heater. By this, do you mean just a pan of water, or one of those things that holds a quantity of water in the middle & the water trickles into a pan or tray?

 

[Mountain Sunshine]

http://www.smarthome.com/7142/Thermo-Cube/p.aspx


I put a aluminum disposable pan (casserole type- large bowl, 2 of them- one inside the other) on the cookie tin. It works great!

 

[Madcap621]

Quote:
I got mine from Drs Foster and Smith - LOVE it

- turns my heat lamp on at 35*, off at 45* and that keeps my bucket/nipple waterers from freezing and my peeps toasty! Have ordered 4 more!! Have new peeps just out ot the bator that will need to be moved to the porch coops when feathered [set 26 eggs today] to make room in the brooder.

With the winter we are having, will need more T-cubes!!

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

Made mine this weekend. I used a 40 watt bulb but I measured the temperature of the surface of the tin and it was well above 140 degrees so I put a dimmer switch on it and turned it down. I got it to 98 degrees. Well I measured in the house so I don't know what the external forces (19 degrees this morning) would have had on the temperature of the tin but I did not have ice in the waterer. It was still cold water, but not frozen and I have a non-insulated coop. Thanks for the great idea OP.

What is the dangers of using a outdoor extension cord (heavy duty construction type)? Both ends are in a dry place. What do I need to look out for? As the ground is frozen and we will be building a bigger coop this spring, electric is not an option this winter. TIA

 

[B'villechicken]

hangin'witthepeeps :

Made mine this weekend. I used a 40 watt bulb but I measured the temperature of the surface of the tin and it was well above 140 degrees so I put a dimmer switch on it and turned it down. I got it to 98 degrees. Well I measured in the house so I don't know what the external forces (19 degrees this morning) would have had on the temperature of the tin but I did not have ice in the waterer. It was still cold water, but not frozen and I have a non-insulated coop. Thanks for the great idea OP.

What is the dangers of using a outdoor extension cord (heavy duty construction type)? Both ends are in a dry place. What do I need to look out for? As the ground is frozen and we will be building a bigger coop this spring, electric is not an option this winter. TIA

As long as it's outdoor rated, it should be fine. Christmas lights etc. get plugged in for prolonged periods of time without problems. If it were typical romex cable (house wiring) there would be water infiltration into the insulation but not with outdoor rated wire. You should be fine till a more permanent solution is found. Just don't plug too much into it and overload the cord.​

 

[prairiepearls]

@ hangin'witthepeeps -- I agree with B'ville -- my heated birdbath has about a one foot cord; it's plugged into an outdoor extension cord (connection dangles beneath the birdbath), which is plugged into my outdoor GFCI outlet & has been fine for two years now. The main thing is just to keep the connections dry. Water will short out the connection and possibly fry the heater, and if something flammable is next to is, that could catch fire from the spark. If it's plugged into a GFCI outlet, that will automatically switch off the power & avoid any further damage. (Even on just a regular outlet, it would probably flip the circuit breaker and cut off the power.) My previous birdbath heater was an immersible coil, and the connection laid on the ground -- I bought a cover for the connection -- a bright orange, hinged affair about 6 inches long that clips on over the connection and keeps it dry.

 

[prairiepearls]

So, with a small coop for 3-4 birds (say, 8-10 square feet & 3 feet tall), would a heater like this keep their water from freezing AND keep the coop in general above freezing? Alternatively, would a heat lamp keep the coop warm AND the water from freezing?

 

[mdbokc]

Wow! I didn't know that about buried Romex wire even though I knew it was for indoors. I have buried Romex that has been in the ground 20 years and still going strong. Been a lucky boy here.

 

[B'villechicken]

Quote:
You can get away with it quite often if both ends are dry. If moisture gets into it especially the end, it can travel up the plastic wire covering. I ran a temporary "extension" to my garage a few years ago and started popping the GFI outlet. When I peeled the end of the wire back, it was corroded and wet. UF wire won't allow water to creep up the wire like that.

 

[catwalk]

Can someone tell me how to wire several of these together? I have one that I use as a hot plate for the chickies' tootsies, and it's the only pen still laying! Everyone else is running loose together, without heat. They are not only not laying, they are bullying each other! I want to set up breeding pens again, but I don't want a "electric cord octopus." I want to wire one tin to the next, to the next.