Cookie Tin water heater

[MaKettle]

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I just upgraded from a 1 gallon plastic waterer to a big 5 gallon plastic waterer. We found that we could not hang it, like we had done with our 1 gallon, because we could never get it level. The water just poured out the side because it didn't hang level. We bought 2 large cinder blocks, leveled them out with sand & my DH placed the waterer on them.

I have 1 flighty leghorn who has been known to get spooked & fly right into the hanging food & water, causing half of it to spill out. We are going to put together of heater this weekend & see how it works.

 

[Terri O]

I have my 7 gal plastic waterer on my home made heater for the 2nd year in a row. As long as the bulb is on; it hasnt frozen unless it gets down below zero for several days...and EVERYTHING is frozen anyway!

I use a weird thing to elevate mine...DH brought home this thing that someone had made to hold rolled blueprint plans in--didnt work for that so it came home...works awesome to hold big gravity food cans and waterers. It is 3 pieces of 3" or 4" heavy walled PVC pipe glued together to make a platform. The pieces are about 12" long. Very sturdy and easier to level than bricks or blocks of wood I have found...I will be making more of these for sure!

The thing I used to use when I only had a metal waterer was a magnetic engine block heater stuck on the bottom of the waterer that was supported on 2 4x4s. Worked great too.
Terri O

 

[brooky]

I thought I was a genius last night inventing this... but then I found this thread!

I have since added bubble wrap around the top part to insulate it. Seems to be working ok. I'm using a 60W bulb and drilled some holes in the top of the lid. I might use a lower power bulb and insulate around on the inside like others have.

I screwed the light bulb socked into a block of treated wood on the side and added one on the other side. The put a screw in each one so a bungee cord could attach. It is plugged into a timer so that it is on during daylight which is 8am to 4pm right now.

 

[nancypo]

I think the extra insulation around the water dome really helps too...

 

[Ohhhdear]

We made two of these cookie tin water heaters and they work awesome!
Made a few minor adaptions;
1. Used a ceramic light socket.
2. Silicone caulk around the hole in the tin.
3. Fiberglass insulation underneath the bulb so the heat doesn't melt the ground the tin's set on. The tin also sits on a couple wolmanized 2x6 cutoffs from the deck project.
4. Spray painted the outside of the tin with cold galvanizing paint (outdoor rustoleum would work too). We had some cold galvanizing paint leftover from another job.
5. Used a 15 watt bulb. This keeps my the water in the 1 gallon plastic waterer liquid just fine. The lower watt bulb lets me keep the heater on 24/7. A timer uses just as much power as the 15 watt bulb!

 

[ACHTUNG]

I'm psyched to have found this thread. After reading it I went and got the parts needed. It took me 10 min. to make it. I'm running a 60watt bulb since it's been dipping into the 'teens around these parts. My concerns right now is water getting in where the socket goes through the tin (I'll seal it with JB Weld or something like that.) My other concern is if a 60watt bulb is too dangerous.

Does anyone think I should worry about running a 60watt bulb? Could I up it to a 100watt without worries?

Here's my 60watt set up:

 

[hinkjc]

So glad to see folks are benfiting from the cookie tins water heaters. They have proven a life saver for me and my flocks during winter.

I had not considered using them outdoors, but you guys have come up with some good ideas to make it work. Due to the lower temps outdoors than indoors, insulation is a good idea for those outdoor ones. The porcelain socket was a good idea too, as plastic can become brittle in extreme cold. Thanks for sharing these with others.

Achtung, for my indoor ones, I have never used higher than a 40 watt and have been fine down to the zero degrees (with windchills lower). Ours are all inside coops, which is a bit warmer than outside, so I'm sure that helps with using lower watt bulbs. I do get some ice buildup up inside the water container during frigid temps, but the drinking well stays open, which is the goal. You may want to just keep an eye and see how it goes. If the 60 watt works well, I would stay with it. Keep in mind, you don't want warm water, you just want to keep it from freezing. I like your waterer. I have never seen one like that before, but it is a neat design.

 

[jmagill]

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I am curious why you think this?

 

[Terri O]

I have found that if the water is too warm the chickens dont like it as well...also bacteria tends to build up MUCH faster! I can tell when mine is too warm because there is a nasty smell when I take it off to dump the water tray (that they always fill with shavings and food!)
My DH said that just the extension cord and plug was too dangerous so he put a porcelain socket in my tin too. Havent had any problems with it at all and I run a 60 watt bulb all winter. Terri O

 

[jmagill]

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I find that my chickens drink more water during the winter when it is warmer. I measured the volumes. I have three waterer's in three separate pens. I had two heated with the water ranging from 45 -70 degrees in temp. The other water temp was hovering about 32-34 degrees The chickens in the pens with the warmer water drank twice as much and produce 3 times the amount of eggs in the 10 days I was waiting for the third heater. The pen with no heat in the water was producing almost no eggs for those 10 days.

I have nipple waterers so I don't have the contaminant problem in the water.