My Solar Powered Coop

[Blooie]

Brilliant! And you know what makes this thread even better? The gracious way you've shared the information and responded to questions and suggestions. Sometimes when folks have great ideas and the where-with-all to carry it out, they seem to resent suggestions from others. Kind of an "It's my idea and you butt out because you don't know what you're talking about" attitude. I've seen that several times. Nobody learns anything then - they just wander away from the thread and either forget the whole thing or muddle through and make mistakes that could have been avoided.

So kudos to you, your attitude, and your ideas! By the way, I'm stealing the waterer idea and adapting it to my nipple waterer!

 

[RonP]

A thermo cube is mechanical and will not know if you are feeding 120 or 12 volts through it.



Perhaps you could "wire" it up so your heater will only be on when "needed" instead of guessing with a timer.

 

[Marvel]

I loved how you worded that Blooie. I felt the same way and I learned so much that I keep going back to this thread to gain more knowledge. I have had chickens for many years and these are new, 21st century solutions to age old problems.
Thanks to all who have contributed their knowledge and especially to Rootes for the tutorial and photos. Wonderful!

 

[farmingjerry]

Great article. I got my chickens and built my coop this past spring and I have been contemplating exactly how to go about adding a solar panel to power my coop off grid. That will be a spring time project. Lots of great ideas here and presented very well! I have a water heater that was given to me by a friend. Same idea as what you made only it's not 12 volt. The way it's constructed is just like your pan except put the elements in the pan, flip it over and put the waterer on it like a pedestal. Not sure if this would work for yours, but would help keep it from filling with shavings.

Great job!

 

[rootes]

Thank you for the many nice things said.
It is very satisfying to know that I've been able to contribute.

I've almost got the supplier list finished.. It's not that it's that extensive, my daughter is visiting and the last week or so has been filled with all kinds of holiday "to-do's"

When things calm down in the next day or so, I'll post the list as well as some details about a few little problems and some successful things too.

I'm curious about that thermal cube as I've never used one. Have to do a little learning and give it a try.

Nothing I'm showing here is new, and none of it is my own. I'm experimenting and working out bugs like we all do. Hopefully this little thread can continue to generate ideas, suggestions and information for people who want to get to know the solar alternatives. Please continue to add ideas as you have them.

As of this post, almost 2,350 page views for this post in only 21 days.
It's very gratifying to know that the information and experience are useful.
I hope to keep going.

I'm truly a 1 + 1 = 3 kind of guy. I think we can do much more together than anyone can do as an individual. I'll try to keep the right attitude and prove that.

Once again, many thanks.

Take care,

Tim

 

[finnfur]

Great article. I got my chickens and built my coop this past spring and I have been contemplating exactly how to go about adding a solar panel to power my coop off grid. That will be a spring time project. Lots of great ideas here and presented very well! I have a water heater that was given to me by a friend. Same idea as what you made only it's not 12 volt. The way it's constructed is just like your pan except put the elements in the pan, flip it over and put the waterer on it like a pedestal. Not sure if this would work for yours, but would help keep it from filling with shavings.

Great job!

Hi Jerry
Best way I have found to keep shaving out of the water is hang the water off the ground - but even better has been the use of water nipples scewed into the bottom of one gallon plastic pails free from local food mart delly, Cake icing come in them.

Tim
Good job and keep up the good work. The cubes above posted are the ones i was talking about. Come on when temp gets down to 35
Like posted they are mechanical and should save a lot of juice.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

 

[farmingjerry]

In the summer I hang my waterer to keep it clean but in order to use my heater, the waterer has to sit on it. I have read about using a bucket with the nipples. I guess my only question with that would be whether or not I would have ice problems in winter.... ? Maybe have to use a submersible heater?
Thanks for the suggestion. I might experiment with that this spring.

 

[finnfur]

In the summer I hang my waterer to keep it clean but in order to use my heater, the waterer has to sit on it. I have read about using a bucket with the nipples. I guess my only question with that would be whether or not I would have ice problems in winter.... ? Maybe have to use a submersible heater?
Thanks for the suggestion. I might experiment with that this spring.

when real cold I use the Farm innovator deicer - drop right in bucket
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_32f92lbcmv_b

they are a little pricey but been using three for three years and no failures

 

[Lulubartlett]

Hi Tim,
What if you turned the heated pans upside down and placed the watered on top? They would heat the water without creating a collection area for dirt and bedding. It would also raise the watered off the floor a little which would keep it cleaner still.
I love your ideas and the way you construct each project.
Lucy

 

[Vulcan1500]

Tim,

Great ideas you've used in this thread! Where did you get the solar panel? Most I've seen are more expensive than yours.

Thanks,
Danny