The Best Water Heaters?

[JackE]

I've heard that they work well too. I actually made one in March when I got my baby chicks.

I live in Michigan and I just wonder if it "really" will keep the water from freezing. I do have a different set up that I like much more, but I'm going to take this cookie tin one I made and wait till the dead of winter and place it and a covered bucket of water outside and see if it "really" works. I just find it hard to believe that there is enough heat generated from a 40 watt or 60 watt bulb to even warm the cookie tin, let alone the bucket of water................ But they say that they work so we will see.

I've been using one for going on 4yrs with a 40W bulb, and I don't think I'm imagining things when I say that it works.

 

[AtholCoop]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/457620/winter-water-solved

Here's what I've been using for the last several years. Works awesome. My primary problem with the lightbulb in a cookie tin heaters is that they are on 24/7 unless the coops air temperatures come up high enough to trigger your thermostat (assuming you have one). That's not terribly efficient. By triggering the heat on and off based on the water temps that's avoided. Using a 100 watt oil pan heater vs a 100 watt light bulb resulted in about a 60% energy savings.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: That's a simple problem to overcome

Use this:

Plug it into a Thermocube, and plug the Thermocube into your dropcord INSIDE the cookie tin.
Then it will come on at 35* and turn off at 45*.

The adaptors are usually less than $2, and Thermocubes less than $15

 

[AtholCoop]

That is still reliant on the air temps (inside the cookie tin) not the water temps though.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

That is still reliant on the air temps (inside the cookie tin) not the water temps though.

But it's not requiring the entire coop to be that temperature

If the heater is kept at 45*. then logic and physics say most of the water near it will be close to the same temperature

There is probably some slight advantage to your heater being attached to the waterer base, giving it a more solid, consistant connection, but otherwise the amount of heat output is always based on Wattage inputs

One could also improvise a covering for the waterer that would leave a portion of the bowl exposed, but trap most of the heat in the reservoir.

It could be as simple as a properly sized cardboard box.
Such a cover, if insulated, would be even better

 

[AtholCoop]

I played with insulating my founts using various things including a sleeve made from the foil bubble wrap (tekfoil) that farmtek sells. Results were negligible. Slight improvement in KWH's buuuut the downside was that the sleeve had a tendency to stay wet which meant algae growth.

 

[pownalite]

i bought a 96oz heated dog water bowl on amazon to use as my chicken coop waterer. works great. here is the review.

i bought this to use in my chicken coop. i only have 4 chickens. another reviewer said that the unit only comes on when it needs to and i confirmed this with the manufacturer. i bought a oil drain pan from the dollar store and hung it inside my coop just above the floor and placed the dog bowl inside the oil pan. i found a stainless steel bowl slightly smaller than the inside of the dog bowl and filled it with water and put just enough water in the dog bowl so that the unit operates as a "double boiler" (thus, the heated water in the dog bowl keeps the water in the stainless steel bowl from freezing). this makes changing the water (the water in the stainless steel bowl) easy to change...instead of having to remove the entire hanging bowl unit and refill it (this idea was also posted by another reviewer, thanks). it is working out great. i use a 100ft extension cord out to the coop even though the instructions with the dog bowl say not to use an extension cord. the other option would have been to buy a $50. chicken water heater and a $25 metal chicken waterer. i am glad i chose this way of doing it. the extension cord goes to the garage (underground) to a wall outlet that has a ground fault interupter. works fine.

here is a link to a photo of the bowl in my coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/...d-a-coop-out-of-truck-cap/sort/display_order/

amazon product info:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y8GQ56/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

thanks,
carl

 

[Maisie1]

How big is your flock? I have 4 hens, and I use the same style of metal "gravity" waterer you do for most of the year. HOWEVER, during the winter I switch to a small heated plastic dog bowl (about $12-$15) so the water won't freeze. I use an extension cord and can turn it on (in the AM) & off (at night) from a switch in the house. Works great. If you have a big flock it may not be large enough, though.

 

[tobyandbarb]

I only have 7 chickens so I use a large heated dog water bowl in the winter. Works great.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: You can use cookie tin heaters with plastic fountain waterers, and they can be made for usually less than $5