200 feet of extension cords, is it to much??

[ginbart]

I have my chickens in part of the barn. It gets cold out there and the water is already starting to freeze. The barn in about 150 feet away from the house. Do you think I could run heavy duty extension cords to it and use a heated waterer to keep the water from freezing. I would need to plug it in from the other side of the house so I need about 200 feet of extension cords. I don’t want to start a fire. Thanks for your help.

 

[fowlmood]

As long as you use the heavy duty, outside extension cords it should be fine. I have extenstion cords running all around my place too. Here in Northern Michigan, I have no choice. It just gets too darn cold not to have heated waterers for all of my critters.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

A lot depends upon the size of the load. If it's less than a couple hundred watts it should be fine. Don't try to run a stock tank heater or space heater at that distance.

There was one time my wife plugged an electric roaster into 600 feet of 16 gauge extension cord. "How come this thing won't turn on?"

 

[Dar]

i do.... but dh is an electrician and the outlet has its own breaker and heavy duty industrial wire

 

[Tala]

Check the wattage required by your heated waterer, and compare it to the type of cord you are using. The last cord I bought had a chart on the package said safe limit for xyz feet up to 15amps, but when you stretched it further distances the safe amount of power went down. To compensate you need a higher rated cord - probably 14guage medium or heavy duty.

I have about that much 14guage cord stretched across my yard and it's never hot to the touch. I only buy medium duty (or better) extension cords because I expect a lot out of them - the most recent purchase was from TSC and it said it was for agricultural use which meant heavy duty 14ga with an oil resistant covering and 3 female plugs.
I intend to permanently wire my coop, but it may not happen till spring.

 

[Big Chicken Little]

Go here for a good chart .... http://www.machinetoolhelp.com/misc/toolsdata/extensioncordlengths.html

 

[mdbokc]

You can get 12 gauge 100' extension cords too. Run that as the unit closest to the house and then a smaller 14 ga gauge after that if necessary.

 

[ranchhand]

It will probably be fine, get the lowest number/heaviest guage you can, and make sure all plug ends are protected from the weather.

Keep a fire extinguisher handy, and have smoke detectors everywhere.

I have to run cords when it dips into the teens. Luckily, it rarely happens here. But when it does, I pace all night. I've had some fire experiences, so be safer than you think necessary!

 

[Tala]

Quote:
That chart is WAY different (much lower values) than the one on the back of the package I just bought. Weird.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
So what do you expect to happen if you put the 14 gauge cord first?