Are heating plates really less risky than heat lamps?

[bobsmith2002]

Are heating plates really less risky than heat lamps? Or are they similar in risk in terms of spontaneously starting a fire? Which one is guaranteed to be 100% safer?

Also, I have a red heat bulb that is 250 watts 120 volts plugged into a short extension cord into a wall socket. The wall socket was recently installed (part of an electrical upgrade from fuses to circuit breakers) and is rated for 20 amps and it goes directly to the breaker box outside. Is my heat lamp safe from catching fire?

 

[rosemarythyme]

The reason heat lamps/bulbs are riskier than plates is because the bulbs run so hot that birds have burned themselves on them, or improperly secured lamps have fallen and set fire to the bedding, or bulbs have shattered and the hot fragments have started fires.

Assuming all the wiring is good as far as on the plate or the lamp and with the socket then the fire risk of a malfunction in the wiring would be the same.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A 250 Watt 120 Volt heat lamp should draw just over 2 Amps. On a 20 Amp system you are OK from that aspect.

Heat lamps have been used for over 100 years for many different purposes. Like any other electrical device they can cause a fire. A heat plate with faulty wiring is not 100% safe either.

I understand and approve of your desire to be very safe. In my opinion if you assure the wiring is in good shape, the device is in good shape, the system is protected against water intrusion so it doesn't short out, and you adequately support the heat lamp so it cannot fall or be knocked off you can be very safe.

I use a heat lamp. I removed the clamp that came with it so I'm not tempted to rely on it. I use wire (some use chain) to secure it so it cannot fall, no string or plastic for me. I keep combustible materials like bedding a safe distance from it. The wiring is in good shape and protected from water. I am not worried about finding the coop burned down but I try to take what I consider reasonable precautions.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

I used a Plant warming Mat and it seemed to work very well for my Indoor Brooder setup. I have had Heat Bulbs explode over my Lizard Tank, and it made me think twice about using one for a bunch of Baby Chicks.

 

[Penpal]

I have been using a brooding plate because then they don't have a light on all night. They seem to like the plate so I'll keep using it.

 

[RoyalChick]

Well my heat plate is rated for zero distance from combustible material - I can (and do) literally pile wood shavings and straw right under it and it won't catch fire. It is warm to the touch but not hot - so I don't think it ever gets to a combustible temperature.
Depending on the type of heat lamp they can in theory ignite dust that falls on them.
So based on that I believe a plate is safer.
Of course, if there is faulty wiring then it is no safer than any other electrical item.

 

[The Yardbird Life]

I'm no chicken brooding expert. I've done one flock with a lamp and now doing one with a plate. IMO, the plate is superior. It's dual purpose. 40W for a brooder that the chick's can huddle under and it's height adjustable for growing birds, and can come in direct contact with combustibles like pine shavings, etc. No way you can risk that with a lamp and they get hotter than ** if you mistakenly touch them! The plate is also a 200W heating source element for exceptionally cold events. It can mount flat on a wall which I have already set up to put in my roost area of their new coop for those exceptionally cold events we might encounter.

I don't know if this is supported but a lamp is a 24/7 thing and the birds are in light for what...weeks? I'm already liking that when the sun goes down, my Littles are already understanding it's roost time and after a week, head over their preferred side of the brooder and hunker down. I'll hear them doing their little chicken things at times in the night but they're generally super chill from dusk to dawn. That's my rookie experience.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I'm no chicken brooding expert. I've done one flock with a lamp and now doing one with a plate. IMO, the plate is superior. It's dual purpose. 40W for a brooder that the chick's can huddle under and it's height adjustable for growing birds, and can come in direct contact with combustibles like pine shavings, etc. No way you can risk that with a lamp and they get hotter than ** if you mistakenly touch them! The plate is also a 200W heating source element for exceptionally cold events. It can mount flat on a wall which I have already set up to put in my roost area of their new coop for those exceptionally cold events we might encounter.

I don't know if this is supported but a lamp is a 24/7 thing and the birds are in light for what...weeks? I'm already liking that when the sun goes down, my Littles are already understanding it's roost time and after a week, head over their preferred side of the brooder and hunker down. I'll hear them doing their little chicken things at times in the night but they're generally super chill from dusk to dawn. That's my rookie experience.

I had this same thought about lamps versus brooder plates. After only a few days of having my chicks under a heat lamp, we switched to a brooder plate. I am so glad I did, and I'll only use the lamp for chilled chicks going forward.

But since they're under lamps at TSC where I bought them, and had been under one since they got here, the first night under a brooder plate with no light, they seemed uneasy. I left a small lamp on for 2 more nights (very dim, like a night light), then on the 3rd night, I let the room dim gradually as the sun set.

They were fine after that, and they settle right down to sleep now as the sun goes down. Also a rookie (these are my first chicks), but it makes sense to me that letting them get used to the natural day/night cycle without the heat lamp light when possible is a good thing.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm going to address the day/ night cycle thing here since it's been mentioned. First, safety: when we use heat lamps, we secure them with chains so they can't fall. But as for the day/night thing, here's what we do. We have two lamp housing units. One has a white bulb, the other, a red. During the day we use the white bulb. In the evening we switch to the red. The room the chicks are in has a window, so there is ambient light. As the sun goes down, the room naturally darkens. The chicks go to sleep when the red lamp provides the only light. They act as if the room is totally dark. In the morning they wake up with the sun and we switch to the white light, turning the red one off.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I'm going to address the day/ night cycle thing here since it's been mentioned. First, safety: when we use heat lamps, we secure them with chains so they can't fall. But as for the day/night thing, here's what we do. We have two lamp housing units. One has a white bulb, the other, a red. During the day we use the white bulb. In the evening we switch to the red. The room the chicks are in has a window, so there is ambient light. As the sun goes down, the room naturally darkens. The chicks go to sleep when the red lamp provides the only light. They act as if the room is totally dark. In the morning they wake up with the sun and we switch to the white light, turning the red one off.

This is great information, thank you. We only had a red bulb in ours, so I'm not sure why my chicks seemed unsettled at first. Possibly just the fact that something was different. They do have s windows in the room where they are, so they're able to wake and sleep with the sun. I had not read this in this much detail before now, so thank you again!