Battery powered incubator?

[Roslyn]

I've heard of car batteries being used to run incubators, but that seems like it might be a bit much.
Basically, I've been given permission to incubate eggs over the weekdays in my dorm room (I am a high-school student, and a five-day boarder at my school) since my parents won't watch them. I don't know if this is a good idea or not (I'd rather not have commentary on that part of it) but I wanted to know if there is a way to get a relatively small incubator that can run itself on batteries. Is this just a fantasy? I've looked it up and I'm not sure they exist because the battery might go out and the chick will die from the cold. But if I'm constantly there to monitor and change the batteries, is it possible?

Thank you.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Why do you want it to run on batteries when you can plug it in? If you need to move it, just wrap it in a blanket and go.

 

[hemet dennis]

Quote:
+1

 

[Roslyn]

Because plugged in devices that aren't school-related apparently aren't allowed, though I could probably get an exception.
It would need to be small though.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Well if they gave you permission to incubate, they must figure you are going to plug it in.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Sorry, but I'm going to comment.

As long as you get your temps correct and consider what day of the week to start your eggs off so that they won't be starting to hatch and potentially running into trouble over a weekend, I think it sounds like a good idea. You'll just have to be a little bit more prepared than if you were going to be around the whole time. The more accurate you are with your temps, the more chance you have of correctly predicting when they'll hatch, which should be on the same day of the week as the day you set them. So, I'd imagine setting them on a Monday would be the best thing to do. That way you can stop turning them on Friday, raise your humidity up, leave them for the weekend, and come back at the start of the week to them just beginning to hatch.

The only thing you'll have to consider is whether you'll be able to get your humidity raised and stabilised and be confident of it staying where it should be over the weekend when you're not there. If you're going to use a bator with automatic humidity control, like one of the Brinseas, you should be fine. Otherwise, you'd be best to do some trial runs before you set any eggs for real. Also it would maybe be a good idea to get one of the digital temp/humidity gauges that stores high and low readings, that way you'll be able to check to see if there have been any spikes/drops in your absence.

If you can get an exception and get permission to plug your bator in, that would probably be best. You could find out how little electricity your bator uses (all of the smallish ones are very inexpensive to run) and offer to reimburse the school for the running costs - that might help to persuade them to give you permission...

 

[Chemguy]

Sounds like you did the right thing about getting permission first. What do you plan to do once the eggs hatch?

I'm completely unsure if this is possible, but is there a Biology classroom at your school where you could run the incubation, or to which you could relocate the chicks after they are hatched? Seems to me that there is a great learning opportunity here.......

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

It would not be hard to convert an incubator to 12 volts, just use a 35W 12volt accesory light or something like that small 12 volt fans can be had from CPU coolers. Trouble though is a full sized car battery even in good condition and fully charged will have less than 1kwh of storage so it would be hard pressed to get more than a day on a charge. Then you have the problem of how to charge the battery. The risks of hauling and charging car batteries are far worse than plugging in an incubator.

Likely best bet is to get permission to use a small certified factory built incubator that will plug into the wall. Press the educational value of the excercise to help you pitch the idea.

 

[peggykanneman]

It would not be hard to convert an incubator to 12 volts, just use a 35W 12volt accesory light or something like that small 12 volt fans can be had from CPU coolers. Trouble though is a full sized car battery even in good condition and fully charged will have less than 1kwh of storage so it would be hard pressed to get more than a day on a charge. Then you have the problem of how to charge the battery. The risks of hauling and charging car batteries are far worse than plugging in an incubator.

Likely best bet is to get permission to use a small certified factory built incubator that will plug into the wall. Press the educational value of the excercise to help you pitch the idea.

When you live off grid it's hard to plug in something like that because my entire tiny house living off grid is 12 volt

 

[sevenhelmet]

Yes, it is possible to power an incubator using a battery, but only for short periods. I have a 75W inverter for my power tool batteries that I tested as a backup power source for mine. However, the batteries run out quickly, so i would only recommend them as a backup in case of a power outage, or to move an incubator in dire need. My lithium tool batteries can run our small home incubator for 30-45 minutes at a time. A car battery might work for somewhat longer, but most likely not more than a couple of hours. Trying to run an incubator on batteries for three weeks would be nerve-wracking at best, and totally unsuccessful at worst. You’d be hard-pressed to get a full nights’ sleep before needing to change batteries, for example. That, and batteries get expensive very quickly.

You’re going to want to check your incubator every day, especially during the last three days. I would see if there is a classroom or lab where you could set up your incubator, with some friends or a faculty member to help.

Incubating eggs is an interesting and educational experience. I’d be surprised if you’re expected to go it alone (and it wouldn’t recommend it… it’s nice to have someone to check the incubator when you can’t be there.)