Ceramic Heat Bulb Questions

[RoosterML]

Can I use just a regular heating pad and cover with press and seal? I have a big heat lamp on 11 babies and I’m afraid it’ll burn them or something.

Many do. I have been using heating pads also. I didn’t want to deal with the mess which is why I am going to go with the ceramic bulb.
Why would the bulb burn them?

 

[Lucky13Farm]

I use nothing but those ceramic bulbs. Started with chicks about 1.5 years ago and have raised about 6 batches of chicks, 4 of ducks and am on my second small batch of geese.
I used a temperature controller hooked up to a regular metal lamp fixture. Inside the metal lamp is a ceramic bulb. The temperature controller has a sensor that I built into my brooder box using PVC pipe and a round cap. The PVC pipe comes up from the bottom of the brooder about 3 inches. The sensor is stuck up through that, leaving room for bedding. This places the sensor right about chest height for the chicks. The metal lamp with the ceramic bulb is on a chain that can be raised and lowered. I will say that I think the red lights put out more infrared and heat an area hotter quicker. However the ceramics dont put out visible light. So, the little babies can sleep better at night. the brooder is a 3 foot square made of plywood and 2X4s. I wanted a heavy structure to bank a little heat. This setup can easily hit 100 degrees and keeps itself at the right temperature cause it has a thermostat. Being from the IT world originally, I said why not put a number on the temperature and let the system control itself.

These are on Amazon for about 20 bucks.
BN-LINK Digital Heat Mat Thermostat Controller for Seed Germination, Reptiles and Brewing Breeding Incubation Greenhouse, 40-108°F, 8.3A 1000W ETL Listed

The bulbs are also on Amazon for 12 dollars.
BYB - 100W 110V Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter Brooder Coop Pet Infrared Lamp Bulb

 

[Lucky13Farm]

I made a YouTube video if the brooder if you want to see it in action. Dont pay any attention to the beautiful baby geese.

I had to add the flat black radiant neater this winter because the garage got real cold and I had baby wellsummers in it. Also had to make a temporary top for the brooder and cover it with a blanket but it was like 20 degrees at night for awhile. This setup works fine like 10 months out of the year and I try not to brood in the winter.

 

[aart]

I made a YouTube video if the brooder if you want to see it in action. Dont pay any attention to the beautiful baby geese.

Good vid!
Any idea on the cycles the system goes thru?
Geese were cute indeed, but the poodle made me go all mushy.
Lost my guy last fall at 13.

 

[Lucky13Farm]

Good vid!
Any idea on the cycles the system goes thru?
Geese were cute indeed, but the poodle made me go all mushy.
Lost my guy last fall at 13.
View attachment 2077494

Not sure how many times it cycles. No way to log the data. It has a little red light indicating when power is being applied. Nice poodle, sorry for your loss. Had one when I was a baby, he passed when he was about 14. I feel your pain brother.

 

[Vantic]

You have to be careful with that type of controller. I use three bulbs in my brooder (it is in a cold space and I brood a lot of birds (50)). Only one of the bulbs is controlled by the unit. Here are the snags that I found with the unit (with the inkbird I use):

1) The temp set point. The unit is on until the point is exceeded, so if you set it to 95 it will heat until it is 96. At that point, the temp will continue to climb until about 100.

2) On the cooling cycle it has to get 1 degree lower than the temp, my ceramic bulbs take a bit of time to get going. So they cool off about five extra degrees before they start heating up.

So I couldn't have all the heat bulbs doing this at the same time, it was like watching the ocean waves while the chicks ebbed and flowed. By leaving two on and having them at the right height, the third controlled bulb handles the change needed as the temp outside drops.

 

[cracrzy4chicks]

I haven’t read the entire thread, but I use a Sweeter Heater. It’s similar to the Brinsea eco-glow. They come in several sizes and work great. You can get it side mount or hanging

 

[aart]

I haven’t read the entire thread, but I use a Sweeter Heater. It’s similar to the Brinsea eco-glow. They come in several sizes and work great. You can get it side mount or hanging

Right...but that's not what this thread is about

 

[RoosterML]

You have to be careful with that type of controller. I use three bulbs in my brooder (it is in a cold space and I brood a lot of birds (50)). Only one of the bulbs is controlled by the unit. Here are the snags that I found with the unit (with the inkbird I use):

1) The temp set point. The unit is on until the point is exceeded, so if you set it to 95 it will heat until it is 96. At that point, the temp will continue to climb until about 100.

2) On the cooling cycle it has to get 1 degree lower than the temp, my ceramic bulbs take a bit of time to get going. So they cool off about five extra degrees before they start heating up.

So I couldn't have all the heat bulbs doing this at the same time, it was like watching the ocean waves while the chicks ebbed and flowed. By leaving two on and having them at the right height, the third controlled bulb handles the change needed as the temp outside drops.

I could be wrong but I don’t see an issue with a fluctuation of +\- 5*f.

 

[Trisseh]

I used 200w ceramic bulbs for my ducklings last year along with a heating pad. They went straight outside the day I got them into their house at the end of May. There were 6 of them and the house is 4’ x 5’ and tall enough to walk in so lots of space to heat! We still had nights that would go below freezing and yet daytime temps in the double digits (Celsius of course. Lol) so it was tricky to keep them warm but not cook them during the day. I wound up rigging a timer control for the 2 heat lamps and the heating pad so everything turned on around 7-8 pm when things started cooling down outside, and turned off about 10 am in the morning. The most time consuming part was figuring out when to have it turn on and off! They did well with this setup, in the mornings they’d be snuggled up on the heating pad or under the lamp, and then once the ambient temps warmed up a bit they’d be running around in the house. Not once did I have them piling trying to get as close to the heat as possible, and only before I had the timer set up did they get a little too warm. I had the 2 lamps set so it was a gradient heat in the house; the one corner had the heating pad and the one lamp, closer to the floor, and the other lamp was towards the other corner, a little higher. They could all find their comfort zone within that space. I just used the normal lamp guard and triple attached them to a 2x4 frame I made to support them. Worked for me. I also had a half ceiling of 1/4” plywood I had over the heating pad corner to help keep the heat in.