Welcome! Jump in and we'll give you opinions and comments whether you want them or not!
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Hello fellow kansans! like to see there is a good sized group of people from kansas that love their chickens and other birds!
Please feel welcome. Where are both of you from?
Welcome to our group. Glad to have you here. Feel free to jump in with questions or just post anything about your chickens.
Welcome to the Kansas thread. Tell us more about your chickens. We have a great bunch of people here and we talk just about anything. Where are you located at? We are scattered all over Kansas but do have quite a few in the Wichita area.
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Guess I miss quite a few posts since yesterday morning. I'm feeling quite miserable right now due to this cold/allergy. I see that the sun has finally decided to come out today and big YAY for warmer temp. Hope you guys can get out to do some much needed work with this nice weather.
Can someone tell me the difference(s) between Sweeterheater vs. Ecoglow? I have the Ecoglow 20 and also bought the Ecoglow 50 recently since I've ordered more chicks this go around and also hatched a few in the bator (I know... I know... the chicken math sure bit me fast ). When I researched the Sweeterheater, the middle sized's dimension is not as big as the Ecoglow 50 and the wattage used seems to be higher. Now I'm drawing this from my memory and it has been quite a few weeks since I researched it so I could be wrong. Has anyone done a comparison on these 2? I do like the fact that the Sweeterheater can be hung in different ways though.
Anyway, I need to get back to work now. Hope everyone enjoys the day!
Kuan
I don't have both but did research both prior to ordering my EcoGlow, and came to the same conclusions. The Sweeter Heater, provided less heat and heated area for the same wattage used, as the EcoGlow, although the difference was not huge. One advantage to the SH is that you can hang it (although the free-standing nature of the EG makes it easier to use right out of the box). The EG 20 is not as versatile, since both sides have to be at the same level at the same time, however the EG 50, like the SH, allows you to have one side higher than the other to accommodate different sizes of chicks.
I wound up getting two EG 20's, rather than one EG 50, thinking that I could put both in the brooder if brooding a larger batch of chicks, but only need to have one in if it is a smaller group.
I don't think there is a clear right or wrong decision - both are quality products and both are that bit safer than a heat lamp. Plus, both use a lot less electricity than a heat lamp. That didn't make much difference to me when I was brooding the occasional small batch of chicks but knowing I will be brooding larger batches more frequently going forward, I finally took the plunge and ordered the EG's. One thing I really like about these types of heaters vs. a lamp is that the chicks can have the day/night cycle right from day 1. With a lamp, it is on 24/7 so they are active even at night. With the EG, when the lights go out, the brooder goes quiet as they realize its night-time.
Just to clarify some things about energy usage. You actually can't go by wattage listed on any appliance to know how much energy it uses. It all boils down to amps or milliamps used with that wattage. For instance something that operates at 18 wts may actually use more energy than something rated at 60 wts if it is using more milliamps.
Here's an example: If an appliance is operating on 18 wts at 800 mA it would be pulling 44.4 volts of power. But if it is operating on 60 wt and 200 mA it would only be using 3.3 volts of power. I tried researching both items and they don't list the mA used so without looking at the different units and seeing what they actually draw, you have no way of telling what type of power they will be using.
The advantage to the lower wattage is less fire risk, however with sealed units there really isn't any more risk there than any appliance. You also need to look at the input of power on the transformer for the 18 watts vs the output of power. You could be pulling in a lot of power for the output you get.
I've been out of school too long to remember everything but I still have a graph handy to figure it all. I'm just saying you can't immediately determine usage based by wattage alone.
I purchased a larger unit simply because I brood a lot more chicks at one time than many do. I am anxious to see how it performs.
I am anxious to see what kind of energy it uses, although I can't imagine it would use any more than a light bulb. I am also wondering about the heat it puts out. I got the side mount type simply because the hanging mount was backordered. The only immediate difference I could see was that the top mount included chains and hooks. I might want to set mine up on something other than hanging them anyway so it was no big deal to me. I do like the versatility of them for sure.
I went to town yesterday and spent time with my Dad. I just brushed everything else aside because I had just not had time lately to go see him. It is appearing his hearing is gone for good. They have tried steroids and his ears are clean and it's gone. The belief is now that he possibly had a stroke and since it has been some time may never regain his hearing.
I think it is miserable. He has so little to look forward to these days anyway but not being able to hear makes it almost impossible for him to have anything to entertain him at all.
He has closed captioning on his tv but what fun is that to read everything when you can't really read and watch at the same time? It is very difficult to communicate because we are writing what we want to say on a marker board. I can talk non stop but to write my thoughts down in large letters is hard for me to do. I wish I could use a key board to write. It would be much easier.
I'm sure hoping for the warmer day we are supposed to get. I really need to get some work done outside. It was all I could stand to feed and water yesterday.
My little sebbies are jumping out of their bin already. Every time I leave the room one of them manages to hop out. I am going to have to find another way to contain them. They dump their water as soon as they get it and make a mess. I sure wish it were warm enough to brood them outside!!!!
I have two pet quality roosters and one breeder quality that could be shown, because he's nice enough but in a BIG show-- like Nationals he didn't hold up well, he got 4th place. 
