DIY Water Heater Question

[fried green eggs]

Sorry to derail the thread, bit so any of these methods not require electric??

If no electricity is possible ? You could use the tried and true rubber feed pans and fill a couple times a day. The ice is easy to dump out of them and the rubber pans last for years. You can bang them against a tree or whatever to break ice and they are good to go for fresh water.

 

[fried green eggs]

I am using the nipples on 3 and 5 gal buckets with lids and 50 watt birdbath water heaters that have a built in thermostat. I have them hanging inside the coop and have them wrapped with the foil bubble wrap insulation on outside but not the bottom because the darn chickens would have too much fun popping bubbles

So they are hung high. I also cut a piece of the foil insulation to fit inside the bucket to float on top of the water.

In my chick coop I hang water bucket wrappped with foil and heat the coop when needed on timers

 

[eselick]

Good point about breaking the vacuum. I hadn't thought of that!
I think I'm going to go with putting the water can on top of a cinder block with a light bulb in one of the openings in the cinder block. Do you see any problems with this?

 

[maizy'smom]

Good point about breaking the vacuum. I hadn't thought of that!
I think I'm going to go with putting the water can on top of a cinder block with a light bulb in one of the openings in the cinder block. Do you see any problems with this?

This is precisely what we use. We found one that is kind of cube-shaped, with no cross pieces. It's almost like a chimney liner, but made of cinder block, not terra cotta. It works just fine. We wired the ceramic bulb socket through the floor of the coop so the wiring isn't exposed to the girls or any water, set the cinder block over it, top with a large terra cotta saucer, and then the waterer. My biggest issue is keeping the girls off of it, and trying to keep it clean. But hey, at least it's not frozen.

mm

 

[eselick]

Thanks for the great info. I'll let u know how it goes.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

I am using the nipples on 3 and 5 gal buckets with lids and 50 watt birdbath water heaters that have a built in thermostat. I have them hanging inside the coop and have them wrapped with the foil bubble wrap insulation on outside but not the bottom because the darn chickens would have too much fun popping bubbles

So they are hung high. I also cut a piece of the foil insulation to fit inside the bucket to float on top of the water.

In my chick coop I hang water bucket wrappped with foil and heat the coop when needed on timers

This is exactly what I'm planning to do, but I hadn't thought to insulate the bucket in foil. I may do a bucket sandwich with that foil bubble in-between? The last 3 days or so the nipples have froze in the 2 gallon buckets I have their water in, so I've been using a fountain waterer (which has also been on the verge of freezing), and remembering all the reasons I hate open sources of water. Dirty water, pain to refill... My silkies especially dip their whole heads in and then risk frostbite, the last several nights when I got home I had to blow dry them.

Question though, with the birdbath heater, have you ever had the nipples freeze up? I was hoping to keep the water in the covered run not in the coop. I'm guessing even with the birdbath heater this may be a problem if the temperature drops below -10F? Anyone have experience with sub-zero temperatures and the nipples? Do the chickens just peck them free of ice and are they then able to access the water?

 

[fried green eggs]

This is exactly what I'm planning to do, but I hadn't thought to insulate the bucket in foil. I may do a bucket sandwich with that foil bubble in-between? The last 3 days or so the nipples have froze in the 2 gallon buckets I have their water in, so I've been using a fountain waterer (which has also been on the verge of freezing), and remembering all the reasons I hate open sources of water. Dirty water, pain to refill... My silkies especially dip their whole heads in and then risk frostbite, the last several nights when I got home I had to blow dry them.

Question though, with the birdbath heater, have you ever had the nipples freeze up? I was hoping to keep the water in the covered run not in the coop. I'm guessing even with the birdbath heater this may be a problem if the temperature drops below -10F? Anyone have experience with sub-zero temperatures and the nipples? Do the chickens just peck them free of ice and are they then able to access the water?

I'm not sure how well the low wattage birdbath heater will do outside in a run. I saw some birdbath and small koi pond water heaters on line that were 200-250 watts - that size should work for fine you but, I do suggest you insulate it well so it isn't so costly to run. As far as outside in subzero temps - A 1500 watt stock tank heater will keep a 150 - 300 gal outside water tank ice free however, they are not cheap to run.

My electric bill goes up by $50 per heater each winter month and that is in insulated & covered stock tanks.

If the water in the bucket is warm even a small ice tip on the nipple will easily break when the chicken bumps it.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

I'm not sure how well the low wattage birdbath heater will do outside in a run. I saw some birdbath and small koi pond water heaters on line that were 200-250 watts - that size should work for fine you but, I do suggest you insulate it well so it isn't so costly to run. As far as outside in subzero temps - A 1500 watt stock tank heater will keep a 150 - 300 gal outside water tank ice free however, they are not cheap to run.

My electric bill goes up by $50 per heater each winter month and that is in insulated & covered stock tanks.

If the water in the bucket is warm even a small ice tip on the nipple will easily break when the chicken bumps it.

I ended up going with the Farm Innovators Ice Chaser Cast Aluminum Submergible Bucket De-Icer (Model H-49, 250-watt). So far so good. Only had it running for a few days but I'll post again if I notice a difference in my electric bill, though I'm guessing it's not going to be much as I'm only heating 5 gallons (not 300). It's been below 10F the past few nights already. So far haven't seen any problems with ice on the nipples Think I will insulate the bucket this weekend.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

UPDATE: Temperatures were between 0F and -15F at my house for the past 1-2 weeks. I discovered that at those temperatures even with the bucket heater the nipples froze so solid that the chickens could not peck them free. I would go out and di-ice them, and within a few hours they'd be frozen solid again. So I was just bringing out hot water for them while I tried to figure out a new solution, trying to get it to them a few times a day. Sadly I think there were times when they didn't have fresh water and were eating snow. I'm going to need to get a heater for underneath fountain waterers for those sub-zero temperatures (not sure if the cookie tin lightbulb ones will be strong enough for sub-zero, but they're so cheap I may just make one and find out). The silkies will get their heads wet but I just can't think of a solution to keep fresh water and their little puffy heads dry. Today the temps rose to around 10F and the nipples are ice-free and easy to be pecked free. So I'm sticking with the bucket heater and nipples above zero, but going with some sort of heated fountain for subzero.

 

[fried green eggs]

I'm guessing at the sub temps you are getting even the fountain type with heated base will freeze if it's outside in the run. Could you put heat tape wraped around the hanging bucket underneath foil insulation and then fully covered with duct tape and plug in the heat tape when you need it? Heat Tape is not suppose to get wet but, I have been using it on a yard hydrant outside for the last 7 winters with no problems. It is covered with pipe insulation and that is covered with duct tape so, no moisture can get to the heat tape. Or put the fountain type with heated base inside a covered 3 sided wood box. The chickens would only be able to drink from one side but, you could add a trouble light inside the box to keep the top part warmer. Just thoughing out ideas I would try. Good Luck.