Has anyone ever used a heated metal base with a plastic waterer?

[BillyRoper]

I just noticed my hens ganged up and turned over one of their water containers, but they have two more. Since they produced two eggs yesterday and two the day before after a long, eggless lull, I'll give them a pass, this time, and refill it. It's nice that it's currently above freezing here, at least.

 

[kennyl70]

Easy and cheap to build. 60 watt bulb and a couple concert blocks and pavers. Worked through negative Temps last week

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I live in Michigan, and have a plastic heated-base waterer that works great. You won't really need supplemental heat under it.
I also have a metal waterer and a metal base heater. Oddly, I need to hang a heat lamp over it or it will freeze up on really cold nights.

 

[FlyWheel]

I have set a Styrofoam cup full of water in the camp fire before. Interesting to see what happens. Most people expect it to burn up right away.

I bought one of the cheap ($15) 1.5 gallon water bowls and it is working fine. I have it sitting up on a block so it is high enough that they don't flip too much junk into it.

Whether or not it will melt or deform depends on the insulating quality of the material. I'm sure many of us who were actually paying attention during science class have seen the demonstration where the teacher boils water over a Bunsen burner in a paper drink cup. This works because the heat from the flame is transferred to the water quickly enough that the paper never reaches flash point. Styrofoam (any foam, really) can get much hotter than the water as the heat is not transferred to the water as readily, and if that heat doesn't get bled off quickly enough then it will build up until it gets hot enough to burn or melt, or at least deform.

 

[BillyRoper]

Metal actually conducts both heat and cold more quickly than plastic, even if plastic obviously has a lower melting point. So, metal will thaw and freeze more quickly.