Heat lamp alternative

[Ravynscroft]

Thanks! I was feeling a little like I wasted some money lol! It will be mid April when I brood so it shouldn't be awful outside at that point (I'm in southern MI)

Oh, you'll be just fine with it then!

@ronott1 has been using the Premier1 brooder for quite a while also... swears by it too... I believe the legs adjust easier than the Brinsea (besides the cost difference)...

 

[ronott1]

Thanks! I was feeling a little like I wasted some money lol! It will be mid April when I brood so it shouldn't be awful outside at that point (I'm in southern MI)

The Premier is rated to freezing but will actually work lower. You did not waste your money. The premier plate is made of solid materials and will last for years. The heat pads are fabric and thin plastic covering wires. I do not think they will last as long.

Oh, you'll be just fine with it then!

@ronott1 has been using the Premier1 brooder for quite a while also... swears by it too... I believe the legs adjust easier than the Brinsea (besides the cost difference)...

The legs adjust nicely on the premier. My two brinsea plates were not as well made.

 

[Ravynscroft]

The Premier is rated to freezing but will actually work lower. You did not waste your money. The premier plate is made of solid materials and will last for years. The heat pads are fabric and thin plastic covering wires. I do not think they will last as long.
The legs adjust nicely on the premier. My two brinsea plates were not as well made.

Thought that's what I remembered... thanks for the practical experience info!

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh, you'll be just fine with it then!

@ronott1 has been using the Premier1 brooder for quite a while also... swears by it too... I believe the legs adjust easier than the Brinsea (besides the cost difference)...

Agree with Ron about the Brinsea. I bought one "customer new return" from Wayfair and only paid $35 for it. I definitely wouldn't pay full price for another. It works great, inside and outside, is easy to clean, but adjusting the height is a pain. I'm going to order a Premier1, because I need a second one (chicken math lol). I just don't trust the MHP as much as I wish I did.
I do like aart's design too, and I am going to research it before ordering. I'm pretty handy, so that may work for me too.

 

[Beekissed]

BTW, the mama heating pad costs <$15 including materials. The heating pad is about $13 and then you just need a small bit of wire, wood, or whatever you like to make a frame.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-756-500-Heating-Pad-UltraHeatTechnology/dp/B00006IV4N

Agreed, the MHP can be made very inexpensively. Most folks, if they search around a bit will find everything they need to make the frame and covering right in their own home or yard. I've not bought one of those plastic heaters, but I'd do a lot of homework before spending the $ on one. some of the reviews I've read indicate that they are not adequate for outdoor brooding.

You're going to love it

It does work outdoors - I'm brooding chicks out there right now with it in a cold VT winter. It is smaller, but it sounds like you wouldn't need the bigger size anyway and it has a lot of good points to it too. For example it uses a lot less power than a heating pad does, it's very easily adjustable whereas using fence etc for a frame for the heating pad really isn't as easy to adjust as the heat plate is, unless you build something like aart's nice design but that costs more money unless you happen to have the supplies around. Plus there's no danger of a chick getting caught between the frame and the heating pad and dying like I've seen happen with the MHP method (although that can be fixed with further modification to prevent such a thing happening). And it's easier to clean than a fabric heating pad if the chicks soil it - a quick rub down with a damp cloth and you're good to go, no need to cover it with a pillow case or something and then do laundry after.

I feel you about it being hard to find a cheap heating pad with no shut off - the one linked in the heating pad thread that is recommended costs $40 on its own. Pus the other cheaper one in here that was linked says it has no auto shut off, but if you read the reviews it actually does have one after two hours, or at least some of them being sent out do, so that might not have worked for you anyway.

Anyway, don't feel bad about buying the heat plate or like you wasted your money or anything - while MHP is good, the plate does have some advantages over it in some areas, and I think you'll be happy with it.

Really? You have to screw the legs down individually on the Premier and get them adjusted evenly which requires you pick it up and do this one leg at a time. To adjust my wire frame on the HP brooder I reach down, pull up on the middle of the wire. Done. Didn't have to lift it off the chicks or even lift it at all.

There's no danger of chicks getting caught and dying in the wire if a person uses the original design correctly....as with any device, if you use it incorrectly, you'll get bad results.

I got an XL HP with 6 settings on a digital control for $22 at Walmart...the rest of the setup was free, just stuff I had here on hand. It had an override feature on the auto shutoff. The heat plate has no way to change heat settings and many people found it to be too hot for their chicks, said it even burned their own skin when they held it for too long on the heatplate undersurface.

The Premier is rated to freezing but will actually work lower. You did not waste your money. The premier plate is made of solid materials and will last for years. The heat pads are fabric and thin plastic covering wires. I do not think they will last as long.
The legs adjust nicely on the premier. My two brinsea plates were not as well made.

I have a heating pad we have had around since the 80s, so the whole thin plastic, wires and such meaning something won't work or last very long just doesn't apply. That old heating pad still works efficiently. Since the Premier plate has only been out for a couple of years, I don't know if anyone can say with any assurances they will last for any longer than a heating pad will. Plus, the heating pad has multiple purposes....I've hatched eggs with mine, warmed seedling trays, applied it to an aching knee, etc.

No need to disparage the heating pad simply because it doesn't cost as much as the heat plates do...it's definitely comparable in keeping chicks warm, more adaptable and has a better price. I can see pros and cons with both devices.

 

[ronott1]

Really? You have to screw the legs down individually on the Premier and get them adjusted evenly which requires you pick it up and do this one leg at a time. To adjust my wire frame on the HP brooder I reach down, pull up on the middle of the wire. Done. Didn't have to lift it off the chicks or even lift it at all.

There's no danger of chicks getting caught and dying in the wire if a person uses the original design correctly....as with any device, if you use it incorrectly, you'll get bad results.

I got an XL HP with 6 settings on a digital control for $22 at Walmart...the rest of the setup was free, just stuff I had here on hand. It had an override feature on the auto shutoff. The heat plate has no way to change heat settings and many people found it to be too hot for their chicks, said it even burned their own skin when they held it for too long on the heatplate undersurface.


I have a heating pad we have had around since the 80s, so the whole thin plastic, wires and such meaning something won't work or last very long just doesn't apply. That old heating pad still works efficiently. Since the Premier plate has only been out for a couple of years, I don't know if anyone can say with any assurances they will last for any longer than a heating pad will. Plus, the heating pad has multiple purposes....I've hatched eggs with mine, warmed seedling trays, applied it to an aching knee, etc.

No need to disparage the heating pad simply because it doesn't cost as much as the heat plates do...it's definitely comparable in keeping chicks warm, more adaptable and has a better price. I can see pros and cons with both devices.

The heating pad from the 80s was not in with chickens! My chicks ripped the wires off of a brinsea heat plate.

Not saying that the pads are bad to use just that they are more flimsy and may not last as long so replaced sooner will be a likely outcome.

The legs on the premier move up and down by releasing a lever they do not screw at all. There are no threads on it.

The Premier plate is well worth the money and is very well built. I would give it 5 stars if I were to review it.

Do not be defensive about the heating pad I was not disparaging them. I was encouraging someone that had been made to feel that they had wasted money on the Premier. Often DIY folks to that to people--not necessarily on purpose.

 

[Pyxis]

Really? You have to screw the legs down individually on the Premier and get them adjusted evenly which requires you pick it up and do this one leg at a time. To adjust my wire frame on the HP brooder I reach down, pull up on the middle of the wire. Done. Didn't have to lift it off the chicks or even lift it at all.

You do have to do the legs individually, but you do not need to lift the plate up and you don't 'screw' the legs down. You simply hold open the tab for the leg you are adjusting, push it down or pull it up, release the tab, and you're done. You're also able to do a lot of configurations with it this way, such as leaving one end up higher than the other, etc. Plus I like that the sides are open so that the chicks have multiple ways to get out if they need to. With the traditional heating pad method, it's made like a cave with the sides closed, and I just prefer the open sides as it makes me worry less about a chick getting blocked in by others, being unable to get out, and overheating.

No need to disparage the heating pad simply because it doesn't cost as much as the heat plates do...it's definitely comparable in keeping chicks warm,  more adaptable and has a better price.  I can see pros and cons with both devices. 

I wasn't disparaging the heating pad method. I said in my post it was a good method. Personally I just like the heat plates better, and that's fine. If you like the heating pad better, that's fine too. Everyone doesn't have to do things exactly the same way. It's the same concept of brooding, and to me it doesn't matter how it's done. If someone likes one way better than the other, that's fine and they're not wrong for feeling that way.

Do not be defensive about the heating pad I was not disparaging them. I was encouraging someone that had been made to feel that they had wasted money on the Premier.

This is what I was doing as well.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Well said, Ron and Pyxis...

No need to downtalk for individuals choices or preferences...

 

[aart]

Well said, Ron and Pyxis...

No need to downtalk for individuals choices or preferences...

Ditto Dat^^^

 

[casportpony]

Thanks! I was feeling a little like I wasted some money lol! It will be mid April when I brood so it shouldn't be awful outside at that point (I'm in southern MI)

The Premier is rated to freezing but will actually work lower. You did not waste your money. The premier plate is made of solid materials and will last for years. The heat pads are fabric and thin plastic covering wires. I do not think they will last as long.

Oh, you'll be just fine with it then!

[@=/u/84712/ronott1]@ronott1[/@] has been using the Premier1 brooder for quite a while also... swears by it too... I believe the legs adjust easier than the Brinsea (besides the cost difference)...

The legs adjust nicely on the premier. My two brinsea plates were not as well made.

My cheap Walmart heating pads didn't last long. One just died, and the other got little tears in the plastic

I bought my Brinsea plates before I knew about the Premier plates and I agree that the Brinsea is not well made.

My friend has a few of the Premier plates, and he's quite happy with them.