Heat Lamp vs Heating Plate

[pattyfan]

Our heat plate just arrived but it's waaaaaay too hot to the touch. There is no way chicks can sleep underneath it. If I burn my finger when I touch it, then chicks can't be underneath it. I'm really pissed off.

 

[Bear1978]

I used the red-eyed cyclops aka heat lamp for the first couple of weeks... That is until I got a message from Entergy saying my levelized billing was going UP $80 during the time I had the lamp on them. I had already purchased a heat plate from amazon. The kind that the chicks lay on and not go under and so far so good! They are about 3 weeks old and have no issues with it. My brooder is inside where the temps stay around 70-75 degrees. It kicks on until it heats up to around 100 degrees then kicks off. I did as the instructions said and put it under a pillow for 20 minutes before using it to test the temp and it was not too hot to touch at all and my girls don’t seem to mind it either. I’ll not use the heat lamp again! I have vanquished the red-eyes cyclops for good! Lol

 

[Folly's place]

Mine was 120F on the underside, too hot to maintain contact, and it wasn't good. I complained, and got the 'Heating Plate Temperature Controller', $12, and it made the plate usable. Two friends have heat plates, same brand, that were fine from the first with no tweaking.
The manufacturer, in the EU, has no contact information at all; I was going to complain directly to them.
Mary

 

[pibb]

Depending on how the circuit is made, if it is just a transformer you should be able to use a dimmer to turn down the heat. If it is a circuit board then the dimmer may not work.