Heat Lamp

[Truck207]

I was just curious on how much a 250W heat lamp raises your electric bill? Also, do I need a 250W heat lamp for baby chicks if I raise them in a heated place (or would a smalled watt bulb work)? Thanks for any help!

 

[ranchhand]

Hi,

from South Carolina!

A 250 watt will raise it a fair amount. It will also heat the whole room. I found a red 100 watt bulb at an Ace Hardware store and now use that when brooding in the house. The 250 watt is for when I am brooding large groups in an unheated detached garage.

I like to hang the light so it's easily raised or lowered, depending upon the temp needed.

 

[chookchick]

I can't say for sure, but I've heard they raise the bill a noticable amount. I have been just fine using a 75-100 watt bulb with a reflector, for inside the house. Also much safer!

 

[teach1rusl]

I used a 250, but my "brooder" was fairly open (a dog cage w/cardboard around most of the sides). My DH pays the electric bill, and he is quite vocal when it goes up. I don't recall any screeching the month they were in the house w/the big bulb. If your brooder is more solid, I'm sure a lesser bulb would do the trick. If you see them piled under it, you'll know they're not staying warm enough....

 

[ryanroth]

I have had my 250 Watt heat lamp hooked up to a meter and it has used 9 hwk (kila watt hours) over 31.5 hours. That is roughly 81cents on my electric bill per 31.5 hours. Therefore it is going to cost me $20-30 extra for a month.

 

[snowflake]

WOW! !! I didn't know it was that much. We had two of the 250 lights going for almost two months last year as the chicks came at the end of Feb and it didn't warm up enough to put them outside till May. Glad I turned the light off this winter and decided to see how they did withe cold. they did great......they need to be kept at 90 degrees when you first get them...

 

[Cindy in PA]

250 watts makes 1 kilowatt (1000 watts) every 4 hours, so 6 kw a day. My rate is 10.6 cents a KW, burning all day it would cost me 63.6 a day or $19.08 for 30 days. Hope this helps.

 

[Chieftain]

This is what my coop looked like with a 250 Watt infrared heat lamp in it. I was curing epoxy paint at the time, and it was sitting on a temporary platform in a window, three feet above the floor.

I used that very lamp in culinary school to keep sugar hot enough to be pliable, and it is perfectly capable of inflicting serious burns at a short distance.

Try a regular 60 Watt incandescent lightbulb in a regular brooder hood, monitor the temperature, and see if it gives you enough heat.

Please be careful with those "red bulbs" folks...

 

[Truck207]

Thanks for all the help everyone!! So would I be OK with trying a smaller watt since they are inside a heated room which is usually kept around 60 at night to 70 during the day? I am hopefully picking the chicks up at the post office tomorrow morning!

 

[halo]

Ive only ever used a 60 watt bulb, but a lot depends on how warm your room is where the chicks are and how enclosed the brooder is, as people have said. Go ahead and set them up with a 60 watt and just watch how they act. If they are active, running and eating, and sleeping without "piling on", you should be just fine.