Heated waterer for Canada (and my daily -20 celcius)

[Fred's Hens]

They are low current. They don't draw much and they are self-controlled. They only come when temps are at freezing 2C and go off when not needed. They are designed to run. I believe a timer might be OK. In other words, have it come back on at 3 am in time to melt the water for wake up. Yes, you could use the timer to shut it off at 5 pm when the birds go to roost.

Those little timers are pretty cheap. $6 at WalMart. More other places, but not much.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
ok good to know, that would just be easier for me since there's a store that sells them near me, 45$ canadian, the big blue one.

At night it gets sometimes colder but I wont leave it on anyways, waste of electricity....

I've got heated buckets for the horses, a stock tank heater, one of the big blue bowls for the cats, and the metal stand for the chickens. I leave them plugged in full time once the cold settles in. I've never had an issue with frozen water or crazy hydro bills even with our brutal Canadian temps. Whatever you choose, I'm sure it will do the trick.

 

[Felony]

I guess it's not so much a question of wasting electricity....If I had electricity I would leave them plugged in, it's just that we are off the grid so we really got to watch for our electricity consumption!! If I was in a normal home I would not worry about it, it's worth not having to worry about frozen water!!

 

[Felony]

To be less confusing: we bought the house a year ago, no electricity, no water....now we have water, propane heater etc...we are planning on having a battery bank and solar panels but right now we run our electricity off a generator...we have our generator on and off to keep our fridg and freezer and the food in it ok. so when the generator is on that's when the water heater will be on...and at night we turn everything off until morning!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Northern Quebec????

(My ex is from Val d'Or ....

)

 

[Felony]

Quote:
Northern Quebec????

(My ex is from Val d'Or ....

)

yes, but not as far up as val d'or! we're 2 hours northwest of montreal...

as for the heater i'm just going to decide between the dog bowl, metal stand, or a ''turn upside down'' white and red fountain with the element at the base, i saw it at a feed store on special...so it's all depending on price and wattage but I have to get it soon, water is already freezing!! thanks for the reply

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Northern Quebec????

(My ex is from Val d'Or ....

)

yes, but not as far up as val d'or! we're 2 hours northwest of montreal...

as for the heater i'm just going to decide between the dog bowl, metal stand, or a ''turn upside down'' white and red fountain with the element at the base, i saw it at a feed store on special...so it's
all depending on price and wattage but I have to get it soon, water is already freezing!! thanks for the reply

Ooooo - I want one of the red fountains with the element at the base but haven't been able to find one around here ....

 

[Felony]

Quote:
yes, but not as far up as val d'or! we're 2 hours northwest of montreal...

as for the heater i'm just going to decide between the dog bowl, metal stand, or a ''turn upside down'' white and red fountain with the element at the base, i saw it at a feed store on special...so it's
all depending on price and wattage but I have to get it soon, water is already freezing!! thanks for the reply

Ooooo - I want one of the red fountains with the element at the base but haven't been able to find one around here ....

maybe you can order it online??

They have it at the feed store around me but it's far from you!

 

[Rniare]

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to use a heated metal base for my metal waterer to keep it from freezing inside the coop? My concern is the loose pine shavings and having that base sit on that wood. Is there a safety hazard of fire with the shavings getting into the element? So far inside the coop hasnt froze yet, but tonight its going down in the single digits. Its 7degrees now at 11pm. BRRRRR. Thanks for your input.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I have used the heated metal base for 2 years now with loose pine shavings. I put the base on some bricks rather than directly on the shavings. So far, so good!!