Heater or heat panel -10

[Mother of Chaos]

One way to get “the government” (utility companies, etc.) completely out of the equation is to just go off-grid entirely. But unless you live in Palm Springs or something, you’ll need some serious battery capacity, like a Tesla Powerwall battery, to store your captured energy for rainy days.

Note: for a variety of reasons, I don’t do this (although I’d like to), so there are a LOT more factors to consider.

Another option, that involves some politics regarding deregulation, is an energy coop that is separate from utility companies.

 

[Ted Brown]

@Mother of Chaos

The cost benefit of solar in a northern climate is close to impossible to justify without incentives from a 3rd party. Our electrical utility & provincial governments will subsidize a heat pump up to ~$6,000 and that has me interested, need to get a concrete estimate for gear & installation then run the numbers. I pay about 13 cents per kwh and use around 8000 kwh per year, the discounts I discussed above bring me under $1,000 and cost nothing but personal discipline.

Heat pumps will bring the cost of heat lower but I understand it is a bit of a crap shoot just how much. I just did a scenario using Perplexity (an well known AI bot) to run my numbers. Note I only heat the kitchen/dining/living room during the winter and have a wood stove burning 12-16 hour per day in winter. Perplexity's output said I would save a "few dozens of heat savings $s". Actual scenario is more complex as I did not include the cost of wood burnt.

Total guessing here but annual savings will translate to a multi year payback.

I should probably also include the increase in value of my property if heat pumps are present AND the fact that my two daughters will inherit my home and will never be as diligent as me with personal energy saving's efforts.

But that makes the scenario much more complex and speculative.

The very cool thing is the AI bots can easily absorb whatever scenario one chooses to specify and in seconds give an answer.

So all back on me to write the scenario.

BTW If one is not using/experimenting with AI to help with complex decision making they should be. AI is going to radically change our world in ways yet to be imagined.

Once again, apologies to the OP for taking things a bit off track.

 

[Mamilo]

iowaCHKN asked a question about heaters vs heating panels and now we’re rambling on about AI???!!!

 

[Ted Brown]

@Mamilo Touché

This was a continuation of a comment from @dirkandlorie but far afield. My apologies, I will shut my mouth!

 

[Ponypoor]

That Ma Poule supplier is pretty good. They have some nice roll away nest boxes too. I paid about $100 CAD with shipping and tax but it’s still a lot more than a brood lamp.

For the IR heater? Hmmm I got through Amazon $60 plus tax, free shipping.

Have used their calcium and Vit D supplement also last winter.

I have a couple of really nice IR lamps one is 600w and the other 900w but they keep flipping the fuses so I only use them when it’s -20c and colder.

This is the other side of using supplemental heat in a coop/barn, one needs to take into acct the amt of power available where you’re using it.

If it’s a small coop with not power run to it then one needs to look at using power cables. 100’ max would be the limit. This is why you cannot buy longer ones. And yet people still plug more cables in to extend the length. Dangerous.

Safer to get some proper cable, bury it properly and use a fuse at the box in the house. It’s all about safety with electrical and using supplemental heat.

 

[SlaterFarm]

At a rough guess, Cream Legbars are probably in the middle of chicken breeds as regards cold tolerance.

Cream Legbars would not have the small combs/wattles and extra-thick feathers that help some breeds handle cold weather. They don't have extra-large bodies either.

On the other hand, they do not have extra-tiny bodies, or frizzle feathers, or such sparse feathering that bare skin sticks out (I'm thinking of Seramas, Frizzles, and some chickens that I think may have been oriental-type games that I've seen in pictures with really tight/sparse feathering.)

I would not really expect them to have problems at those temperatures, but your best bet is to watch the behavior of your specific chickens, as several other people have also said.

Thank you. We check the girls several times during the day, and make adjustments as we think fit. I'm just always open to suggestions. As most of you know, the chickens aren't just egg-layers, they become friendly pets pretty quick. Our bedroom is on the 2nd floor with a window on the "coop-side." I even shine a light out there two or three times each night just to be sure things look ok.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[cski]

A diesel heater is an option. I been using one with a thermostat. Seems to work good. I have it outside with just the duct work going into the coop.

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

Nice, but whoa, pricey. We've got an Inkbird that I think is similar in our brooders. The bulb is a 100W black ceramic.

View attachment 4269820

Question? I do not see the temperature probe, is your brooder in a relativity warm/draft free space?

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

A diesel heater is an option. I been using one with a thermostat. Seems to work good. I have it outside with just the duct work going into the coop.

Please explain!

 

[cski]

Please explain!

This is the heater: https://a.co/d/fP86k2T

It is in a water proof “tool box” I set it up on the outside of the coop so the exhaust will not get in the coop. I found this neat thermostat for it. It controls it wirelessly via the same signal the remote that came with the heater. I have it hanging up in the coop. The heater also has a removable wired control panel with a temp probe in it that can be put in the coop . The wireless thermostat was easier and in my opinion better than the manufacture one.
https://bureck.company.site/

The coop is insulated with no drafts. Is 8 X 12 with about an 11 foot pitched roof. It heats it up fairly quickly.

My home is off grid so I was looking for a non-electric heater when I stumbled across this. It uses about 100 watts a think during start up for about 30 seconds or so then drops it about 1 or 2 watts. I forget the actual consumption.

I have 2 smaller non insulated coops that I just starting using to isolate some new roosters. They have the radiant heaters in them. Draw 100 watts a piece. That extra 200 watts puts my load at the max I would like. Anymore more power usage means more generator usage, so the diesel heater was a perfect fit.