Hoping to learn some about infrared/ceramic (no light) heaters

[grullablue]

My chicks will be delivered next month, and I'm doing some research about lighting/heating. With our chicks last year, I used regular white heat lamp bulbs, two different wattages, I'd switch back and forth...depending on the temperature and chick behavior, as I had them in the garage. They had the white lamps on 24/7.

This time around I'm looking into also the red heat lamps, and the infrared heaters that I've seen people mention on here. I think they are the types you can buy in pet stores typically used for lizards?

Do they put out more heat than a heat lamp of the same wattage? Are they less of a fire hazard than a heat lamp, or no fire hazard? Do you screw them in the same thing you would a heat lamp bulb?

Is there anything I should know if I am considering trying these? Would I want to, say, use a regular heat lamp (for light) during the day, and this at night?

Thanks for any input!
Angie

 

[jimnjay]

I have one and I was not overly impressed with the heat. I have the 100 watt one. I believe it is fluckers. I have not used it for awhile and I probably should. It cost plenty. If you are keeping you chicks inside a full spectrum light bulb works great. They run around $ 2.50. I keep several wattage bulbs and change them to the lower the heat as they grow up. I remember I had one of the ceramic bulbs right over the water bowl last winter and the water still froze. It was in the 20's at the time.

 

[ebonykawai]

I used a 250 watt ceramic heater for my chicks last spring and everything went great, I loved it. The chicks learn day/night patterns and I have never had any picking/bullying to this day. When they got a little bigger, I changed to a 100 watt ceramic. My experience was that the 250 threw plenty of heat, so much so that I downgraded when they got a little bigger.

I bought both off Ebay for about 1/2 what you'd pay for in the stores.

 

[CityChook]

I have used both a 250 watt infrared heat bulb and the 250 watt ceramic heat emitter. Both put out the same amount of heat. I think the red bulb does a better job at heating up the surrounding air while the ceramic has "radiant heat" which heats surfaces more than air. The ceramic does not emit light, so they will have a more natural rhythm.

When my chickies were babies and I turned off their red light, I found that they were afraid of the dark for a few days. Funny. When it got cold this Fall, I screwed their red light into their coop and the biddies wouldn't go to bed - it was like an all night chicken rave. I finally got sick of listening to them bawk at 2 am and went outside and turned the light off. I was really glad when the ceramic arrived. Heat without light. Perfect.

I would say that the ceramic is just as much of a fire threat as the red bulb. Those babies get H.O.T. Make sure you use a metal fixture with a ceramic socket. As far as switching back and forth from day to night, I'd say neigh. Make your life easy, pick one, and let it go.

I got my ceramic on ebay. Even with shipping it was half the cost of retail. And I found that most pet stores (even reptile specialty stores) carried the 100 watt, but not the 250 watt ceramic. It's not cheap, but then again, what part of this chicken hobby is?