How do you heat your brooder???

[jmtcmkb]

ecoglow brooder, love it

 

[debid]

Quote:
This is pretty much the same idea as a woodstove in a brooder house but I want to point out that you're talking about an old-fashioned furnace grate which is not the same as a vent cover for an electric heat pump unit (those don't get hot at all).

 

[Alpha1Farms]

Quote:
Looking for the best use of the electricity. WIll NOT use propane or natural gas--usually 1-2 houses a year go Ka-BOOOM around here. I donnnnnnn't need my house turned into match sticks.

Which light bulbs use electricity the best for the use of brooder, or other heater for a brooder?

I have used propane for heating houses, heating water, drying clothes, running the refrigerator, gas lights, generating electricity, cooking etc... as do all my neighbors because we just got electricity in the town I grew up in 3 years ago... Though most of us still use propane for everything. I have never seen a house go Ka-BOOOM in 30 years of living like this... I saw my neighbor hit an underground line with a tiller and later the same guy cut off the incoming pipe with a weed-wacker at ground level right where the pipe goes into the house but neither time did anything go BOOM... I don't know where you live or what is causing the explosions... but I hope that information may help you relax a little about the use of pressured gases...

Light bulbs are an efficient use of electricity... AS HEATERS.

Now I use a 250w clear infrared heat lamp bulb w/ reflector for a 3'x3'x3' brooder and run it of an industrial thermostat in an indirectly lit area. It is nice because the light rarely comes on for more than 10 minutes unless it is really cold... and I can adjust the temperature. As I see it, running a 250w for 5 minutes to reach the same temp as running a 100w lamp for an hour... the heat lamp is more efficient.

It is the same set up I use for the piglets... and seems to work for me.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've looked into many things but electricity wins for me hands down.
Other methods don't have the reliability, cost or long term warmth.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Ditto! I have purchased both the EcoGlow20 and EcoGlow50. I will never use lamps again. It's a more natural method of brooding, as there is no light emitted so the chicks can maintain a diurnal cycle. They go under it as they would a hen, running out to do chcikie things and then back under it to warm up again.

VERY little energy consumption!