incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~

[wattsjadajoe]

Okay, I missed the part about it being a water heater thermostat. I thought we were talking about an ambient heat thermostat. I am sorry and I hope I didn't offend you.

I have a few questions for you though.......When I bought my house it had electric baseboard heaters throughout the house. Each room had its own thermostat. The baseboard heater in my bathroom was only about 18" long and I kept it thinking maybe someday I would experiment with it using it as a heat source for a homemade incubator. The heat settings on the thermostat go up to 110 degrees.
Here is the question: In your opinion would this system work as a heat source for an incubator and if so, what size would you suggest I build the incubator? I could mount the thermostat outside of the incubator as, and I think I'm correct about this type of thermostat, when you set it for a certain temp. it stays constant and does not turn the heat source off when it reaches the temp it is set for. It may not be called a thermostat at all. It could be called simply a heat control device. If I am correct about this unit and the heat source does not shut off, would the temp. in an enclosed area, such as an incubator, continue to just keep climbing upward or would the temp. stay the same when it reaches the temp. it is set for?

Your input on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and again, I apologize if I offended you by my statements.

Tim (mrgreenjeans53)

Thermostats are thermostats. The difference between them is the dead-band. This is the 1-20 deg range from the time the thermostat turns off to the time it turns back on. The closer you can get this dead-band to a zero the better. So any thermostat will work, some will just work better. thus the reason for drilling holes in the water heater type. this allows the temp to activate the setting quicker. Check whatever thermostat you get for the dead-band, then try to tweek it by placing the sensing device closer or farther from the heat source. The happy medium is the best.
When I made my cooler-bator, I first had a 5 deg dead-band in the water heater thermostat, after drilling and relocating, I managed to get the dead-band down to 1.5 deg!

Joe

 

[wattsjadajoe]

Okay, I missed the part about it being a water heater thermostat. I thought we were talking about an ambient heat thermostat. I am sorry and I hope I didn't offend you.

I have a few questions for you though.......When I bought my house it had electric baseboard heaters throughout the house. Each room had its own thermostat. The baseboard heater in my bathroom was only about 18" long and I kept it thinking maybe someday I would experiment with it using it as a heat source for a homemade incubator. The heat settings on the thermostat go up to 110 degrees.
Here is the question: In your opinion would this system work as a heat source for an incubator and if so, what size would you suggest I build the incubator? I could mount the thermostat outside of the incubator as, and I think I'm correct about this type of thermostat, when you set it for a certain temp. it stays constant and does not turn the heat source off when it reaches the temp it is set for. It may not be called a thermostat at all. It could be called simply a heat control device. If I am correct about this unit and the heat source does not shut off, would the temp. in an enclosed area, such as an incubator, continue to just keep climbing upward or would the temp. stay the same when it reaches the temp. it is set for?

Your input on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and again, I apologize if I offended you by my statements.

Tim (mrgreenjeans53)

Thermostats are thermostats. The difference between them is the dead-band. This is the 1-20 deg range from the time the thermostat turns off to the time it turns back on. The closer you can get this dead-band to a zero the better. So any thermostat will work, some will just work better. thus the reason for drilling holes in the water heater type. this allows the temp to activate the setting quicker. Check whatever thermostat you get for the dead-band, then try to tweek it by placing the sensing device closer or farther from the heat source. The happy medium is the best.
When I made my cooler-bator, I first had a 5 deg dead-band in the water heater thermostat, after drilling and relocating, I managed to get the dead-band down to 1.5 deg!

Joe

 

[cerberus1]

I did hand turn the eggs three times a day. To keep the humidity up I used glass cups with water in them. When it got closer to lockdown I actually put small pots of starter plants in the incubator. The plants moisture in the soil helped to bring the humidity up and started my plants off right. I have two thermometers that are just decorative ones that I had laying around the house, one was put up closer to the heat source and the other was set down by the eggs. Both read the same throughout the hatch. I took apart an old clock that my husband had lying around, it had a barometer and a humidity gauge,the humidity gauge went in also. That's all that we did and it worked! We are going to try it with more eggs. We don't know if it has a good hatch percentage yet. I know it would hold two dozen eggs if you added a tray. My husband is also looking at installing a turner but we are trying to do it at no cost so it might be awhile. These coolers come with wire racks that you could use to make a tray also. Good luck!

 

[cerberus1]

I did hand turn the eggs three times a day. To keep the humidity up I used glass cups with water in them. When it got closer to lockdown I actually put small pots of starter plants in the incubator. The plants moisture in the soil helped to bring the humidity up and started my plants off right. I have two thermometers that are just decorative ones that I had laying around the house, one was put up closer to the heat source and the other was set down by the eggs. Both read the same throughout the hatch. I took apart an old clock that my husband had lying around, it had a barometer and a humidity gauge,the humidity gauge went in also. That's all that we did and it worked! We are going to try it with more eggs. We don't know if it has a good hatch percentage yet. I know it would hold two dozen eggs if you added a tray. My husband is also looking at installing a turner but we are trying to do it at no cost so it might be awhile. These coolers come with wire racks that you could use to make a tray also. Good luck!

I did hand turn the eggs three times a day. To keep the humidity up I used glass cups with water in them. When it got closer to lockdown I actually put small pots of starter plants in the incubator. The plants moisture in the soil helped to bring the humidity up and started my plants off right. I have two thermometers that are just decorative ones that I had laying around the house, one was put up closer to the heat source and the other was set down by the eggs. Both read the same throughout the hatch. I took apart an old clock that my husband had lying around, it had a barometer and a humidity gauge,the humidity gauge went in also. That's all that we did and it worked! We are going to try it with more eggs. We don't know if it has a good hatch percentage yet. I know it would hold two dozen eggs if you added a tray. My husband is also looking at installing a turner but we are trying to do it at no cost so it might be awhile. These coolers come with wire racks that you could use to make a tray also. Good luck!

awsome i want one now can u post what u have in there after the other egg is hatch and did u hand turn the egg too?

 

[3forfree]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/freezer-incubator



Hello,
Here is my freezer incubator project.
I am building an incubator of an old freezer and for this cause I used the Liebherr Economy.
In this incubator is room for 88 eggs max., but a better aircirculation will be achieved by taking a maximum of 66 eggs.
For me this capacity is more than enough.
This old freezer didn't work anymore, so I took out all freezer parts and started making an incubator of it.

I am not so well in English so I will place here some pictures of my project. Pictures say more than words.

I am still working on this incubator.

Greetings Arie

Are you planning any ventilation in the fridge, you didn't mention any, and I think you will need it.

 

[enjoyin' my chickens]

I am glad that this topic has been posted because I am thinking of building a bator for myself just to try it out. There is alot of knowledge here and I will keep reading this for the new posts to see what others have done. I will hopefully be building mine soon. They seem to be pretty easy to build and at a very low cost if you can get your hands on materials outside of purchases. Thank you to all who have posted already.

 

[ArieBLB]

Are you planning any ventilation in the fridge, you didn't mention any, and I think you will need it.

Hi, in the incubator is an ventilation above the window.

 

[kellyn]

I found this lovely cabinet thing and I wanna make another(yes, another! #4) incubator. I cut a hole in the top(it only took me 2 hours with a hammer ad a chizzle) for the viewing window. I'm actually gonna order a thermostat for this one, but I don't know whre to put it or the heating elment. Aaany ideas?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6153227/user_id/111976

And i'd also like to build a turner too.

 

[3forfree]

Hi, in the incubator is an ventilation above the window.

Guess I didn't realise that the louvers were vent ports. Thanks.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

I found this lovely cabinet thing and I wanna make another(yes, another! #4) incubator. I cut a hole in the top(it only took me 2 hours with a hammer ad a chizzle) for the viewing window. I'm actually gonna order a thermostat for this one, but I don't know whre to put it or the heating elment. Aaany ideas?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6153227/user_id/111976
And i'd also like to build a turner too.

if u build a turner please tell us how u do it?