Insulation and the coop!

[tracecom]

The top of the light bulb was covered in dust, chicken dander, and probably feathers or down, and just before the light went out we could see a little, almost invisible wisp of smoke coming from the top of the bulb.

Heat lamps are a problem, but replacing ordinary incandescent bulbs with CFLs will reduce the risk of fire.

 

[Blooie]

Heat lamps are a problem, but replacing ordinary incandescent bulbs with CFLs will reduce the risk of fire.

You're probably going to take this as argumentative, and I certainly don't mean it that way. But I flat out refuse to use them. I dislike them and distrust them so much that I went to Walmart and filled a shopping cart to the top with regular old light bulbs. I won't use a product that has hazardous material warnings inside the box. If I break an old fashioned light bulb I have to clean up the little slivers of glass. If I break one of those CFSs, I have to ventilate and evacuate the room. They even have to be disposed of like hazardous material. Something most folks don't know, but my son found out the hard way, is that older sockets can't always handle those CFLs anyway. He lives in a old 1976 mobile home and he's had two of them catch fire. His dad marched over there and took every one of them out and put in the only kind of bulb those older fixtures are equipped to handle. We also live in an older mobile home. I figure I have enough of the old style bulbs to last me the rest of my lifetime, and since I just celebrated my 64th birthday, well, that could be hours or another decade!

 

[tracecom]

You're probably going to take this as argumentative, and I certainly don't mean it that way.

Actually, I agree with most everything you say, but that doesn't change the fact that CFLs don't get as hot as incandescent bulbs. An even better solution is an LED bulb: very little heat, lasts for years and years and years, more durable than a CFL, uses less electricity than a CFL, and doesn't contain any mercury, but it's pricey.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-43322...=UTF8&qid=1420947683&sr=8-1&keywords=led+bulb

 

[blucoondawg]

One other cause of coop fires that I never see mentioned is the dust.  Yep, good old dust.  It accumulates everywhere, especially when the coop is more closed up in the winter and the chickens are spending more time in there.  That dust is insidious - it gets everywhere, including on the prongs of the electrical plugs that might not be pushed all the way in.  Haven't we all been guilty of having the prongs pushed most of the way in, or having prongs that go in a little cocked to one side? Imagine dust and dander getting into that tiny gap, or filtering into the outlet itself.  That dust and just a little humidity can cause arcing across. And that dust accumulates on the surface of the bulbs as well.  Many of us dust things off during the summer when we spend more time out there, but how many of us want to stand in the coop dusting things off when it's already getting dark at 4:30 and it's 20 below? 

I have a light in my coop that is very seldom used. It's hard wired in like the rest of the electrical system out there is.  It's there for my convenience if I have to go out in the early darkness and do something out there.  My husband is an electrician.  He's no dummy, either - he was the electrical engineer on board both an aircraft carrier and the Battleship USS Wisconsin, and he assisted in writing the Navy's electrical tech manual for the IC/EM courses. We went out a couple of weeks ago to check on Scout, our chick who had frostbitten feet, and I flipped the light on.  A few minutes later there was the smell of something burning.  Ken looked up and said, "Get that light turned off ASAP!"  Like a dummy I had to look first and flip second.  The top of the light bulb was covered in dust, chicken dander, and probably feathers or down, and just before the light went out we could see a little, almost invisible wisp of smoke coming from the top of the bulb.  He whipped out the little mag flashlight he always carries (with his ever present Leatherman as well!) out of it's holster on his belt and made sure that there was nothing really seriously wrong aside from scorching dust. Only when he was sure did we finish what we were doing and go back inside.

That could have caused a real problem if a bit of smoldering feather had drifted down into the straw and litter covered floor.  A heat lamp is out there to provide heat. It won't keep the coop at the same temperature as your living room, but that bulb gets hot, hot, hot.  And dusty.  Yikes!  Now I know that a whole lot of things have to go wrong for a fire to start from a bit of dust on a light bulb. I'm not one to spend a lot of time with couldda, wouldda, shoulda.  And I don't go looking for trouble where there likely isn't any. But I'm darned if I'm going to be the tester for the theory that the dust and feathers are combustible and the bulb is a heat source.   None of us are as diligent about small housekeeping projects out there in sub-zero temps.  Accidents are a series of things that have to happen during an event, and I personally believe that a heat lamp doesn't have to come tumbling down onto the floor and sit there for a time in order for there to be a bad one.

And by the way, it was JackE who gave me advice on winterizing my coop, and I argued with him vehemently about it.  Um, he was right.  We live in Northern Wyoming.  Last year our last snow flurries of the year came on June 6th.  My coop isn't insulated or heated, and my birds are just fine.  Got 8 eggs out of 10 chickens today, and they are active, healthy, and heading outside for some exercise the minute the sun comes up - and on some wintery days even when the sun doesn't come out all day.  Thanks for that dose of common sense, JackE!  Not often I'm happy to admit publicly that I was wrong, but I was wrong!   

keeping the little bit of dust wiped off a light bulb isn't a big deal, like I said we have been using heat during extreme temperatures for years and haven't burnt a coop down yet. What are your low temperatures for the coldest part of winter in Wyoming? From what I've been told from people who used to live there is mostly quite mild

 

[Blooie]

keeping the little bit of dust wiped off a light bulb isn't a big deal, like I said we have been using heat during extreme temperatures for years and haven't burnt a coop down yet. What are your low temperatures for the coldest part of winter in Wyoming? From what I've been told from people who used to live there is mostly quite mild

Um, how's this?

This was about two weeks ago.

 

[blucoondawg]

Um, how's this? This was about two weeks ago.

what was the actual temperature not the wind chill, how typical are these temps? If I check AccuWeather for towns in Wyoming or shows temps from the 40s to single digits above zero

 

[WthrLady]

On that day, it was -15.

I was on the other side of the state...same temps.

It's been like that for 3 weeks and was like that for two weeks in November too. We are finally back to normal.

All I know, is that when i was out watching the girls on their daily freerange time in those temps, they were puffy and happy as clams. I was bundled up like i was out for a jaunt on Hoth. I kept wondering if i could shove a couple of those fluffy orpingtons in my bra.


Brrrr%!

 

[Blooie]

We've had several days of sub zero temps, unusual for so early in the season. Actual temps for us that week ranged from a high of -8 to a low of -20. We had several nights of 14 to 19 below zero - in November and early December. Unreal for that time of year. We are fortunate that our winters tend to be drier than other parts of the country. I grew up in Eastern South Dakota, and we moved back there after Ken retired from the Navy. But he missed his mountains and since I'd already spent the previous 26 years packing up and moving wherever his career took us it was pretty easy to pack up and move once again. We've been here 18 years now. I don't know what that weather service you have says....I just know that it wasn't much fun trying to thaw the water pipes at our son's house on New Years Day when it was -14 - actual temp not counting the constant and forever winds we seem to get. That happened despite having heat tapes and leaving the water running in his house. I don't know what the temp was the night his pipes froze but it sure wasn't 40 degrees! Clark, Wyoming recorded winds in excess of 70 - 80 mph, and gusts as high as 113 that week. Cody, where we do most of our shopping, had winds that weren't far behind so the cold was bone-chilling!

I don't really want to get into a "my place is colder than your place" contest here. That's kinda silly - cold is cold no matter where folks live. It is fun to compare, though. But I can assure you that while we've had a few nice, mild days interspersed with this unseasonably cold weather we've been having, the cold has been predominant. We do have a very pleasant week ahead of us coming up - could even reach the mid thirties by this time next week, which would be lovely! Our coldest month always seems to be February. What all of this has to do with dusty light bulbs I'm not sure, but you asked a civil question so I'm answering as best as I can. Wyoming gets cold. So do lots of places. Some days we're colder, some days other places are colder. But I'm always grateful that we're drier!

 

[Heme]

Very well put! As for me, the humidistat indicated a higher degree of moisture inside the coop where the girls gather for the evening. I checked the same area during the day when the gals are out doing their thing, and I find the ambient temp and humidity close to the outdoor readings.

A local associate with several years of experience once said to me: Birds and Animals have lived on earth in heat as well as frigid periods without manmade structures and survived. Although I use a heat lamp (mostly to keep the drinking water-trough from freezing up) that was my decision, but my friend utilizes his coop as shelter from evil doers that prey on his flock at night. Other than that, the girls are out all day long.

 

[Cohl0406]

I will just say as someone who just lost their flock to a fire due to lighting in the coop I find yall arguining over this ridiculous!!! What works for you works. If you use lights I pray your flock doesn't come to the same ending as mine did. If you don't I hope yours are warm through the cold months.

Arguing and snide comments don't change anyone perspective.