Pampered Chef Stoneware in the coop

[they'reHISchickens]

Note that water heaters do not heat water to 200 degrees. Most are set about 120-140, so you will have to actually boil some water to get your bucket near the 200 degree level.

 

[RocketDad]

they'reHISchickens :

Note that water heaters do not heat water to 200 degrees. Most are set about 120-140, so you will have to actually boil some water to get your bucket near the 200 degree level.

Yep.

Also, the water will freeze on it's way to 20 degrees, which makes my numbers more or less wrong. But the point stands -- a 5 gallon bucket of water will hold 5 times more heat than 40+ lbs of bricks.

Also, the wattage thing: 1700 BTU is about 2.2 Kilowatt hours, which means running a 1000 watt load for 2.2 hours, or running a 250W red lamp for about 10 hours.

I thought about dropping a submersible fish tank heater in a bucket. Most are about 45 watts, so I'd have to crank the numbers (ugh.) to figure the heat-loss of the coop to find out if it's even worth doing. It gets pretty complicated. I spent a cold boring winter several years ago (I'm a stay at home dad, and my oldest was 1 that year) building a mathematical model of my garage on paper with a pencil, so I could figure out the best ways to improve it's heat retention so I could get some work done. It involves "delta T" or difference in temperature from inside to outside, and you have to account for the different R-factor of the studs vs. the insulated bays. Big discovery: The roll-up door costs as much to heat as half of the roof. The next time I was in the shop I slapped scrap cardboard on it with a staple gun.

"It's just a chicken coop" doesn't work for the bored and overeducated.​

 

[dlfridie]

I picked up the microwavable Snugglesafe today at Petsmart for 40 bucks.
It's supposed to stay warm for 12 hours.
I got the idea from 2DogsFarm in this thread .

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3714142

I am trying it in my coop tonight.

Normally, they sleep on top of their cozy box or in it. That's why I thought this would be perfect for them.
Funny thing, when I went to put the warmer in the cozy box, I found them sleeping up on the roost!
Jeez, the warmer can't help them up there.

I'll check in the morn to see if it's still warm.