Passive Solar/Alternate Heat Part 2? Focus on Water

[oberhaslikid]

I did this last year for the goats and will do this again.I took an old tire stuffed straw inside the tire rim to insulate it. Then placed another on top and stuffed it in side the rim.I place straw in the bottom and placed a 5 gallon bucket in side the 2 tires.Filled with their drinking water.This was located inside the barn.It only froze over when it was really cold out .I the broke the ice on top that crusted over and topped off with new hot water. Which helped to melt the frozen top .
Now, if you could do this with one tire for the chickens bowl or pan. It would help to some extent.Outside, the sun would help heat the tire but it would still freeze on top.In front of a sunny window inside the coop would be great.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Different climates of course call for different ideas. HERE, the only problem I have is during the night 99% of the time.. where it dips below freezing pretty regularly for a few weeks. Daytime temps are rarely below freezing, but do perhaps go down that low for maybe a grand total of 2 weeks a year.

Last year, I brought ALL the waters inside, about a 1/3 of how many I have now, when it was going to be below freezing... when it was just freezing, I would take a kettle full of boiling water out in the morning and douse the waterers, the drinking wells, and the buckets with the kettle water and everything was fine. I'm going to need ONE BIG KETTLE this year to do the same...

The tires are a GREAT idea... why oh why do I live in the only place in america that doesn't have an abundance of scrap guttering or tires? Seems like everywhere else those materials are plentiful!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
You're not crazy

, this suggestion comes up a *lot*.... the thing is it gets expensive. It would take a significant investment in equipment, not just in solar panels but in batteries and other associated technology, to keep a 40w bulb running overnight. Two AA batteries isn't gonna do it, either - for one thing you need deep cycle batteries, for another you need more battery capacity than just two AAs

Honestly by the time you've bought all that stuff you could have trenched electricity out to your coop and had *lots* of power available for *anything* you might need it for, probably a better investment.

Pat