Poultry Water heater

[samsr]

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience using a pad heater like the one in the link as a home constructed water heater. You could combine the thermocube with the pad heater and have a half priced puoltry water heater. What wattage do you think would work well for a 5 gallon galvanized waterer.
http://www.amazon.com/Kats-22400-Watt-Battery-Heater/dp/B000I8XDAS/ref=pd_sim_auto_5

 

[scratch'n'peck]

The galvanized metal heater base is 125 watts, so 60 watts may not work. I am also not sure how well heat transfers from silicone to the base of a metal waterer.

 

[Twister-n-Dos]

I have setup something like this. It is the first winter trying it, so it is not fully field tested.
Right now I have a 50 watt pad and it has been keeping the water liquid down to about +5F.
That +5F was in the coop, -20F outside. It has warmed up now, about +10F outside, but
it is supposed to drop again this week.


The heater is on top of the cinder blocks and under the pavers.

It is plugged into the thermo cube, but the air temp has not gotten warm
enough for it to cycle. Probably won't until spring time.

I have purchased a 100 watt heater also. My thought is to use them in combination
or individually at different air temps.

The silicone heaters transfer heat well. That is what they are designed for.
The one you referenced is for vehicle batteries. The 50 watt is for automatic
transmission pans, and the 100 watt gets used on oil pans. Very common item here.

 

[samsr]

I thought the heat transfer would be good enough to keep the water in liquid form since these are used for automotive use. These are a fair bit cheaper then the heated bases also, by about 10 to 15 dollars for the combination.

 

[Twister-n-Dos]

One thing I have wondered about with my setup is how well it would work if it is cycling.
The cinder blocks and paving stones have a lot of thermal mass, which in a way is good,
but if the system cycled a lot then it might take awhile for the bricks to heat up.