Question about Electrifying a Coop

[maudeflanagan]

So I had a thought and I’m not sure if this has been done before. Winter is coming and having power in the coop will likely be a must. I plan to run an extension cord out to the coop mainly for a deicer. Maybe an overhead light so I can see when daylight is an issue. The plan is to run Romex to an outlet and the light.

Is there a way to wire up the coop and backfeed power from the extension cord? Similar to an RV and shore power or an automatic transfer switch like a generator? Then in the spring, I could wind up the extension cord and put it away. The extension cord is a heavy duty exterior contractor grade.

Is this a terrible idea?

 

[DVO50]

Installing an outdoor male plug would allow you to run your romex to the plug and light and just unplug the extension cord when ready.

 

[maudeflanagan]

Thanks for the reply. I just ordered one. Best to get this taken care of before it gets too cold.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

The male out door receptacle is probably the cleanest way to accomplish what you want to do. I just ran the romex out the bottom of the coop and put a Male plug on the wire so I can plug it into a extension code. I am planning to bury a wire to the coop in the future but looks like that is a next year project

 

[Alarry31]

i plan on doing the same thing did this work out for you i was gonna use a rv male plug that has two female ends on the back of it

 

[maudeflanagan]

i plan on doing the same thing did this work out for you i was gonna use a rv male plug that has two female ends on the back of it

This has been working great so far. We wired the inside of the coop with one light and one outlet for the heater.