question for *professional electricians* about homemade heaters?

[whogroomer]

I just installed these, to heat my small coop when the temps go below freezing. I put in a clip on heat lamp and built my own shield out of some extra hardware cloth. Make sure you have a heat shield of some kind, as I kind of roasted my birds feathers the first night.


Thermo CUbe, thermostatically controlled outlet.

http://amzn.com/B0006U2HD2

AND

ceramic heat emitter 60w
http://amzn.com/B0002AQCPK

 

[jmagill]

I am not an electrician. Others who are not electricians have answered as well.

I will only speak to aquarium heaters to heat the water in a nipple waterer. I use them.

Many of you go on about these cracking and exploding due to having the water level go below where the heater is or not using it for it's intended purpose.
First of all the intended purpose is to heat water. That is what they are being used for. Second step into the present. There are brands out there that shut off when the water level drops and will not explode. I have four of these heaters and I have tested them all before putting them into the waterer. They do not explode, they do not crack and they shut off automatically when they are pulled out of the water. Plug them into a GFI outlet and you are just as protected as you are with any other water heater.

 

[bald egg]

I purchased a 100 watt ceramic emitter at a local Petco ($40) . Found it in the reptile section of the store, they are used to keep reptile tanks warm. It screws into a light socket and I secured my ceramic based heating bulb fixture to the coop ceiling so it would not get knocked off and start a fire, and screwed it in. $40 might sound like alot but the package says they last 5 years. Put it on a theromcube that goes on at 35 and off at 45 degrees. It was 17 degrees a few days ago and the well ventilated pop door open coop was at 29 degrees. This is my first year with chickens but this seems like a good way to safely add a little warmth to the coop without cooking my girls.