Seasonal power cord through 1/2in HWC

[DonyaQuick]

To update this thread (the first post of which is almost 3 years old now) on what I'm using these days for extension cords to heated waterers in my runs, I now use 3D-printed parts any time I need an extension cord to go through the HWC. I much prefer just having a cord with a little play in it passing through a material like HWC. I never really was happy with the amount of force I had to put on the plastic plug sometimes due to the bit of give/wiggle that's present in a large HWC panel.

And in a couple instances where I have needed to put a cord through wood or some other thick material, then I do still use one of the plastic plug-to-short-cord things I posted before, since they can be anchored very securely. I just didn't like how those held into HWC; really felt like it needed an adapter to hold well on that material and never got around to making one, but they do great through thicker materials very well.

The hub space app is so lacking. It won't show the plugs individually in alexa. So you can't just say "hey alexa turn on the kennel lights" because all it shows if the device itself. Instead of "kennel lights" and "coop lights". No you have to make a routine that says ""hey alexa turn on the kennel lights". I makes no sense.

I have to admit that I stubbornly refuse to speak to any technology in my home...except to potentially curse at it for malfunctioning lol. So the Alexa compatibility thing isn't one I've run into.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I just got an outdoor outlet installed that will let me run a heated waterer on an extension cord. That solves the issue of bringing water out multiple times per day when the high is 15F, but I have another problem: my setup is in two halves, a secure area completely enclosed in 1/2in HWC and a daytime-only area with larger spaced welded wire (1.5in I think). I can easily get the water heater plug through the welded wire area, but I would like to put it in the secure, HWC-covered area if possible since the chickens typically have to stay in the HWC area when the weather is super bad (blizzards, large quantities of freezing rain, etc.). That will mean a big hole so the plug can fit through and a good-sized gap around the cord after that.

So...for those using heated waterers and small-spaced HWC, what do you do to seal up the resulting large hole in the HWC once the plug is pushed through? And what do you do in the warmer months to cover the hole when the power cord isn't needed at all?

I've read of using steel wool to plug gaps, but it will probably be where my chickens could pick at it, so that doesn't seem like a great idea in this case. I'm guessing I'll have to make cut some sort of bolt-on wood pieces to close up the gap around the cord. Curious if there are other commonly done things though to close the gap.

I use steel wool like you said and cover with gorilla watertight tape (gorilla brand flex seal tape essentially) but you can also get cheap fixes to the cord gap problem. If you Google wall cord pass through you'll get something like below. They make round ones rectangle ones etc. It will solve your gap problem, put one up pass the cord through and tape the flexible bit closed if you have mice or weasels where you live.