Solar power for my coop - I wanna be Green

[Scrambled Egg]

Quote:
My thoughts EXACTLY Jackie!!! "yeah, what she said"!!!

 

[NurseNettie]

The barn is about 200+ (rough guess... I'm really bad at it) feet from the house. Not sure if the extension cords would work-- I think it's too far-- even closer though, I am not sure how they hold up to the cold and ice.... We're looking at all options, if for nothing else, lights for us in the evening and morning... I'm going to look up the heater you suggested too.

 

[Yanna]

Quote:
I'm glad that someone here is able to cut right down to the hard issues. Brava!!!!

(Maybe they could breathe into tiny paper bags to slow their breath rates?)

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I'm feeding my barn with a 14 guauge, 100 foot extention cord. I bought the proper
size wire and the conduit(pipe) to run it all underground but haven't done it yet.
The cord was buried in ice most of the winter and was ok. At times I'm pulling 1500 watts
through it.


So, for you the least expensive way, and most effective would be to pick up a 12 or 14
guage outdoor extention cord. This would easily power your lights, a fan for summer,
and a heat lamp for winter.

As for solar alternatives you could start with a basic solar light like:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200306871_200306871
This would give you a little light for yourself when you are out in the barn/coop.

Don't forget about rechargeable lights too. There are some good ones out there that
are bright and last several hours.


The next step up would be something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200328565_200328565
You would need to purchase a marine battery to hold the charge and some 12 volt
LED or flourescent bulbs and fixtures too. This system may give you all the light you
need, except a heat lamp, and will cost around $300 plus a few hours to install it.


If you wanted to spend more than $1000 then you may be able to design a system
to handle the heat lamp too or a heater for the chickens water.


Some math:
The small propane heater, set on low, will use 3000BTU's of fuel or 1 gallon of
propane every 25 to 30 hours or $3.
A 250watt heat lamp will use $2.25 in electricity for the same 25 hours, is easier
to maintain, safer, and can be put on a timer.


Environmental aspects:
If using less energy for environmental, selfsuffiency, or financial reasons is one of your
goals then adding some solar power to your main house would be much more effective.
Conservation should always be the highest priority since it's the quickest, easiest,
and cheapest way to save energy. From there you can add solar panels that produce
heat to heat your home and water. This is the most effective and cheapest way to
use solar energy.


I'll stop there for tonight. I hope this helps a little and please feel free to ask me any
questions you want. I enjoy this stuff.

 

[TexasJoe]

Good stuff.


EDITED for clarity
I recommend LEDs over CFLs INSIDE your coop or anywhere that they are in close proximity to your livestock.
if they break..it WILL contaminate your flock AND the area meaning you will LEGALLy have to kill and dispose of them yourself, and pay for "hazardous materials clean up" which is about $500. The dust that is created when CFLs can break is very hazardous, think thermometer mercury only in a dust form!

 

[TexasJoe]

SOLAR LIGHT SET-UPS ARE CHEAP. Get some of those ornamental solar lawn lights and you can EASILY adapt them to light your coop. Buy some brighter LED bulbs and use some cheap speaker wire to run the LED bulb to where-ever you need light. If you need them to turn on at a specific time, you will have to build a custom power supply timer (radio shack = $3)..but mine just come on automatically after it gets dark..as per design.

The top of my shed is covered in them (12x12 configuration), and they light my coop, pool, and house at night (hallways, kitchen, porches, bathrooms). The only thing that sux is that i'm running them individually, and that's A LOT of crappy speaker wire run through the attic

 

[PurpleChicken]

TexasJoe,

I agree about the CFL but they aren't bad if you HAVE to use a convertor and
I use the outside floods that work good and use 1/5 the power as a regular flood.

But yeah, LED is definately the way to go and LED's are getting better every day.

I also agree about modifying all the solar landscape lights that are out there. I see
them in the discount stores, on clearance shelves, and sales. If you are a tinkerer
like we both obviously are you can do wonders with them and they give off more
than enough light to keep the birds laying and more.

Good response.

 

[TexasJoe]

oH! I thought you were using the CFLs inside the coop with the birds. LOL, I see what you mean, now. LEDs still aren't bright enough to do flood lighting for large areas, you definitely need CFLs for that job, and an inverter

LEDs work great inside the coop, especially with Texas summers when conventional bulbs would simply add unwanted heat. Plus, you can get LEDs that nearly match natural light, which is great when you like to take pictures of them at night like some of us

 

[PurpleChicken]

Glad you brought up the LED thing. An LED compliments a small solar system wonderfully.

A few of us are gonna have to start a good reference thread on solar barn projects.
I hope you join in Joe.


For those new to LED's start here:
http://www.ledwaves.com/

There are tons of places to buy them online. Some cheap, some expensive.

 

[TexasJoe]

Also, have you guys considered using a MECHANICAL wind turbine to drive water pumps for auto-watering systems??

Mine are still electric plug-in pumps, but I'm researching designs as I type