Solar powered system for water heaters in coop

[50-140]

I have an 8x12 Woods open air coop, this year my flock expanded to 19.

I use horizontal chicken nipples in two 5 gallon buckets, inserted into each of the buckets I have 50 watt aquarium heaters, night time temps can get below zero in these parts.

Light is only in winter and that's an led on a timer.

I'm thinking of going solar for the heaters and the light. I'm somewhat solar ignorant, I figure 125 watt of solar panels, a controller, inverter and 100 amp deep cycle battery.

Has anyone done something along these lines? Anything I'm missing, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cavemanrich]

Solar,,,, and Heater,,, are two words that do not go well in same sentence. If you could get electricity to your coop,,,, things would turn out way less expensive project total.
Simply put,,,, watts are watts. Regardless of voltage, it is a measure of amount of electricity used or produced.
Your 2 heaters will consume 100 watts 24 hours each day. Your solar panel will produce a maximum of 125 watts ,,, and only if in full sun, with no overcast,.. Also it is limited to the amount of daylight time.
You can see a shortage here of energy produced to energy needed.
Your 100 amp battery is simply the storage capacity. It will only dish out what has been put in.
You also do need to consider the slight energy loss in the converter, and controls.
If you are going to go the solar route, regardless,,,, I would think that doubling your capacity may come close, but have not calculated ALL FACTORS.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Ted_Harrell]

You would probably come out better heating water and storing it in a tank and using the solar and battery to circulate it through something to radiate the heat inside the coop. Even that has its own caveats....Your birds should be fine down to -10 -15 as long as it is dry in the coop. As others have pointed out, moisture is your enemy here and when you add heat, sometimes you are adding moisture. I would just concentrate on the light end of this equation rather than the heat and provide a wind break to keep the gusts out of your coop. Good luck whatever you decide...

 

[aart]

I have an 8x12 Woods open air coop, this year my flock expanded to 19.
I use horizontal chicken nipples in two 5 gallon buckets, inserted into each of the buckets I have 50 watt aquarium heaters, night time temps can get below zero in these parts.

Is your goal to reduce your power costs...or...?
Why do you need 10 gal capacity?

I use a 3 gal jug with HN's and one 50W aq heater for up to 23 birds. I top it off every day(~1 gal) to keep the heater covered. Works good down to about -10°F and costs about $3 a month, I tracked daily temps and Kwh usage with a Kil-A-Wat for one winter(wish I still had that data). Jug is insulated and it's inside the coop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples.67256/

So, curious, @50-140 ....
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[50-140]

To answer the questions asked. I was contemplating the switch to solar simply as an economical measure. I have electric run to the coop, so water and light are taken care of.

The birds drink as much water as I do. It was their fun time to jump up on the buckets and knock them over until I wired the handles to the roof.

I use two buckets so If I have to travel for a day or two, I know they'll have enough water to not suffer.

As to my location I'm at the foot of the Hoo Doo mountains in Idaho, during last winter, the temperatures got down double digits below zero for a week or so.

Thanks for the filling in details I'll do that as soon as I finish this post.

 

[50-140]

To answer the questions posed. My reason for inquiring about solar was predicated as being a cost savings.

I already have electric run to the coop, as to the two buckets, 10 gallons of water, one of their favorite games was jumping up on the buckets and knocking them over. I solved this by wiring the handles to the interior roof.

Two are because occasionally I find myself away for a day or two and the birds never have to go without water.

Thanks for the suggestion on filling out information in my profile, I've since done that.

My location is at the base of the Hoo Doo Mountains, temperatures last winter were occasionally dougble digits below zero for about a week or so.