Sweeter Heater "Fumes"

[Pipsqueek]

I first spotted this unit at My Pet Chicken. It looked ideal. It advertises it as having a 'new plastic smell' at first, run it for a while to dissipate it.

I ended up buying the unit from the Mfr because it was cheaper and in stock.

When it arrived I plugged it in to see how well it operates, and whoa! not just a 'new plastic smell' - it has quite the VOC or some other chemical smell, maybe coming from the linoleum or whatever the covering is. Had to put it outside it smelled so bad. So we let it run all night Wed, still smelled the next day, ran it continuously until this evening when we installed it in the spare coop. Shut the door and opened it an hour later and whew! smelled so bad! To think they sell this for baby chicks is beyond belief! The ambient temperature was nothing to brag about either. I'm very disappointed.

Has anyone else bought and experienced the same problem?

Thank you.

 

[sunflour]

Never heard of those. But have bought non-poultry items with similar reviews. And thus far have found no issues with even a mild noticeable smell.

IMO sounds like you should try to return it for a refund and make other arrangements for your brooding.

 

[aart]

I have also noticed this with other plastic products...but I am quite sensitive to these odors
When I had shower curtains(have glass doors now), I'd leave them out in the garage for a few weeks before I could stand the smell, even then, it can take quite a while for plastic to off gas and different plastics take different times.

 

[Percheron chick]

The heater does not heat up the coop. The chicks make contact with the surface and heat their bodies that way. You start with it about 3" above the brooder floor and raise it as they grow.
I have one but bought it used. Never noticed a smell.

 

[Pipsqueek]

Here's an update: The fumes did dissipate after about 3-4 weeks. It's Poly-Styrene, not sure if it still gives of VOC's just because there's no more smell, though. Looking up poly-styrene it does say that it gives off VOC when heated.... but the smell is gone, so......

I am thinking this is radiant floor heating encased in a white housing, the outer layer where the heat emanates from looks like a piece of white linoleum. It is nicely made.

While looking at coops earlier this year, I noticed a customized coop that had radiant flooring and even radiant heating on the bars of the roost. Someone had it custom made and had not picked it up yet. It was 2000 bucks. Had a caged light fixture in the center ceiling which was rather high as it was a hip roof. Very nice coop, it was modified shed of course. But a brilliant idea for heating. It's not that costly either.

In our previous home we re-did the kitchen floor and we had radiant heat put under the tile. It was absolutely glorious, and if I ever tile again, I will def put that under there. You could walk through the house, but once you got to the kitchen it was obviously warmer. A very nice heat. My daughter when she was a baby would fall asleep on the floor because the heat makes the tile feel "soft". Back then, radiant floor heat was just becoming popular, we used "Warmly Yours".

Since we're going to building our coop soon, that is exactly how we've decided to do the flooring - tile w/radiant heat underneath. I think it's a great idea and very safe. The tile flooring will also be so easy to clean. Sweeter heater is a good product, but it would be nice if they would dissipate the smell themselves. It would be awful to expose newborn chicks to this smell. Brinsea does not have this smell at all, but it is nowhere nearly as warm as Sweeter Heater.