Water heaters

[jreardon1918]

Here is our water setup
The water is kept under the raised coop. We have an outlet installed by an electrician in the run. We have a 250 watt stock tank de-icer in the bucket. I do check that the water is still flowing on the really cold days. We generally plug this in starting in November. Although it is temperature controlled and only goes on when needed.

As an aside, I try to keep the bucket pretty full. To fill it I carry out a 1 gallon pitcher and just top it off. Easier than carrying the bucket, filling it and then lugging.

 

[Wendy Bee]

I'm wondering what the cost difference is between running your 60-80W bird bath deicer and my 250W stock tank deicer. Mine uses more wattage when it's running. Yours must run more as you can feel the warmth of the water. The thermostat on the stock tank dicer I use turns the deicer off when water temperature reaches 40 degrees. Having used the stock tank deicer for 8 years now I can say it will keep the water thawed even when it's -26'F.

Anyway, I'm no expert on electricity but am just curious as to whether lower wattage really equals lower costs. Can anyone give me a lesson to explain this to me?

It's a good question. The birdbath deicers I have are also thermostatically controlled. The 'warmth' I describe is that it's warmer than the 20's I'm feeling outside, lol. If we get back up to the 40s for any length of time and they still feel warm-ish, I'll simply unplug them until the temps drop again.

If I had a greater volume of water to deal with, a stock heater would be a good choice. I have 2 smaller waterers, partially to give bored chickens choices when they're stuck inside due to snow, and so those lower on the pecking order can go to another waterer if they're chased away from their first choice by a dominant chicken.

But it would be interesting to see if anyone has worked out the numbers comparing the two!