Will a heat lamp create a fire even if it doesn’t fall?

[getaclue]

For lockdown, the 3 days before hatching, the temp is reduced to 90 degrees. That should be the warmest, you aim for. I like to ensure that temp about 1.5 - 2 inches above the flooring, depending on the height of the chick. For that small of an area, you might consider smaller bulbs, or the ceramic ones. The chicks need to be able to move from a bit cooler area, back to the warmer area, as needed.

 

[rebrascora]

Wood will burn at 365*F

I think that figure may relate to solid wood. Shavings and sawdust will be much easier to ignite. The biggest threat is dust accumulating on or around the lamp and in the air causing a risk of flash ignition. The finer the particulate material, the quicker and easier it can burn. This is often why chicken coops burn down, rather than the lamp actually falling. Dust builds up over time in the coop and people don't think about it. They have the lamp hanging there throughout the year and then turn it on in the winter without thinking of cleaning it.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I wouldnt recommend a heat lamp...ever. Our neighbor burnt his birds due to one. Ive heard people say you should put a cage around it so they dont fly into it and catch their feathers on fire but i still wouldnt trust it. Just get a normal incandescent bulb for heat if you must

 

[PirateGirl]

I think that figure may relate to solid wood. Shavings and sawdust will be much easier to ignite. The biggest threat is dust accumulating on or around the lamp and in the air causing a risk of flash ignition. The finer the particulate material, the quicker and easier it can burn. This is often why chicken coops burn down, rather than the lamp actually falling. Dust builds up over time in the coop and people don't think about it. They have the lamp hanging there throughout the year and then turn it on in the winter without thinking of cleaning it.

Wood burns at the temp wood burns at same as water freezing at a certain temp. How quickly it reaches that temp will vary, for example it takes less time to heat up a bit of thin dry wood than a thick chunk of green wood, different species may vary a bit as well too due to density. It might take longer for a large body of water like a lake to freeze than a small container of water, but the freezing temp is the same, it just takes longer for the lake to all reach that temp.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Wood will burn at 365*F. ....

I think that figure may relate to solid wood. Shavings and sawdust will be much easier to ignite. ....

Wood burns at the temp wood burns at ...

This reminds me of a quibble I read on a BBQ/Smoker forum a while back...

So this is getting a bit academic, but .... as heat is applied to a material it decomposes thermally ... forgive me I'm going to mess this up.... but basically wood when exposed to heat at lower temperatures over time can thermally decompose in such a way that the ignition point can lower.... I forget the specifics but those BBQ geeks went on about it in detail... but I think the general gist was that the material (in this case sawdust and wood chips) begins to off gas and overtime ......? ... I forget...but the example was wood that was in contact with boiler pipes for extended periods of time.

With all of that said, 365 degrees F is quite a bit lower than the typical number sited for wood ignition / point of smolder temps... 365 degrees C would be much closer.

 

[PirateGirl]

This reminds me of a quibble I read on a BBQ/Smoker forum a while back...

So this is getting a bit academic, but .... as heat is applied to a material it decomposes thermally ... forgive me I'm going to mess this up.... but basically wood when exposed to heat at lower temperatures over time can thermally decompose in such a way that the ignition point can lower.... I forget the specifics but those BBQ geeks went on about it in detail... but I think the general gist was that the material (in this case sawdust and wood chips) begins to off gas and overtime ......? ... I forget...but the example was wood that was in contact with boiler pipes for extended periods of time.

With all of that said, 365 degrees F is quite a bit lower than the typical number sited for wood ignition / point of smolder temps... 365 degrees C would be much closer.

hmm... interesting... Yes, I saw some different numbers for ignition point of wood, many of which were in the 500*F range, so the 365*F is a relatively conservative number, yet still much higher than the temps at the bedding level in a coop/brooder. After all, we don't want to cook our chicks. All that aside, the takeaway is really that coop/brooder/house fires are primarily the result of some sort of accident or malfunction. The heat from the lamp is not not enough to set most things at the recommended 18 or more of distance on fire, it's when something somehow gets closer/comes in contact with the heat lamp that the real trouble begins.

 

[Nats Chickens]

I have tested and tested the height of our heat lamps. The temps where the brooder will be will range between 30-50 farenheight. When placing the lamp in the box the temps range between 70-120. In order for my chicks to be warm the lamp will have to hang 12” above the shavings. It’s secured in multiple different ways so that it can’t fall but I would still like to know my fire danger risks. I should add that the chicks will only be in this box for 1-3 weeks depending on how fast they sell.

Can I just say, that I used a desk lamp in mid winter. A friend lent us their electric hen after a while though. Much better than a heat lamp.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

hmm... interesting... Yes, I saw some different numbers for ignition point of wood, many of which were in the 500*F range, so the 365*F is a relatively conservative number...

Well right after posting that it occurred to me that smoldering temps for BBQ purposes are generally going to be talking about "ideal" temps to produce good smoke which would be higher than the absolute minimum to start smoldering, and that ignition temps of course would be much higher too... so my point about the generally sited higher temps was invalid.

So I did a quick search on minimum charring of plywood and did find a link that does say:
"230° to 302° F (110° C to 150° C): The wood will char over time with the formation of charcoal."

Those lower temps are in line with the "academic" quibble on the BBQ forum...

Anyway, sorry for any confusion.

Source:
https://www.performancepanels.com/thermal-properties

 

[Hseru]

I had the heat lamp bulb, the 250 watt for about a day before realizing that my setup was just too small for such large heat and I have no safe way to hang the lamp higher.
So I did the step down method instead and changed to a 60 watt bulb. It still puts out an easy 100 degrees directly beneath it, and I feel much better fire wise as well, the metal is barely hot to the touch, I could grasp it in my hand safely.

The only down side is it's not a red bulb, but I don't anticipate my quail chicks needing it for more than a couple of weeks down here in FL.

 

[springvalley123]

The other factor as to how hot the brooder will get, is the body heat put out by the 95 chicks in that space, in the retail store. Might another option be, to cut a hole in each end (or one end) of each row of the brooder display, and put the heat in from the side? That'd give the birds a way to get out of the heat. Also, it'd prevent birds from fluttering into the lamp, which can hurt/bloody them, as well as possibly start the fire. You could also put some kind of screen between the bulb and the chicks, to help prevent dust from getting onto the bulb. Another option, is the brooder heater. It has a 400 watt setting and a 40 watt setting. If you could put it some distance away, it might work on the 400 watt setting. Again, you'd have to re-run your temperature experiments, and factor in the possible amount of heat put out by the birds on display.

--also, possibly have the heater on a timer. I've done that in the bathroom for newly hatched chicks, it requires some experimentation, but I still wouldn't have the lamps so low in with the babies like the photo showed.