The Chicken Chick authors an award winning blog on life with chickens, farm living, DIY projects and tons of related topics. She's Kathy Shea Mormino and her blog van be found at The Chicken Chick. The following is a DIY waterer heater, quite timely for many of us who are starting to have freezing temps. All credit for this post goes to Kathy Mormino.
2. Tighten the screw on the stem of the lamp assembly and screw in the light bulb. Viola!
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NOV 15, 2011
Make a Cookie Tin Waterer Heater. Under $10, & 10 minutes in 3 steps!
Winter brings many challenges for the backyard chicken-keeper, and frozen water is chief among them. You can make your own waterer heater for use with either metal or plastic waterers. It will cost less than $10, cost pennies to run and you can complete the project in under ten minutes.
We had record-breaking, sub-zero temperatures for long periods of time in 2010 here in Connectictut and my waterers never iced over the way they used to without these heaters. It doesn't seem as though a humble, 40 watt lightbulb should be able to produce enough warmth to keep the water in a plastic waterer from icing over, but remarkably, it does!
Supplies needed:
- 10", metal cookie tin (available at most dollar & thrift stores & likely in your garage or basement)
- lamp assembly kit (available at all hardware, big box and home improvement centers OR buy a thrift store/tag sale lamp and take it apart)
- 40 watt, incandescent light bulb
- Drill with 3/8" drill bit
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| 10" cookie tins can be purchased for $1 or less (or full of cookies for about $5!) |
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| Lamp assembly parts. Instructions: 1. Drill two holes in the cookie tin adjacent to each other. String the lamp assembly plug through one hole and the threaded, lamp stem through the other as shown below. |
TO USE:
Put the top on the cookie tin and place the tin on a cinder block either inside the coop or outside in the run. Plug into a GFI outlet. Place metal or plastic waterer on top of the water heater when freezing temperatures are anticipated. Disconnect when not in use or use a ThermoCube to regulate power based upon temperature.
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When I made my first cookie tin water heater, I found it difficult to believe that this device, which barely felt warm to the touch, could possibly do the intended job. I was only convinced the first frigid morning I went out into the run and found no ice ring to chip out of the waterer. You may have to try it to believe it too.
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This post is shared with: The Original Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop @Deborah Jean's Dandelion House, The Backyard Farming Connection, Down Home Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop @The Prairie Homestead, The Country Homemaker Hop
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