Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It says it uses 200 watts. Is there a solar panel I can use that will satisfy the needs for cheap? Also, has anyone done the setup to connect a panel to an outlet?
I know I don't have the terms right, but so far I understand you get a panel, then you get some wires, then you get a thing that looks like an outlet that may also be a rechargeable/recyclable battery.
Any help about how feasible/infeasible this may be would be appreciated. Any ideas about how to hook all the pieces together and tools/parts needed would be awesome, too.
Ideally I could plug in maybe an incandescent lamp or birdbath heater if the portable thingy is infeasible.
Why are you heating your chicken coop? You don't need to heat the coop for mature chickens. At least not for most of the lower 48. Or are you talking an incubator for chicks? If it's for an incubator, just an incandescent light bulb will work if it's done properly, no matter how you power it.
A reactive solar panel can generate about 10 watts per square foot in bright sunlight. For charging batteries and discharging later think of a fraction of that.
A chicken coop is much better served by passive solar which can heat a water tank in the coop with 100% efficiency.
A reactive solar panel can generate about 10 watts per square foot in bright sunlight. For charging batteries and discharging later think of a fraction of that.
A chicken coop is much better served by passive solar which can heat a water tank in the coop with 100% efficiency.
Thanks Wilson513.
Do you have any tips for using passive solar with a boughten shed? Can I just put in a window facing south? Any other cool ideas re: passive solar would be appreciated.
Also, I know I don't *have* to provide any heat (except to keep the water from freezing) but sheesh...poor chickens... Anyway I'd like to use the getup for other electricity needs if they're that strong yet.
I don't understand the ramifications of the 10 watts/battery etc. So, if I get an 80 watt panel...what else do I need to go with it? I guess I need a transformer..but how to hook it all up to the panel?
Do you have any tips for using passive solar with a boughten shed? Can I just put in a window facing south? Any other cool ideas re: passive solar would be appreciated.
Also, I know I don't *have* to provide any heat (except to keep the water from freezing) but sheesh...poor chickens... Anyway I'd like to use the getup for other electricity needs if they're that strong yet.
I don't understand the ramifications of the 10 watts/battery etc. So, if I get an 80 watt panel...what else do I need to go with it? I guess I need a transformer..but how to hook it all up to the panel?
**Sorry guys, I found videos on Youtube. Yay
My son has chickens in a suburban residential setting and wanted to warm the coop up too. He ended up getting a couple of 5 gallon plastic cans and puts them in the coop at night and in the house during the day. Lots of insulation on the walls and exposed dirt on the floor. (Remember the ground is always warm inside the coop. Well, relatively warmer.) They just have water with a little alcohol to keep them from freezing if he forgets to bring them in. Even so, wife's uncle is a real farmer and he ridicules the whole notion of providing heat for chickens in Ohio.
Didn't you hear the news??
Incandescent bulbs are verboten.
Not yet they ain't!
We've been stocking up on 100 watts, 75 watts, and the 3-way 50-100-150 watts all year now. When they go off sale at the end of this year, we'll have probably enough to last out our natural lifespans!
The customer always knows best...not the steenkin' politicians!
Not to be obtuse, but I don't get it. Sorry for being stupid, but have chickens changed since I was a kid? At that time they had lots of feathers to keep them warm.
We had two large, well-built coops. Winters around here get down into the single digits at night frequently. Not one of our chickens ever froze to death. Yes, the chicks would have, but we had an incubator for them. But the simple fact that there was a chicken coop with walls to keep out the wind and moderate the temps a bit was enough to keep the chickens comfortable--after all, chicken feathers/down are very good insulation.
Why not make one of those solar can (made of painted black aluminium cans) heaters and place it on the roof or South side?
I wonder if painting the south wall of the shed black would accomplish the same thing...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
