Solar heated base for chicken waterer

[smithoffgrid]

Do you bring fresh water in the morning and rely on the solar panel during the day?

We have been bringing them fresh water as needed. We’ve been using a heavy-duty black rubber bucket with low walls. The water in there can last them about two days but when it freezes we have to pull the ice out and re-fill it.

I don’t currently have the bucket I set up with the heating element in with our chickens yet. The walls are a bit too high to be used for them like that.

I want to set it up with a 5 gallon bucket or larger water container, close it with a lid, and use chicken watering nipples for them to drink.

The goal would be to have enough water so that it can last them like a week if possible. And the water that remains overnight would then melt and become drinkable by around noon every day. I have a 15 gallon container that I’m going to experiment with over the next few days and hopefully make something permanent that our chickens can use.

I wonder if this would work a small water heater. My water heater has the same socket as the lights in the picture.

I just looked up that unit and it says the solar panel is only 2 watts. That might be enough to power some small LED lights but you won’t get enough solar power to heat anything.

The solar panel I’m using is 190 watts and in the last scene of the video you can see the scale of it. It’s pretty large, and it needs to be to capture enough energy.

It might be possible to use a 100 watt panel, but I suspect even with full sun it might be too slow at melting the ice to give the chickens any time to drink before the sun goes down again.

But yeah if you can hold the solar panel in one hand, it's going to be much too small to be used for heating water.

And on the note of batteries: I honestly think that adds unnecessary complexity for a setup like this. You'd need a battery that can be charged below freezing, a solar charge controller, and some sort of automatic or time-based DC rated switch that would discharge the battery into a heating element at night. And if you add an inverter to power a 120v heating element, it becomes even more complicated.

With all that you might be able to create something that keeps the water thawed 24/7 but the added complexity and cost I don't think would be worth it. Chickens aren't drinking water at night anyways.

A medium sized solar panel (100-200 watts) wired directly to a heating element seems like the ideal solution personally. You have some time in the morning where the water is frozen but after a few hours it'll be melted enough to be usable for your chickens. And it's super simple as far as the components you would need.

 

[BDutch]

You have some time in the morning where the water is frozen but after a few hours it'll be melted enough to be usable for your chickens.

I think chickens need to drink soon after awakening in the morning.

Thanks for your view on the portable unit. 2watt is ridiculous. I think my phone can charge at 25watt.

On the nights its freezing, I use a electricity cord now for a small 4W heater thats starts at 6 in the morning if the temp gets just a little below 0C . And I keep it on all night if its colder. In case its ever below -10C , I have another heating element that uses 10watt.

Where I live we don’t have real cold winters. Around noon it’s rarely freezing.

 

[AntiqueB]

If you put a 12v heating element with a temperature switch, it will turn on when the water around the sensor falls to a certain temp, and turn off before it gets too hot. You set the temps; mine are set to turn on at 1.5°C and turn off at 2.5°C.

I use batteries because trying to thaw water starting when the sun comes up takes too long. We don't always have weather above freezing during the day, either, which also has to be overcome.

The controller feeds energy from the batteries to the heater overnight. It isn't really complicated, and is pretty efficient. My batteries usually fully charge during the day, and end up at around 50% at worst by morning.

 

[Debbie292d]

If you put a 12v heating element with a temperature switch, it will turn on when the water around the sensor falls to a certain temp, and turn off before it gets too hot. You set the temps; mine are set to turn on at 1.5°C and turn off at 2.5°C.

I use batteries because trying to thaw water starting when the sun comes up takes too long. We don't always have weather above freezing during the day, either, which also has to be overcome.

The controller feeds energy from the batteries to the heater overnight. It isn't really complicated, and is pretty efficient. My batteries usually fully charge during the day, and end up at around 50% at worst by morning.

Those are called Thermo Cubes. TSC carries them. Last we bought ours they were around $10. I believe it turns on if the temp is 35F or less, and shuts off at 40F but not positive as it's on a Cozy Coop flat panel heater and I haven't checked in ages. I just know when it's really cold, it's on, as we double check.

 

[AntiqueB]

The Thermo Cubes run on regular electricity. These are made for 12v.

 

[smithoffgrid]

@AntiqueB Nice! What does your battery and charging setup look like? Also curious what specific 12v heating element you’re using

 

[AntiqueB]

I currently have two 100w panels, and will add a 3rd soon. I use 2 marine batteries, and will add a 3rd to that, too. The batteries and controller live in a plastic tote next to the chicken run. The entire system is 12v.

I have 2 waterers, each with a separate switch and heating element. The heating element is rather awful-smelling at first, so I can imagine the taste and toxicity. Therefore, each is in its own water inside a glass Mason jar, topped with a silicon lid. The wires go through small punched holes in the lid (I used a nail set to make them). Those jars rest on inverted stainless food storage containers so they don't rest on the bottom.

Pictures will be forthcoming. The heating elements are like these: