Metal buckets with covers?

I need to buy a metal bucket (galvanized) with a cover. I will use it in conjunction with a fishtank water heater as a water filled source of radiant heat for a chicken coop for this coming winter. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find any store that sells them, everyone now sells plastic buckets.

The reason why I want to buy galvanized is threefold:

1) it conducts heat better 2) it can be painted black (I assume plastic buckets are not paintable) to radiate better 3) It can be better grounded, being metallic.

So, where can I buy one? It does not have to have the shape of a bucket, it can be rectangularly shaped or whatever, but it requires a cover.

I also own a metal "jerry can" for gasoline, but I am afraid that it will simply rust through as it is not galvanized inside. I am afraid to fill it with any kind of oil for safety reasons.

I am not dirt poor and I can spend $10 on a bucket.

I am aware that the alternative solution is an oil filled radiator heater for small rooms. The problem with them is that their thermostats are graduated starting with 50-60 degrees or so, and I want a lower setting, just to keep the coop above freezing.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377
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Not an issue. All heat generated by the fishtank water heater will of course reach the outside. (Conservation of energy laws. The higher thermal conductivity of a metal bucket over a plastic bucket drops out of the equations in the steady-state solution, as one would expect.)

_Definitely_ not an issue.

The immersible water heater is already grounded. Fish tanks are made of plastic or glass and don't cause problems, so why should a plastic bucket?

--Tim May

Reply to
Tim May

You did not think hard enough about it.

A fishtank water heater has a thermostat. It turns off when it heats water sufficiently. (and that is the way I want it, I do not want the water to get too dangerously hot as it would evaporate too fast and may injuret he chicken). If there is not enough heat conducted and radiated away, the thermostat will shut off periodically and the coop will stay cold because there is less heat per minute that is transferred to the coop.

Having a bucket that radiates and conducts heat more efficiently will shorten the periods when the thermostat is turned off.

Maybe that is actually correct. I am just being paranoid, as I read that chicken are very susceptible to even low voltage electrical leaks. Whereas I can easily survive a typical 110V jolt, a chicken may die from much lower voltage. Yes, fishtank thermostats are insulated (not grounded), but insulation can deteriorate.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

I have one that I use for an ash scuttle. It is really handy for that. I can just scoop hot ashes into it, put the cover on and set it outside to cool for a few days. The cover keeps the ashes from getting rained on, so they stay dry for disposal.

I bought it at Bi-Mart, a small PNW membership discount store headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. It is about 3-4 gallons, with a loose fitting galvanized lid and bail handle. I have seen them in stock every winter, so I know they are in production, and seem to be a popular item. I also seem to remember seeing them at Coastal Farm Supply. I think you would have a pretty good chance of finding one any place that sells a good selection of galvanized tubs and buckets.

Farm stores are your best bet, or if you live in the PNW, just go to Bi- Mart. The problem is that I have the impression they are seasonal merchandise for some reason, and you may have to wait a few months for the inventory to change.

Reply to
Larry Caldwell

Trying to heat a chickenhouse with a fishtank water heater is like trying to heat your house with a kerosene lamp.

IPlastic will be a better electrical insulator. It's what they make electrical tape out of these days. The color of the bucket should have little or no impact on the rate of heat transfer. You can get plastic buckets in a variety of colors. The two leading colors are black and white.

Tried Home Depot or Lowes or the local hardware store? Hell, call a house painter or a building contractor, he will probably give you all that you want in whatever color that you want..

Decisions are almost never binary. There are quite a few ways to heat a chicken coop other than the ones listed. Frankly, I have serious doubts about heating a chicken coop with a fish tank heater anyway.

Reply to
Bob Brock

I do not live in PNW.

Thanks. I will ask around.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

Did it include people in the north of the US?

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

Down here, we don't heat chicken coops. However, it sounds like a lighbulb in a paint can that was suspended from the ceiling would work pretty good. That's all we use to heat uninsulated well houses down here (without the paint can of course).

If that's the way that you want to go. Call a building contractor though if you have your heart set on a metal can. A lot of building materials come in 5 gal metal cans and it's trash to them. If it were me and I was going that route, I think I'd prefer the plastic ones though.

A pile of sawdust under the coop, adding buckets of water or cement blocks, a small electric space heater with a modified thermostat, a light bulb in a paint can,

Call someone in your area with a well and find out how they keep the well house from freezing. Whatever method that is will probably be your best bet because they are looking for the same thing that you are and experience has given them the best solution.

Reply to
Bob Brock

Soundsl ike a 5 gallon can will work, a good idea Strider.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

Got another idea for you. It's what my dad used to use. He just mounted a big honking resister to a small board and covered it with an upside-down metal bread pan screwed down to the board. I'm not sure of the exact value of the resister, but it is not really critical. It was one of those ceramic types about the size of your thumb. Also just drill a bunch of holes in the bread pan so the heat can get out. It serves as a heat shield. It can be mounted on a sidewall next to the nesting boxes. Big-T

Reply to
Big-T

The resistor would have to be hot enough to be a fire hazard...

space heaters are nothing but resistors and blowers, by the way.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

Use the type of resistor with an aluminum housing which mount directly on a metal enclosure using heatsink compund and screws. The temperature of the resistor needs to only be a few degrees higher than the desired air temperature. The chance of a fire hazard even if flamable material comes in direct contact with the resistor is about zero.

Reply to
Louis Boyd

That would work Lou.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

I have in my hand a little gizmo called a Thermo Cube, that is a 15 amp plug fixture with a thermostat that kicks on at 35 degrees. UL listed and the whole bit. You could plug whatever you want into it, and it would only run when the temperature got near or below freezing.

They are great for greenhouses, pump houses, etc.

Reply to
Larry Caldwell

All the tractor/farm supply stores around here that sell chicks and chicken feed also sell all the hardware bits for setting up and taking care of the coop, including heaters. I think most small-coop people w.o a dedicated heating plant just use IR bulbs in a shielded fixture, or even toaster-style resistance heaters, hooked to a thermostat or timer. Mounted high, of course, to avoid that smell of burning yellow fuzz.

aem sends...

Reply to
ameijers

Chickens are not THAT stupid. You're talking about a 3'x3'x3' space.

Put a light-bulb in the space.

Reply to
JerryMouse

You are raising chickens for food .. Right. To save money , Right........... What is your kwh cost !!!.. Midwest USA apx

1275 out west at low .065 ... A 100 watt in midwest 24 hr x 7 is apx TWELVE dolars a month .... EAT your chickens before they eat YOU or they are just pets.
Reply to
mark Ransley

Just what I need. Thanks Larry.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

My coop is only 3x4 feet, there is no place to mount out of reach stuff low.

Anyway, someone mentioned a thermo cube, it is just what I need and in conjunction with some safe heating element, it will work great.

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Reply to
Ignoramus12377

Do you really need to heat the whole coop? We just heated the water so it wouldn't freeze and let the chickens heat themselves. They generate a lot of heat and are well insulated.

Reply to
nick hull

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