Gadgets for Heat

[journey11]

Funny how you stumble across things on the internet...

I was looking at bluebird houses when I came across this little gadget -- a plug-in that turns on at 38 degrees F and off at 50 degrees F. They were using it to run a light bulb in the bottom compartment of a bluebird house for heat. $22.80 each. I thought this might also be a handy solution to heating chicken waterers in the winter by pluging a red heat bulb into it. It would only come on when needed and save electricity and guesswork.

Then poking around on their website, I also came across these gutter heating cables . $36.29 for a 20' length. They come in various longer lengths too and run on residential 120 volts. This got me thinking (and why I posted this in Fruits and Veggies). Obviously they are waterproof. I think these might be useful for a seed starting table. I would build a large wooden tray, line it with plastic sheeting, embed the cable in a layer of sand, then set my flats on top of it. So much cheaper than the 4-flat heat pad I priced at over $80! I couldn't find any reference to how hot they get.

Do any of you have experience with these gutter cables? I'd thought I'd get some opinions on this and pass it on in case it actually might be a good idea!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

careful with the gutter cables. they can be prone to causing fires. the problem we have up here are the squirrels aren't that smart and will chew on the wires during the winter. :/ my dh also tried using one to make my water heater a few years ago but it never really worked well.

i've been using a bird bath de-icer when it gets too cold. i've heard from others in my area that they use a rubber pan that can shrink and expand with the cold/warmth and just put a fish tank air filter with an air stone to keep the water moving. i'll have to do that next winter because my cheap de-icer is probably not going to be working by then.

btw, you should be able to get that cable at your local hardware store. but you want to get one soon if you decide to go that route. i would suggest running it between a bed of sand as an insulator so it doesn't burn anything. i also noticed that it says not to put it onto metal roofs because of the heat generated could conduct. you should probably get the smaller cables.