Water bucket heating

GypsGal1718

GypsGal1718

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Hi all.
Wondering if any of you know any battery powered heaters or similar to keep outdoor buckets from freezing. Other tips welcome!
 
My vets advise adding chunks of apple to the water, both to encourage drinking to reduce the risk of winter colic and the bobbing apple prevents the water from completely freezing over.

Not sure that would work with mine as the apple would be eaten in about 5 minutes! 🤣
 
If they are completely in the open, then not very much will stop them freezing. Old Dobbin has a deep shelter/stable without a door. I pull his buckets right to the back, stand them on a pallet and surround the buckets with bubble wrap or straw. Normally he uses the water butt that fills from the roof gutters, but I have known it to freeze solid in a hard frost.
 
Highmileagecob said:
stand them on a pallet and surround the buckets with bubble wrap or straw.
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I was going to suggest this too, get them off the ground and insulate as much as you can. Maybe a couple of old pillow cases filled with straw and taped or tied around the bucket?

I'm pretty sure that most "proper" electric bucket heaters are corded - it would be a lot of power to pull from a battery.
 
Widgeon said:
I was going to suggest this too, get them off the ground and insulate as much as you can. Maybe a couple of old pillow cases filled with straw and taped or tied around the bucket?

I'm pretty sure that most "proper" electric bucket heaters are corded - it would be a lot of power to pull from a battery.
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Mine would probably be terrified if I gave the buckets coats🤣 it's a good idea though
 
I’ve got one of these, I run it off a leisure battery, but it takes up quite a lot of power, I have to switch the battery daily - which down south here is fine because it’s only for short spells where we get frozen water. It would be cumbersome if the bulk of the winter was sub zero!
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I've used the makeshift jacket method around buckets inside the shelter, but I stuff with whatever is lying around (other bags/bubblewrap/anything!). If I used hay, even old hay, it would be eaten. I recently used old hay under mats to form a walkway in the mud outside my shelter and the daft buggers were eating it.
 
ihatework said:
I’ve got one of these, I run it off a leisure battery, but it takes up quite a lot of power, I have to switch the battery daily - which down south here is fine because it’s only for short spells where we get frozen water. It would be cumbersome if the bulk of the winter was sub zero!
View attachment 153048
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What leisure battery do you use? Thanks for the suggestion!
 
HJJ said:
My vets advise adding chunks of apple to the water, both to encourage drinking to reduce the risk of winter colic and the bobbing apple prevents the water from completely freezing over.

Not sure that would work with mine as the apple would be eaten in about 5 minutes! 🤣
Click to expand...

I thought I'd be clever today and try this with some carrot pieces to encourage more water consumption...dropped the first one in and it immediately sank! For some reason I assumed it would float like an apple, what fun I had getting it out from the bottom of the icy water trough 🤣
 
Don’t know if it would but years and years ago, I bought a low voltage pond heater. It looked like a mini saucer. It used mains but was a LV transformer on it. It was used in a large tub. It worked well. I put the cord in an old drainpipe and screwed it to a post and plugged it in. It floated in the tub and water never froze.
 
Not sure about water heaters but I have a couple of tips for normal water troughs or buckets.

Fill a plastic bottle with water and add a cup of salt. The salt lowers the freezing point of the water inside the bottle, allowing it to float on top of the water in your bucket. This can help keep the water from freezing completely.

Using a rubber bucket is more insulating than metal or plastic.

If you place a bucket inside a tyre it will be better insulated. If you place it in a tub or larger bucket with straw it is also better insulated and will take longer to freeze.
 
Filled a 40 litre trug bucket for Old Dobbin yesterday, and pulled it to the back of the stable, approximately 20 feet in. Stood on six inches of packed shavings, and two paper feed sacks tied round. This morning, the bucket was half empty with just a skim of ice on top, which cracked easily. The water butt had a good two inches of ice, which took a bit of effort to break up. If your troughs and buckets are outside, it's difficult to keep them ice free.
 
I think I saw someone using a picnic cooler box. It wouldn’t work for everyone as you’d need a bog cooler, smallish bucket and I think they had the lid on it overnight when the horses were in then just took the lid off in the morning.
 
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