Waterer Gets Heat From Underground

Waterer Gets Heat From Underground LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous “The earth’s temperature at 8 ft below the surface stays at 49 degrees even during the coldest months of the year I’ve harnessed that heat to keep my homemade chicken waterer from freezing over ” says Dan Ambrose Grand View Idaho about his “earth-heated” waterer The waterer consists of a 13-gal plastic tub with a closed loop of 2-in dia pvc pipe that extends 8 ft deep below ground Ambrose simply cut 2 holes in the bottom of the tub and installed 2 bulk head double-threaded 2-in fittings to connect to the pvc tubes Inside the tub he attached 2-in pvc threaded couplings with one 9-in long tube and one 11-in tube A 4-ft deep underground water line hooks up to a nipple at the bottom of the tub A float assembly mounted above the water intake controls the water level inside the tub Chickens drink through a 4-in dia hole that Ambrose cut in the middle of the tub’s snap-on lid “The whole principle is that cold water sinks and warm water rises and since one tube inside the tub is 2 in shorter than the other it causes the water to constantly circulate ” says Ambrose “I installed the waterer last winter and it worked great One morning the temperature got down to 6 degrees but only a very thin layer of ice developed “I installed the tank at ground level but the chickens kept scratching dirt away from the tub To solve the problem I cut up some old bowling alley gutter and buried it vertically in the ground around the tank like a little fence ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dan Ambrose 22219 River Rd Grand View Idaho 83624 ph 208 834-2388 or cell 208 598-3498; pdugger@earthlink net

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.