Inandescent lamp alternatives

[Wazza]

When the phase-out of incandescent lamps was announced I stocked up on them, but I will run out one day. I’ve been a good boy and replaced all my lighting with CFLs, but the incandescents are very handy as inexpensive low-heat sources for things like chicken brooders, keeping home brew warm in winter, snake and reptile cages, etc. My last 75 watt one blew today in the chicken brooder. What alternatives are there to incandescent lamps? I bet there’s nothing as cheap.

[porgey]

I think you can still buy infra red incans so that may help. You will probably need a dimmer though. I hate CFLs and they are possibly another asbestos like problem because of the mercury. Sure they are much easier and safer to handle but when they break they release neuro toxic gas into you home and landfill. Another poor government decision imho. They would be great wiyhout the Hg but I hope LEDs become cheaper and more popular. Cheers porgey.

[Wazza]

Checking out the poultry forum it seems like ceramic heat lamps are the go, but at $42 each they ain’t cheap. Apparently they never blow, and they wouldn’t want to at that price. Oh, and you need a special holder for the ceramic lamps – at $22. There are infra-red lamps that they use in reptile cages, but they aren’t cheap either. Sigh. Wish I’d stockpiled more incandescents.

[osakasuz]

Can you use a heating pad, like for homebrew or keeping reptiles? Or a broody silkie hen? (Ours hatched ducklings recently).

[Lady Bee]

Waz, have a look at halogen lights. I have a magnifying light which takes a candle globe and when my incandescent went on the fritz, I got a halogen one. It still gives off heat, possibly not quite as much, but certainly enough so that when I’m doing my nails, I feel the heat of it.

[grumpy3]

12 OR 24 volt auto lights give off heat would it be possible to use them. Or a small fan type heater without so much air blowing maybe.

Other than that just two options, stock up on bulbs or go back to the clucky chook idea.

Dennis

[Wazza]

We raise a lot of chicks at once, because it’s just as easy to rear a few dozen as it is half a dozen. So, auto lights and clucky hens won’t cut it. I think I’ll bite the bullet and get a ceramic heat lamp and refector from a poultry equipment supplier. It’s one of these things when I’ve bought it, I’ve got it for life. The capital investment is minor, considering all the eggs and roast chickens we get, plus a small cash income out of the surplus.

[HobbyFarmFun]

We use the incandescents in the chick brooder too – our brooder heat source is a terracotta pot with a light bulb inside. I have found that while the clear/pearl light globes have disappeared from the shelves, the coloured party light type are still readily available – I got my latest ones from the hardware. We use 45w to start with, then scale down to 25w.

[Wombat]

If you use coloured light I believe that red is used to prevent canibalism amongst chooks, the blood isn’t visible……

Nev

[trandto]

Wazza wrote: I bet there’s nothing as cheap.

They blow all the time, how is that “cheap” ? seems wasteful to me 🙁

I buy my LED lights direct from dealsextreme in China for a couple $’s each, (you can order any number from 1+, and that includes free shipping) considering they last some 90,000 hours, assuming no construction faults, I hope to not have to replace them so regularly and burn less power to boot, albeit my power is “free”. I am struggling to find a cheap source of 240V lights with a bayonet fitting, they sell GU110 and ES.

CF is NOT the answer for lighting, for a plethora of reasons including mercury toxicity.

As to incubators, I let my chooks do that 🙂

Best of luck in the search

[DanHower]

Even if you don’t actually read German you should have a look at this website.

http://www.heatball.de

Short translation:

It is not a lamp though it looks like one.

The best thing since the invention of the incandescent lamps. Heatballs are technically very close to the classical incandescent lamps. But they are not meant for lighting but for heating. They even fit in a normal lamp socket.

They have a very high efficiency delivering 95% of the energy as heat. Unfortunately there is no way of stopping the remaining 5% as light.

And so on – you get the point. incandescent lamps must not be sold any more in Germany, but of course you can buy electric heating.

I would say one of the best business ideas of all times.

[Michelle-sm]

Just buy more incandescent bulbs. My local Bunnings is still selling them and I have seen them in other places as well.

[Erthgirl]

I use the old bbq clip on flood lights in my brooder…. can get the lower wattage red globes at Bunnings.

Lucky for me I’ve had a broody do the work for me for the last couple of years… but the lights are still readily available at bunnings.

[MileyMoon]

We have had a similar problem with incandescent bulbs for chickens. I bought a carton of them from eBay some time ago.

We normally use 25 or 40watt blue light bulbs because it is apparently better for the chicks eyes and sleeping… not sure this is true. But these are party lights and places like Big w and hardware store seem to carry these.

Check Bellsouth or another poultry supply store for proper brooder lamps… they might be cheaper than the reptile ones. I know you can get heat lamps and bulbs that produce no light… this is much more natural and the chicks will sleep at night.

As for the new light Bulbs… there is no way they last the hours they say! I am forever changing them and I have had the wiring checked, just in case. The electrician recons the new bulbs are a money scooping scam. Not to mention an environmental disaster. I just hate them!

[Pawan]

LED lighting rebates in Victoria

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