Solar powered water heater for drinking trough

srichards

srichards

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Instead of a bird bath I have a cheapo plastic fountain thingy with a cheapo solar panel and pump in it. Now the weather is cold I have removed the pump as it will probably ice up. What I'm after is a doohicky that I can use with a large enough solar panel (one with the pump is about 10cm square) and some kind of battery back up which will gently heat the water so it won't freeze. The water is rain water and invariably full of crud so any kind of pump gets blocked quite quickly too. I thought something like an archimedes screw type of thing could circulate the water a bit but won't block like a normal pump. The trough is about a foot square so probably holds 2 gallons ish of water when it is full to the top.

Any kind of mains operation isn't any good as the outside socket nearby is full of snails and has been disconnected because it's full of snails.

It needs to be cat safe and bird safe. I don't want to be picking out electrocuted or shredded bird/cat...

What have you seen that would do the job?
 
Not sure you'll find a small enough or cheap enough panel to give enough heat, especially through the night/early hours.

To help stop the pump getting blocked, or at least to help clean it more easily, put a fine mesh around it (pair of old tights should do)

Float a tennis ball, or two, on the water, it will stop the surface freezing (unless VERY cold)

If you had a mains socket fairly near & could run a weather-proof ext you'd be fine. Similarly if you had a larger volume of water it would be easier to keep from freezing.


Years ago I had a garden pond that was over 4' deep in the middle (only a smallish area) & was able to run a Hippo trench pump, through a filter tank, all year round because only the top 3" ever froze & the fish were fine.

Edit, not sure you have fish in it. :rolleyes:
 
No fish fortunately. Wouldn't be any with the cats around ;)

Only thing that concerns me with a tennis ball is whether there is anything in it which is bad for animals if it is left to float about in water that is drunk from.
 
A kettle full of hot water poured over the ice every morning. If you wan to try the floating ball thing, get a squeaky pet toy and remove the squeak and block the hole - if it's suitable for chewing, it shouldn't be harmful if left soaking.
 
Squeaky toy sounds a good plan. I'm certainly not going to faff around defrosting it every day. It has to be a set and forget solution :)
 
TBH, I'm not sure the ball thing is to stop the water freezing, more to reduce the pressure on the outside of the pond so the liner doesn't get cracked.
 
It's a resin trough. I'm hoping that wouldn't crack.

The rspca site mentioned using balls to reduce the freezing as it keeps the water moving as the balls move around when the wind blows.
 
Nod said:
TBH, I'm not sure the ball thing is to stop the water freezing, more to reduce the pressure on the outside of the pond so the liner doesn't get cracked.
Click to expand...

It does work Nod & tbh I think it's as much to do with helping with the oxygen levels.
 
I'm not sure I understand fully your set up but would it be possible, for the winter, to not bother with the fountain? If so, I think there should be battery powered heaters that would keep the water ice free.

Better still, nice as they are, tell the snails it is time to move out and connect a mains heater. Armoured mains cable is readily available and I'm fairly sure mains operated will be cheaper than batteries.

I'm guessing here but I'm not sure we get enough sunlight for a smallish solar panel to provide enough power to keep the water free of ice; it takes a lot of energy to raise the temperature of water.

Dave
 
Divert the the pipe from the pump to fountain so it goes into the house first. Coil up a few feet of pipe to make a heat exchanger then send it out again. The house ambient temperature will (might) prevent it from freezing.

Not very practical but it could work - especially if you tuck the internal pipe behind a radiator!


Steve.
 
I don't think the pump which can barely manage a dribble unless in full sun could manage that.... I have an old grundfos central heating pump I could use but it seems a bit OTT for a cat drinking bowl ;)
 
How about an airpump? SMall aquarium one should do it. Solar powered if poss.
 
I use a polystyrene box upside down on our pond with a hole cut in the side
this keeps the water inside the box clear of ice
you would have to remove it each morning if you wanted cats or birds to be able to drink from it
 
Instead of a heater why not operate (can be battery powered / Solar / wind) a water wheel... The movement of the water should keep it from icing up totally...
 
The idea of a small ball left on the surface is to stop fish fart gasses building up under the ice and harming the fish. the polystyrene float idea is good or bubble wrap if tied down.
 
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