my heater has been great in this cold snap, but a friend has complained that three of hers stopped working. Completely. Now, I’m nervous this will happen to mine. Do heaters stop working when it gets too cold?
You mean trough heaters?
They die when they pick. It is usually when them not working is a really big inconvenience to us.
I doubt it is because it is too cold for them, though working extra hard probably is a good reason for them to break.
My last trough heater worked great for lots of years and then one cold night stopped working. I am thankful that I am over prepared for some things and this is one of those things, I had a spare trough heater ready to fix the mess the broken one made.
I had three floating tank heaters stop working on me when it got really cold 
so a few years back I got one of those 16 gallon blue plug in buckets. It has lasted very well, hasn’t froze yet even in -30*c
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In my experience, it depends on the tank deicer and other factors, such as wind and age of the deicer. Because some do and some don’t. I guess you can say they shouldn’t, but they might…
Other factors can cause early death. Top among those are using extension cords. Along with extension cord use are cheaping out using small guage cords, 16 and 14 gauge wire cords. If you MUST use an extension cord get a 12 gauge. Heaters draw a LOT of wattage, bigger wire lets it travel easier… Long cords, small gauge wires, both provide less than needed power to the heater. Every point of a plug into another cord, timers, causes loss of power. All things to think about with your heater setup.
With the severe low temps recently, heaters have been working hard trying to keep things ice-free. Running under-powered, really kills heaters fast.
Friend had a super long run from the outlet, thru several extension cords, to reach the heater in her tank. Her heater seldom lasted a season!! She complained bitterly about “heater quality” being so poor in EVERY brand she tried. Husband was there to shoe her horse. He took a look at the cords, distance to tank, told her it was not heater quality! Testing the power reaching the heater, there was hardly enough to power a nightlight!! She was burning up the heaters by running them so under powered. Lucky for her, she moved shortly after, no longer had to deal with those conditions.
We use the sinker heaters in tanks put inside insulated boxes that only have a half open top to conserve energy. We run the heaters at night for cheaper priced power. Night use ONLY also prevents horses getting any stray voltage shocks. Tank water stays unfrozen all day, even the recent sub-zero days and intense windchill. I figure they should last about 4 to 5 years, depending on severity of winter. I keep a new heater on the shelf for emergency changeouts. That takes about 15 miminutes because of having to unscrew the half cover to get cord out. If my horses get shocked, I have found it VERY DIFFICULT to get them drinking well again. Best to provide water with the unplugged heater and remove all chance of a shock.
We tried one of the muck tub heaters in early Dec because we needed to re-introduce everyone to the colt home from training, one at a time. I only have two insulated tanks but was using 3 turnout paddock and barnyards. The tub heater was OK until it got down to the teens. Then it had frosty edges on the water and a icy cover as temps dropped lower. Horses could and did drink, but not ice free. Like a slushee for them. I quit using the tub as fast as everyone got introduced and quiet with the colt in turnout, so i could move him into a barnyard group with the insulated tank. I don’t think the heated muck tub would have worked well in the cold of the last two weeks.
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I’ve actually had much better success with the heated muck tubs. Mine actually kept the water warm in spite of a 12-hour power outage. Only the slightest ice on top. Rest of the water was still warm. The water trough, on the other hand, froze solid in that amount of time.
Muck tubs wouldn’t help much for large herds, but 2 will keep my 4 horses watered for an 8-hour day easily.
count me in as someone that’s had better luck with the smaller tubs - less water to heat, less surface to lose heat – i love the little blue 16g muck tubs. of course, when you have a herd they don’t last very long so i can see the appeal of a bigger one.
i’m with the others, the distance from outlet to tub is very important.
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I have a sinking heater that has lasted 20 southern winters. A cheap wire cage (that has rusted through and been repaired) type. But there’s a spare in the shed for when it decides to retire. 
Oh … It’s on a 100 foot cord that’s 12 gauge.
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So, these are 750 watt heaters, brand-new. Plugged directly to an outlet. Float style, but I think they can convert to sink.
Wonder if they were not powerful enough to heat the very full large tubs — is that possible? Maybe they are better suited to a muck-tub amount of water in bitter temps; in any case, they are frozen solid into the frozen solid water tubs. One, however, didn’t function right from the Beginning of the very cold temps. So, it makes me wonder if the outlet, which is brand new as well, wasn’t functioning to begin with.
I wasn’t included in the configuration or the installation. Not that I have a lot to offer, but I had a lot more to offer then the people who were tasked with this.
What would you recommend as a solution? Smaller tubs? More powerful heaters?
I only use the submerged kind- and not attached to the trough. Mine are about three years old, and as of right now, they are working. And yes, it has been colder that {that} here.
My sinking tank heater just up and quit working as of last night. Checked tank and it was frozen,i always keep a spare tank heater on hand. So put in the new one i had last night. The sinkers are only good for about 3 to 4 years then die. Had a really expensive one that lasted 7 years, never have been able to find one like it again.
Thank goodness tank heater waited till it was way above zero…most up and quit when it 35 below zero. Find tank near frozen solid next morning. Tank heater that quit working,worked through a 2 week almost 3 week stretch of well below zero lows and highs.
This thread just reminded me I need to get an extra tank heater for the shelf in case of equipment fail. The one I am using now was the spare just in case, and I forgot to restock. It is always some thing isn’t it. I also think they don’t last as long as they used to. Like they are not made as well or something.
Best solution: insulate your tank so the heater doesn’t have to work as hard. Wrap the exterior of the tank in fiberglass house insulation (the pink stuff) and then wrap a plastic tarp around the insulation. If you can, box the tank in a wood frame. Cut a piece of plyboard to cover at least 3/4 of the top of the tank leaving an opening just big enough for the horses to get a drink.
Doing the above will reduce the electricity needs of the heater by 70% since the heat of the water will be retained by the insulation and wood top. The less pressure your heater is under to keep the water liquid, the longer your heater lifetime will last.
Turn off the heater when temps are above 32° and leave it off unless both daytime and nighttime temps are in the 20s.
We have a 1500w caged heater in our insulated 300 gallon trough that runs off a 75’ heavy duty industrial extension cord reaching from barn to field. That heater is going on 8 years and still works perfectly. We just have to brush off the rust on the cage every year before we use it again. My “backup” tank heater, purchased at the same time as the first heater, is still in its original box, still unopened after 8 years.
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Our sinking tank heaters are cast aluminum circles, runs at 1500 watts when plugged in. Not sure what the thermostat is set for, but it does keep the water ice free. I do not think a smaller wattage heater could do that in our 100 gallon tanks in the recent cold temps.
We use sinkers to prevent horses playing with them, plus have the half tank cover screwed down over heater end for extra protection.
We have purchased our sinker heaters from TSC farm stores and Jeffers Supply.
