Electricity from extension cords

[Ready_To_Riot]

Please no one flame me. I’m asking because I’m wondering about the safety of my idea.

My barn doesn’t have electricity. I have an extension cord hooked to a utility light only when I am at the barn. When I’m out of the barn, it is unhooked from the plug at the house.

Is it at all realistic to have the extension cord hooked to a heated bucket in the barn? I’ve had one hooked to the pasture water heater for 10 years now with no problem (heavy duty, plugs covered with a conduit). Something about it being in the barn with a stalled horse freaks me out though. Anyone else not have power to their barn and do something like this?

[ReSomething]

We have a 12 gauge one, the yellow one in the shedrow stalls, but it has very little wood in the structure. It is attached to three tank heaters. If the cord is treated properly, with the cord not pinched or anything, and the plug is fastened up away from flammable debris I would use it with a good breaker or GFCI. I’ve seen plenty worse come fan season in at least my trainer’s barn which is an old tobacco barn.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

The practicality of this idea depends strongly on the length and gauge of extension cord as well as the amp load the heater places on it.

You probably don’t want to attempt this with an extension cord that comes from Walmart. I see heavy duty commercial extension cords for sale on CL sometimes - I’ve never checked one out but if they’re in good condition would be a big value.

[Texarkana]

I don’t have electricity in my barn either. My barn is about 100’ from my back porch, but the outlets on my back porch aren’t up to code-- they’re just regular outlets, not GFCI like the should be. (We rent, not high on our priority list to replace them)

I run a heavy duty outdoor extension cord to my barn, including to the tank de-icer in the trough and to fans and heated buckets inside. My husband bought a GFCI adapter to offer a little bit of peace of mind. I know I’m probably going to COTH hell, but knock on wood, I’ve been doing it for over 3 years now with no incidents.

Even when I worked in “better” barns with better electrical set ups, we still had to run extension cords for our heated buckets. Just make sure the cord is secured somehow.

[OTTB2]

If you are using HEAVY DUTY cords eg like the ones you would use for RV or Boats hookups but not in the 240v style O.C. you should be fine. TBH I would be the exact opposite, having it outside would scare me more because the plug even though protected is in the weather. Have you ever thought about getting a quote on how much it would cost to get power run the barn. It might be worth it for you in the long run, with some many options for direct burial cable it might be worth it to get a circuit going out to the barn.

[Ready_To_Riot]

It’s the really thick black one with the huge gray plug. I can’t seem to find it online. It’s from Home Depot.

My theory is to run it up the inside wall in a conduit for about 4ft (so horse can’t reach exposed cord), out of the top of the wall under the roof and then to the house with conduit covering any plugs that are exposed to the elements from attaching more than one cord. I only have one bucket to heat in the barn. For my mini

[OTTB2]

If this is something you need every year buy some conduit and burry it.

[SomedaySoon]

When I had alpacas I ran an extension cord from a dedicated 20amp plug in the basement 80’ to the barn for heated buckets/fan/work light. The barn is cinderblock, which gave me a little comfort. I ran the cord high off the ground (side of the house to eves of barn) so it wouldn’t get mowed I used a good quality outdoor cord (Lowes or TSC maybe?) and a good power strip–everything was plugged into the power strip. 4 years and no problems, but I checked it regularly for frays, dust, etc., and the animals were never locked in the barn. I still run one 70’ into the chicken coop.

[Hulk]

I just wanted to add if it gets aged looking or shows any wear replace it. I am super freaky about replacing electrical things every so often to keep things safe. I am also all about buying industrial strength everything to handle the load. That being said I am with OTTB and say look into running power out there.

[tangledweb]

For one small heated waterer 100’ away it’s a reasonable idea.

There are two problems with extension cords.

1: With high current loads, resistance in the cable leads to voltage drop and heat production which could be a fire risk.
2: Extension cords are always a fire risk. They get damaged, dirt and moisture gets into the connections.

1 is not your problem. Small waterers are about 100 watts so about 1 amp. 100’ away you don’t even need a fancy heavy duty cable.

2 is up to you. If you use one continuous cable, can put it somewhere it is not walked or driven on, buy a UV stable one so it does not degrade fast in the sun and notice and dispose of it if it does get old or damaged, then the level of risk is in your hands.

You should get a quote to properly run power out to the barn though. It sounds like it’s a hassle for you now, and it might not be as expensive as you think.

[Ready_To_Riot]

Power will be out to the barn in the spring. It’s only about $800. Right now, the temp hasn’t gotten about 15 degrees in the past two days. This isn’t normal for my area. Breaking water buckets was never a problem until the past two days. I just need it for a couple of days because I’m switching buckets every couple of hours. I’m iut at the barn anyway, it’s just becoming annoying. lol

[FalseImpression]

this came this morning on my FB feed.
http://equimed.com/news/general/beware-of-the-unsuspected-killer-lurking-in-your-horse-barn-this-winter

After the number of barn fires in Eastern Canada, ducks (50K lost), goats (500), cattle (unknown number but at least 30 with the goats) and horses ( 55), I think I would be paranoid to have any extension cord… All fires were overloaded extension cords, plugged in tractors, etc.

The boarding barn owners are very careful, have their system inspected on a regular basis… the only risk I see is the hay loft, but hay is checked on a regular basis and put up dry, and heat tape around some pipes. No extension cords are allowed and there is now a furnace in the feed/tack room rather than the electrical (radiator look alike) heaters.

This is getting ridiculous… another barn fire 1 hr west of me… 2100 pigs!!!

[akor]

If the temps are “not normal” for your area, I would find another way around it, even extra trips to the barn - etc…if you are normally around freezing and can keep water unfrozen for the most part, I would not risk a fire in your situation (the risk analyst in me, weighing a horse ‘without’ water for a few hours or a few days here and there of extra work vs. fire, esp since you are getting electricity soon.

If it’s longer term, then you have a lot of good suggestions here.

[HungarianHippo]

as you know it’s not ideal but for one bucket heater I’m not too fussed about it.

Strongly agree, in fact I insist :), that you need to add a GFI adapter at the outlet where you’re plugging in. I have the 3 stall outlets wired on a single circuit with the first one is protected by GFI. So if anything goes on any one of them, they’re all instantly cut off. Just this VERY weekend I came out for AM feed and my buckets were iced over because GFI had tripped. Groaned and grumbled about what a PITA it was in subzero temps–but I also know that it probably tripped for a reason. And sure enough, as I diagnosed the issue by methodically plugging each bucket heater back in one at a time, I got a little zinger from one of them (just for an instant, before the GFI tripped again). The bucket heater had a tiny break in the wire casing that I couldn’t see. Thank you GFI!

Unplugging the cord (at the outlet, not at the barn end) when not in use is smart.
You want to protect the cord if you can from curious chewing animals, hooves, and humans tripping. It’s tedious to do, but you can slit a cheap garden hose down its length, and insert the cord into the hose.