Heated Water Buckets-fire hazard?

[Jersey_Fresh]

COTH-I need some advice to tell me if I am paranoid, realistic or somewhere in between.

Are heated water buckets safe?

I am paranoid of a barn fire-it is my worst nightmare. I have a couple boarders who want to use heated water buckets but I told they can leave them plugged in while we are up, but we will unplug them before we go to bed. With 5 horses in my barn, it stays pretty warm but when we have 48 hr below 20 we did have buckets ice over during the night (mainly I think because the horses are out during the day and the barn loses that warmth). I asked my trainer and she feels comfortable using one in her barn (which is an old wood tobacco barn), which makes me wonder am I paranoid for no reason?

What is the consensus? Can they really start a fire or are they safe to use?

[LilyandBaron]

I agonize over this, too. If your barn doesn’t get too cold, maybe insulated buckets would be good enough? My barn is very open/airy, so only stays 10 above outside temps, so in long cold snaps, I use heated buckets. I had the electric inspected at the property I purchased - I think that’s so important. If the electric is properly done, and you get good buckets, it’s less terrifying. Colic due to not drinking is a more likely issue at that point, IMO. I know some have the heated auto waterers, which would be great if not too expensive. And fire hazards in winter include static from blankets - and I blanket without issue. I store hay in a separate barn, and try to manage cobwebs, and other fire fuel as much as possible, and then hope I’m doing enough! Next item on the agenda, outer stall doors, just to ease my mind even more.

[Jersey_Fresh]

Electric is brand new and good. My father did it and rain all wiring in conduit and all outlets are covered GFCIs. I feel 110% safe about the wiring.

We do store hay in the barn because we dont have any other place to do so right now.

[MyKindaFlower]

I love the insulated bucket holders in my barn! OP, I’m a nervous-nelly about heated buckets and fire too! I know that it’s probably safe but I sleep better using the insulated holders. If I use luke-warm water in the buckets, my holders keep things from freezing overnight. I just wait to fill them until an hour or so before I bring in the horses and they’re fine until morning in single-digit weather.

[2DogsFarm]

I’ve used them for 12yrs+ & never had a problem.
The buckets I got turn on at 40F & turn off above that temp, so now they are pretty much on 24/7.
My barn is small - 36X36 - but stall doors in back are left open so horses have free access from paddock to stall. That means outside air has access too.

It is currently -25F here & buckets remain unfrozen - water is cool to the touch which is great as horses will drink it more readily than ice-cold.
I refill buckets at least 3X daily and have never had a bucket overheat from being empty.

I ran the coiled-wire covered cords outside the stalls (through feed grill opening) to GFI outlets and have no problems with cords being chewed or circuits tripping Off.
A friend went a step further & drilled a hole in the stall wall at the bottom of the bucket to run the cord out.

[2DogsFarm]

P.S.
My hay - 150 small squares - is store on pallets inside the barn too.
Across from the stalls.

[Jersey_Fresh]

2Dogs-where did you get the ones that turn on and off?

Is it true the heated ones can melt if they are empty and plugged in? I have a couple big drinkers and I do worry about that).

I am not sure about the covers-I have two very mouthy TBs that would try to remove them. Do they work only to certain temps?

[2DogsFarm]

OP:
I got these:

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/624017-allied-precision-heated-flat-back-bucket.html?feedsource=3&gclid=COjH6-nFgNECFdu6wAodSF4BQw

Might not be the Allied brand as I got them from my local feedstore & any label has long ago worn off.
But I’ve seen them at TSC & Rural King too.

I have come in to find buckets with barely an inch of water in them as well as stuffed with soaked hay (from my dunker) and nothing has ever seemed in imminent danger of catching fire.

[clanter]

look at the product’s testing labeling you want one that is UL Listed and has the UL Listed Mark that means that Underwriters Lab has tested representative samples of the product and determined that it meets UL’s requirements.

the product label can refer to : “UL Listed” or “UL Listed to Canadian safety standards.”

there are other testing authorities but they test to what they believe the UL Standards are, UL through their in-house testing has developed their standards of product safety

[LadyB]

We have 4 heated buckets in the barn, plus 3 outside.

If you have good electrical wiring, you should be fine. We’ve been using them for 10 years now, knock on wood with no issues.

My biggest fear is a fire as well, but these buckets don’t get too hot, just enough to make sure the water doesn’t freeze. Best things ever in the winter. We also have a heated hose that’s super awesome!

[Jersey_Fresh]

Ok you all are making me feel way better about letting them use the heated buckets.

A barn that was a few miles from our place burned on Saturday night killing 25 horses. My worst fear and I will do everything I can to avoid it.

[BUSY]

I witnessed - yes saw one heated bucket start SMOKING !
Bad wiring on bucket - can’t remember what brand but it was a new bucket.
This was at a boarding barn - they were considering having customers purchase - the re- decision was NO!
Many of us were standing there - it was afternoon - it was frightening !
Fire Dept and electrician checked the barn wiring and all agreed just a msl- functioning bucket .
This was one of two that the BO was ‘trying’ … in their horses’ stalls.

I have had my horses elsewhere - with heated buckets no problems but I always worried !
In my own barns - NO HEATED WATER BUCKETS !
I use the hammer to the buckets to de-ice.

Good Luck - I’m just not a gambler .

[BarnField]

They are not designed to be used with extension cords. That means you need an outlet right within reach of the cord that comes with the bucket.

To keep dust and dirt out of the outlet while the cord is plugged in, use a jumbo or oversize “in-use” outlet cover that can accommodate the plugged in cord, I use ones like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Bell-MM410CA-Weatherproof-Nonmetallic-Configurations/dp/B015EEL258/ref=sr_1_13?s=lamps-light&ie=UTF8&qid=1482163481&sr=1-13&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A2803812011

[Jersey_Fresh]

Barnfield-my dad installed outlets on all stall fronts with covered GFCI outlets. He made me promise no extension cords in the barn period.

What happens when they are empty and plugged in? Do they shut off or do they keep heating?

[trubandloki]

@Jersey Fresh

What happens when they are empty and plugged in? Do they shut off or do they keep heating?

Read what the manufacturer says they do.
The buckets I have are thermostatically controlled.
This morning there were two buckets that were empty (or nearly empty) and they were off.

I will say that I have known two people that refused to have even electricity in their barn because electricity can cause a fire.
I think there comes a point where you have to do what works best for you and realize that there are risks in anything and everything you do.
Only frozen water is a risk to the horse, is that risk better or worse than a properly installed heated bucket? All a balancing act.

My barn is the same temperature as it is outside. The horses stall doors to the outside are always open. If I did not use heated buckets my horses would go long periods of time with no access to water since on days like today (where it is single digits) it does not take long for a bucket to freeze.

[betsyk]

I’ve boarded at a barn that uses them every winter in about 60 stalls. My experience has been that they sometimes get extra warm before they die, but in almost 20 years there I haven’t seen one get scary-hot or show any indication of melting anything besides ice. Not that it can’t happen - we just haven’t seen it here. Our barns are not closed up, meaning that overnight temps can be -10 to -20 in winter even when horses are in, so no good way to keep water from freezing otherwise.

Stuff I have seen: hay dunker creates a nice insulating mat on top of an inch of water and hay mat and water underneath get steamy. Empty bucket runs for a little while and the “needed to be scrubbed yesterday” scum bakes on. Breaker trips when buckets are refilled from the hose because they all kick on at the same time. Horse that rubs its tail on the bucket breaks the seal between the two layers and water gets in. Top 2" or so freezes while water underneath stays liquid when it’s -10 or colder, because the heating elements only go about halfway up the sides (solution: fill the bucket 3/4 when it’s really cold out).

There are a lot of management pieces that can prevent problems. The barn guys like to shut off the breakers to the stalls in the morning, and flip them back on at turn in, which saves some electricity on moderate days but isn’t ideal when it’s really cold (see point above about breaker reacting when all the buckets kick on at the same time). Horses who are big drinkers might need two buckets or a different refilling schedule. Think hard about where you hang them relative to the outlet, because dumping and cleaning them is sort of a pain. Check them regularly. If you put your hand on the bottom third of the bucket from the outside, it should feel barely warm, as in, it wouldn’t warm my cold hands but I can tell that it’s on. Replace them if they get broken (ask owners of tail rubbing horses to buy their own replacements?). Be careful when unplugging them, to prolong the life of the cord.

[Hinderella]

For many years I was at a barn with poor quality wiring, so we did not use heated buckets. Now we are at a barn with new, good quality wiring and we use them on the coldest nights. While anything can malfunction, they should not heat up to the point where they would melt anything or ignite anything.
I also use the bucket cozies from Wild Angel Cozy on regular buckets. They will keep water from freezing down to perhaps mid-20’s. You can stretch that longer if you heat the water in your cozy bucket with a manual water heater (one you can observe) .

[gumtree]

If there was a history of heated buckets catching fire they would have been pulled from the market.

The use a very low watt heater. Hot enough to melt the plastic if the heating element was to be damaged, pushed out of it retainer on to the plastic. But they do not get hot enough to ignite the plastic. Residual water in an empty bucket would “steam” and look like smoke.

“They are not designed to be used with extension cords”

If the extension cord is “sized” for the job and not plugged into a “power strip” with other buckets, high demand electric stuff. There is no reason for concern. The heater only draws 70 watts, less than the average incandescent light bulb. A most tank heaters are 1500 watts. A big difference.

[trubandloki]

@betsyK

Think hard about where you hang them relative to the outlet, because dumping and cleaning them is sort of a pain

My biggest complaint about heated buckets.
The way we mount them, once hung for the year there is no carrying them anywhere. I dump them daily, into another bucket, and then wipe them out with a towel to clean them.

I have my electrical system designed knowing I would have heated buckets. If I was blowing breakers when they turned on I would be changing my set-up.

[goodhors]

What you need to worry about, is whether the gauge of the new wire is heavy enough to carry the needed power to the buckets without overloading. Having all those quantity of bucket outlets on one circuit CAN overload even heavy wiring.

Wire being new has nothing to do with what power load it can carry if wires are a small guage, easy to overload. Kind of like tank heaters, which draw BIG amounts of electric power. If the wire to the outlet is not heavy enough, the heater doesn’t get the needed power to heat the water. Heater will have a short life, die, and probably you tank will not stay unfrozen in real cold either. One friend complaining about “crappy heaters” since she bought new each year, told us how she had things rigged. The run to the tank was almost 500 ft of medium gauge 14 wire. We told her she was lucky the heater worked at all, with that tiny bit of power reaching it!! The smaller the number gauge of wire, 12-10, means the bigger the wire inside the plastic cover. Big wires are easier to carry power loads with, take big power draws at the plug-in point.

Normal 14-16 guage electric cords fail on longer runs, with heavy power use items, burn out the heater, buckets, with their failure to carry lots of power to the appliance. Those are fire hazards. Cords run to plug things in can leak electric thru the plastic covers, get water in the plugs to fail by shorting out.

If your Dad wired the barn, go talk to him. Ask about wire gauge he used. Get the specs of power needed by the heated buckets. Length of wire runs to the stalls they will be used in, which could cause dropping in power feed if long enough. If Dad is just a good wirer, perhaps calling a licensed Electrician to answer your questions, pay his fee to visit and inspect wiriing, would settle your mind about heated bucket use. Electrician is tested on this knowledge, should be able to help you out best.