Allied Precision Ind DT250 250-Watt Aluminum Bucket and Utility De-Icer

Sturdy, cord is pest and chicken proof. Worked down to 15 degrees F ( coldest it got in the coop). I would trust it at lower temps. The heater is in our 2 gallon plastic poultry waterer from rentacoop with horizontal poultry nipples. Best combo ever - clean water is no work and no worries. Not the cheapest system up front, but after months of use, I think it will last years, so a good value over time.

2021-03: My previous model burned out after 5 years, this is its replacement. Weather here in MN still is below freezing overnight, with the occasional snow, which may continue thru April (you never know).I'm so glad that there's an actual metal spring spiral around the power cord (previous one only had plastic) as the squirrels chew on these.I use a 16-18" W and 3" D plastic plant saucer, holds about 2 gallons of water, and it's deep enough for the larger critters to get a good drink, plus even in sub-zero weather, there's enough water left after evaporation to still completely cover the heater.Critters that use this water dish are squirrels, turkeys, ducks, deer, multiple types of small birds, bunnies, opossums, raccoons, and chipmunks.2023-10 update: the unit I bought in 2021 is still working. Yay! And now I need one more of these to replace the loop-style de-icer that's just sitting in a small pool of solid ice...burned out.

I have a small fish pond in front of my house. I have gone through several pond heaters and it's very frustrating. They can be quite expensive, up to $80, and they only last a season, two if you're lucky. Last year I didn't even bother and tried to keep a hole in the ice myself, but ended up losing one fish. This year I'm glad I got a pond heater because of the constant freezing temps we had in the Northeast. I wasn't sure if this would work, as it's supposed to be for buckets and birdbaths. But in a fish pond you only need to keep a hole open for circulation, not to keep the whole pond clear. I gave it a try, and it worked! Not only did it keep a small hole, it really kept a large part of the pond unfrozen. I can't speak for its electric usage because we were having trouble with our heater that raised our usage, but I truly believe it was minimal. This was a reasonable price to pay, as long as I can get several years of use out of it - I hope! I hate adding to landfills, and having to shop for one of these things every two years.UPDATE: second winter of using it and still working. And it's been a long, cold, snowy winter.2nd UPDATE: took it out December 2017 (purchased 2013) and it's dead. But four years or less seems to be all you can expect from any pond heater.

I bought this to keep a 5 gallon bucket of watering system for my chickens open. I used the red screw in nipples and so far with plenty of very cold temps this has worked well. Originally I allowed the heater to hang in the bucket for fear that it would be too hot on the plastic. This kept the water open, but allowed the metal ball bearings on the chicken nipples to freeze. After realizing that the unit does not get nearly hot enough to burn the plastic I dropped it all the way to the bottom. Since then I have had no issues with the water freezing or the nipples freezing. Works great! I plan on buying another one for my rabbit watering system.

Works much better than I expected. Original review lost, will try to recreate it here. I bought this for a ceramic urn-shaped fountain which was freezing in some unexpected cold weather. I like the fountain very much and hate to turn it off for the winter just because there might be a couple of really cold days here in Washington, DC. Fountain was starting to freeze up from the bottom this week. The top was threatening to close over. Last time that happened the urn broke and I had to buy another (very sad occasion) Bought this heater, put it in the water and plugged it in to an outdoor GFCI outlet. Overnight the fountain lost about 1/2 the ice and was running freely. The key thing is I bought the WRONG SIZE heater! This is for less than 25 gallons and I estimated wrong. My fountain is about 130 gallons! but most of that is below ground. My installer thinks the water in the reservoir below ground is warmer and that might be helping the heater to work. Will probably buy another one as a back up.

So just a week after I bought this I reviewed it and wrote; “We use it in our chicken water trough to keep the water from freezing.Works great.”Yup it worked for about 6 weeks.I bought it as a replacement for an old one that had given 6 winters of service.It is totally submersed in the chicken water trough just like the old one was.Winter was over, I took it out, washed it off and set it aside until this winter.I put it in the water trough just a day ago and BAMB….the circuit blew…Seems this is ONLY good for a ONE-TIME-SHOT…A REAL waste of money as this is a seriously PRICEY unit for such a short lifespan.I have NAME BRAND stock water heaters that go for years without an issue in my large animal tanks…Unless it’s an emergency and this is all you can get…Don’t waste your money… It’s a One and Done unit.