patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Er, no, I'm not sure you're quite understanding, ticks.... high wattage is an INHERENT REQUIREMENT of heat lamps. They need to put out considerable heat (in order to be, well, HEAT lamps <g>) and that heat IS ENERGY, is watts o' electricity. A heat lamp that used a lot less electricity would put out a lot less heat. You know?ticks said:tHanks, pat, wouldn't it be great if Heat Lamps were more energy efficient?
Heat lamps are a *little* inefficient in the sense that a smallish percentage of the energy they use comes out as visible light rather than infrared (heat) wavelengths. But it's not that big an inefficiency. If you want 100% conversion of electricity to heat, the ceramic radiant heater thingamajiggies are the best. By a little bit.
Basically, if you want to heat a brooder or coop that means you want to put a buncha energy into it.
The best way to reduce electricity usage there is to insulate etc, so that you do not need to put as much heat in in the first place.
Pat