solar powered water tank

[mel]

I came across a solar powered water tank 25 gal solar powered water tank and as they are quite pricey was wondering if any one has used one and if its worth the price. I don't have electric to the pastures so heated tanks are out and would love to find something easier than hauling buckets of hot water to the pastures. It seems like a great concept.

 

[Ann knight]

Hi Mel

It sure looks like a great idea . The review look great and from the 3 reviews I read the item that lowers the rating is the price .

I know from hauling water 4 times a day , it sure looks appealing ...Maybe Santa can put that in his sliegh ......both you and your horses would be happy

Ann

 

[maggiemae]

Not sure if you want to consider this option. I live in NC so - might not work in a lot colder place - I laughed it off when I first saw it - but it really did work - the BO where I board at put a mixture of hay (sorta like compost) and manure in the bottom of a black tub from Tractor supply then she put a slightly smaller one in side of it so that the hay mixture was surrounding the water tub - and filled the tub with water - they never froze. We had a pretty bad winter and temps that got down to the teens several times standing water in buckets, water hoses, etc all froze solid but not the water tubs that she had filled with the hay and manure mixture.

PS I didn't use it on my little ones - just because I couldn't stand the thoughts of it. I bought a water tank heater - but I'm close to electricity so I can - I understand you don't have electricity so this "solar" or "thermal" power might work.

 

[minifreishorsefarm]

We saw things similar and built something that helps. Of course we do have electricity out there so can plug in tank heaters. We built wood boxes to fit our water tanks in, insulated them, put a cover on with a hole cut out. We set the water tanks down into the insulated box. We have 100 and 40 gal tanks. They will keep water from freezing alone until it gets too cold (teens or lower). We put our water tank heaters on a timer so they run just a few hours a night (5 hours total per day)and it helps through the winter. It also keeps debris like hay or leaves from getting in their water so much too.

Marsha

 

[Jill]

My friend, Kim, is llooking at these and they do look neat!

 

[little lady]

Love the concept...the price not so much.

 

[sfmini]

I found a do it yourself set of instructions that don't seem too bad.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/solar-stock-tank-z10m0gri.aspx

 

[CKC]

This is interesting timing as I had just sent the link to Jill. I really like these and yes the price is steep however, I was looking into the long run price savings. We have the heated muck buckets. They work great and have had them for years. Purchased at around $85 back probably over 10 years ago. We also, have a 100 gallon trough for the big horses that uses an electric heater that you have to change out every season. My 16H quarter horse is our resident prankster. He has learned to dunk his head and pull that heater to damage it. #1 very scary.. worry about electric shock... #2 expensive replacement of $30 each. Last year was the first year he figured out how to do that so I know we have got to find a different solution. Those heaters are costing us about $100 each month on our electric bill. We run them from December through beginning/middle of March. I'm probably going to save for a while and buy these solar waterers. I only need 2. Hopefully, the price will come down and it will be less next year. If they last as long as the heated much buckets that works for me.

 

[Mareish Mom]

I have one of those solar tanks and they do work. BUT, 25 gallons is not a lot of water, so you still end up having to drag the hot water hose out quite frequently to fill it up. Fine for one or two horses, but with 5 horses I stopped using it and have two 100 gallon tanks instead. Also, the solar tanks are HEAVY. Very difficult to move around and you have to worry about breaking the solar screen. The screen has to face south, which isn't always possible to do without also putting it in harms way of a frisky horse. One good kick and it'd break. Also you have to cover the screen up in the summer. So I found it to be a pain. I'm saving up for one of those "Bar-Bar-A" horse drinkers that do NOT need electricity to run. You do have to run a water line out under the frost line (24" here in Virginia). It works like a drinking fountain and has gotten rave reviews.

 

[CKC]

We have frost free hydrants at each corner of the paddock where the buckets are. We use about 3 ft. of hose attached to each one)removed in the cold). We wouldn't need to worry about dragging hoses, but that's interesting about the screen and being proctected from the horses. I'll have to look into that further. We wouldn't need them in the summer. They would be stored away just like the heated muck buckets are. We have regular muck buckets and a 100 gal. trough for the summer.

?? Mareish Mom---- How do the Bar-Bar-A waterers work without electric? If our power goes... we lose our water lines.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I saw them, but the price puts it out of reach for me. In two months ive had quite a bit of unexpected vet bills, and with the holidays, really have to watch the spending. What im considering is getting one of the solar panel kits from harbor freight, they are on sale for around $180 right now, then hooking a tank heater to it. Im actually waiting to hear back to see if it will convert to enough energy to power the tank. The plus to this is that in the summer, I can take the heater out of the tub, and use the solar to power something like fans in my barn. I dont have electricity in the barn, so being multi purpose would be a good thing.

 

[prairie ponies]

I saw them, but the price puts it out of reach for me. In two months ive had quite a bit of unexpected vet bills, and with the holidays, really have to watch the spending. What im considering is getting one of the solar panel kits from harbor freight, they are on sale for around $180 right now, then hooking a tank heater to it. Im actually waiting to hear back to see if it will convert to enough energy to power the tank. The plus to this is that in the summer, I can take the heater out of the tub, and use the solar to power something like fans in my barn. I dont have electricity in the barn, so being multi purpose would be a good thing.

Please let us know what you find out about the power for the tank.

 

[mel]

Do keep us posted on the solar panel idea mydaddysjag, much cheeper then the tanks.

Thanks for the info about having to keep the horses away from the screen, that's going to be fun as I have one youngster who is going through the "must kick everything" faze right now.

I know the price is a real turn off and is what is keeping me from ordering a couple, but like CKC stated it does even out in the long run when you figure replacement cost and electric cost. I only have 2-3 in the pasture at a time so 25 gal should hold them eight hours. UGH the price of convenience. lol