My pond runs all winter, zone 2/3

[mtpond]

Love your slippers sissy! I have some slippers that are cabbage patch kids. LOL

 

[callingcolleen1]

Lots of geese now stay, the population grows every year, like the whole family stays and no geese here know which way to fly south anymore, they just like by the river now and eat off the farmers fields by day. fat home grown Canadian Goose would be nice for new years dinner, but hubby did not get any this year. :l

 

[sissy]

I love my slippers I have had them for 10 years .We are finally getting another good rain here but comes with high winds and have to go to the eye doctor today at 1:20 .I hate driving in this weather .

 

[shanezam203]

Very Nice! the middle doesn't freeze because the 1500 watt heater?
What does that cost to install + run?

 

[sissy]

I just bought the kh one at pet mountain.com and it was under 40 dollars and the bigger the more expensive to run .Mine is smaller

 

[callingcolleen1]

I go to a farmer stock supply center like "Peavy Mart" here in Canada, cause they have floating water heaters their meant for cattle troughs and they are pretty darn tough as they are built to withstand cattle bumping them with their big heads and I find they are cheaper than anywhere else at 25 dollars. The red cattle trough heater that I use is 1500 watts and that works good for me with three big connecting ponds and a total of roughly 3500 gallons. Your weather is milder you will make out cheaper in the long run with a smaller voltage heater like 1200 watts. Then I only plug my pond heater in when the temperature is below minus 10 c or roughly 16 f. If your pond is smaller, smaller bodies of water cool off quicker so you may just have to judge yourself how much you need to plug in. I don't leave it plugged in all the time as that draws electric power even when not heating much.

So you find a floating heater and just plug into a GFI circuit with a extension cord and place floating heater where there is a water flow or movement so the pond is evenly heated. I also leave my pumps run all winter but lots of people use a bubbler, which ever you feel more comfortable using will create water movement.

How much it costs to run depends on how much you pay for electric power, how much you use it and the volt you run. I don't pay much for electric power compared to many other places as Medicine Hat has it's own natural gas power plant. My husband tells me just now that he thinks we pay an extra 25 dollars a month on the coldest month, at the most.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Went out to check on the pond today. Had a heat wave from this morning. Currently at 15F. Pond has a good solid 4 inches of ice on it. I was walking on the ice over the deep end. I drilled a hole in the ice to see how deep it was. I took this video of my waterfall while I was out there. Topped off the pond too. Only needed about 3 mins of water and it was full. Still don't have a heater going and not sure if I will put one in. Inside the skimmer box its still ice free.

 

[j.w]

Looks good Ryan and flowing nicely :razz:

 

[sissy]

The one I have turns on by itself when it hits a certain temp so works good for what little cold weather we get here .It rained here with strong winds and got soaked just putting gas in my truck .I wish it was like NJ here where they pumped your gas for you .

 

[callingcolleen1]

The cattle heater does turn itself on too but they still draw power and I like there to be at least 75 % ice coverage and the darn thing will keep working to try to melt all the ice! Then the more ice melted the more water lost cause of evaporation. When it gets cold overnight like the last few days here have been, you can see the stream rise off the open pockets of water.

Maybe I will drag out the green pond heater that I got a couple years ago on a big sale and try it, it uses less watts, only 1200, and see how it does.

 

[sissy]

Gosh makes me happy I don't live where it is that cold .I only got mine because of the 2010 winter we had here .

 

[brandonsdad02]

Has anyone heard from Wayne lately?

 

[callingcolleen1]

No, wonder what happened to him? Maybe he is gone for the holiday or something. Don't know, maybe we should drop him a line on his thread and see if he reponds?

 

[sissy]

I have been trying to get hold of rivermist because I knew her baby was due in december and hoping all went well and she is just busy with new healthy baby .Seems like we have lost contact with a lot of ponders lately and hoping they will be back as spring gets here

 

[j.w]

Funny you should mention Rivermist sissy as I could have swarn I saw a post today w/ Rivermist and her husband's avatar and underneath it said Becky and Ian...............am I seeing things?