>>4277586>chickensI *ade a *oop *eater for my hens to get more eggs... you can stimulate egg production with light alone but it's a bit mean because their bodies have to produce eggs plus generate heat. Coops are hard to heat properly though, since they need so much ventilation. Most people don't bother beyond a small cheap panel. I felt like making something, so did this.
120V ac > thermostat relay > inverter > 24V diffuse light detector relay > 120V AC relay > ceramic lamps
So 3 switches need to close before anything happens... temp needs to go below 1 degree C and a bird needs to hop onto the perch to break the beam and send power to a big 40 amp solid state relay that's connected to a dimmer, sending up to 400 watts (3.33 amps) to the bulbs. It's set to 60% right now and plenty warm, drawing just 1.9 amps.