Comment posted on Chickens Try Off Grid Living And Enjoy Year-Round Christmas by Tim and Trudy
Thanks for the comment Ron,
We never intended to make this article sound like a case study.
And like you pointed out, it was written as an entertaining read, and show our readers one of the “different” ways solar power is used.
While we are not sure whether the Christmas lights affected egg production, we do know is that they tricked the chickens into thinking it was daylight – like a normal light bulb would. Except…they give off little heat, so they could not replace a traditional light bulb if you want to use it as some sort of incubator.
Secondly, by using solar power, there is definitely a reduction in the power bill, since the coops are no longer “plugged in”. If you think a 60 watt light bulb uses about 60 watts of power per hour and it burns all night long, one chicken coop could save 60watts x 8hrs x 30days = 14.4 kWh per month.
Thirdly, the latest LED lights are made from a micro-chip that gives off no heat, so they last 5 to 10 times longer than compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Not to mention CFL’s last about 6 times longer than traditional (incandescent) light bulbs.
- You can read our article: The Benefits of Home Power Solar LED Lights for more info on solar LED’s.
Hope that answers your question.
And thanks again for the great comment 
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Great to hear you got something out of the article, Rana. Merry Xmas to you to! - Solar Power Roof Vents: Can They Work For You?
Hey Jo,Sorry if you never found this article up to scratch. Trudy and myself read over it again now. We wouldn’t go so far as to calling it empty, but it did lack some important details as you pointed out.
In fact, we have a better article (with video) on how a solar attic fan works and the benefits of using such a device. You can read here: Solar Attic Fan – 5 Clear Benefits
We are sure you’ll enjoy that article more!
Tim
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Yes,We agree that solar thermal technology is also very important.
You can read an article on passive solar design here. - Toyota Introduces Car Solar Power
Yes. We have a feeling “green energy” will be used more widely, now that we have a more open-minded administration.Just give it a few years…
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The solution is to use a hybrid solar and wind power system.
But, remember the are plenty of ways to reduce your electricity bill without having to resort to wind turbines or solar pv power.Maybe our article on Passive Solar Design will help.
Tim
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Nice idea, but since I know a chicken farmer who actually uses chickens for egg production, this article leaves out some critical information.
For example. There is no cost vs. benefit analysis to show that going off the grid was anything more than just a convenience. If you had showed teh cost of operating the chicken coups the traditional way (including time and labor to relocate the cords daily or weekly, plus estimated electric bill, traditional bulb replacement etc along with average egg production) and then provided information on the cost of time and materials for the change over along with estimated operating expenses such as annual estimated repair cost or light string replacement and couple that with data on the increase if any of egg production from happy “Christmas 365″ chickens. Then you would have not only had an interesting and entertaining read, but you would have provided an ACTIONABLE article and service to anyone in the chicken or chicken egg industry.
Never the less, it was still entertaining.
Thanks for the comment Ron,
We never intended to make this article sound like a case study.
And like you pointed out, it was written as an entertaining read, and show our readers one of the “different” ways solar power is used.
While we are not sure whether the Christmas lights affected egg production, we do know is that they tricked the chickens into thinking it was daylight – like a normal light bulb would. Except…they give off little heat, so they could not replace a traditional light bulb if you want to use it as some sort of incubator.
Secondly, by using solar power, there is definitely a reduction in the power bill, since the coops are no longer “plugged in”. If you think a 60 watt light bulb uses about 60 watts of power per hour and it burns all night long, one chicken coop could save 60watts x 8hrs x 30days = 14.4 kWh per month.
Thirdly, the latest LED lights are made from a micro-chip that gives off no heat, so they last 5 to 10 times longer than compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Not to mention CFL’s last about 6 times longer than traditional (incandescent) light bulbs.
- You can read our article: The Benefits of Home Power Solar LED Lights for more info on solar LED’s.
Hope that answers your question.
And thanks again for the great comment