Dog House Heater ???

[TomNTex]

Just wondering of a simple way to supply heat to a dog house. Maybe something on a thermostat. Anybody ever use the lightbulb mounted under the tin can setup?

 

[Billpa]

you should try and find out what the Bakers used in their dog house¿

 

[supergrumpy]

cheap heating pad from Wallys

 

[Anonymous-0]

Ive had a heat lamp in my dogs house for years. It gets pretty warm in there too.

 

[JerryU]

We live in SE Michigan. Dog house (I inhereted it) had foam insulation in sidewalls which helped. In the peak of the roof I had a plywood piece with a light socket. Put in a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Kept straw on the floor and it had a piece of rubber belting for the door. Dog (now deceased) was a 45# female mutt lab. When it got below 35degrees I turned the light on. Kept the dog house well over 50 degrees with her in it. The dog house sat about 50' from our house by the barn. Got a wireless remote control so I could turn the light on and off from the house when it got cold. Had to change light about once or twice a year. Worked pretty good.

JU

 

[Anonymous-0]

Lined mine with 2" foam board including the bottom. Hound got so hot she was sweating.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Some of the farm and home places (Orscheln, etc.) sell them. Work fine.

 

[JML755]

Agree with other posters, light bulb works great.

 

[suptscottyb]

If you insulate them well and don't make them too large, the dog will heat it like a hen house. No electric bill or worries. ( only gets down to 20 degrees here in winter though).

 

[CJ3b_jeep]

I used the light buld under a tin flor setup for the kittens in the garage last winter...worked great.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If your going to put a light bulb in the dog house. get one of those with a glass cover over the bulb. less chance of the dog breaking the bulb or starting a fire. You can buy a cheap line voltage thermostat and set her for about 50.
Remember the dog has fur and if you set it to high, then they will stay out, cause its too hot in there. If your worried when its below freezing. You can get one of those pipe wrap heaters and put it where the dog cant chew on it. Ive put them under a sub floor in the doghouse. the thermostat on the end goes outside the house and comes on about 38 degrees.

 

[Bob85355]

My oldest boy had one of those greyhound type dogs and it didn"t have much hair and no body fat. The boy put a hair blow dryer on a thermostat and it worked just fine.

Bob

 

[Aaron Ford]

A small airtight doghouse, a live rubber flap for the door, a 100 watt light bulb connected to a thermostat (baseboard heater tearout left over) and on the really cold days all you could talk the dog out of is sticking his nose out. During a cold snap, he would give you a dirty look for breaking the door seal to feed him.
Just remember to not make the doghouse too big so that the dogs body heat will not be lost heating a large space.

HTH, Aaron

 

[Lee in Iowa]

The safest thing might be a plastic heating like they use for farrowing pigs. They make them in sizes for dog houses. TSC, places like that should have them or QC Supply or other veterinary/animal supply outfit. Lee

 

[Lee in Iowa]

The safest thing might be a plastic heating pad like they use for farrowing pigs. They make them in sizes for dog houses. TSC, places like that should have them or QC Supply or other veterinary/animal supply outfit. Lee

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Tom,

I would think a dog house of the correct size made out of 6" mud blocks or cinder blocks filled with sand with a bed of sand and thick straw would make most dogs more comfortable.

To hot is going to be a bigger problem than too cold unless it's a house dog.

My Lab house dog doesn't like the down bedding until the house gets around 50º. Any higher in temperature, then he likes the floor much better.

T_Bone

 

[buickanddeere]

What kind of dog & weather?
Most animals & people can handle the cold if we are dry, out of the wind, healthy & well fed.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well I built a dog house for my 2 rat terriors. Put fiberglass insulation in the sides and covered with thin plywood. Put a sixty watt bulb in the ceiling and made a small door. They both still sleep in the bed and raise cain if put in the pen. Think the wife spoiled them.

 

[MBU]

TomNTex,

If your dog is kept outside year around (like dogs SHOULD be) then they will grow a nice winter coat. It will also help if you provide them with a nice house that is insulated but not heated. If you already have a doghouse, then surround it with some bales of hay and make the entrance such that wind will not blow directly into it.

But...if you're like most of us and your wife sends you to live in the doghouse once in a while then by all means heat it. Matter of fact, a 60 inch plasma TV is a must ...especially in football season! (big grin)

 

[Wardner]

Unless you have a dog that only Paris Hilton could love, forget about the costly heat energy. The dogs don't need it. As the weather turns colder in the fall, they acclimate.

When I was a boy, we always put the German Shepherd out even on the coldest New England night. That would be around minus 15-20 degrees. She always found a suitable spot to sleep and didn't seem the worse for the experience. This new-fangled custom of climate control is not necessary for man or beast. Sure, it improves comfort and productivity for man. How does it advantage the beast?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

No dogs, but outdoors cats I do care about. I have a screened in roofed back porch so the "cat house" doesn't need to be rain proof. It has 1" thick panels of styrofoam doubled (2") in the side walls and removable lid and floor. Front wall is 3/4 plywood, not insulated. I used thin masonite inside and out, 2x2 framing, stapled, glued, and bradded, real strong. Has vinyl siding J molding around the opening and a heavy translucent flap. Two 6 watt heat pads, you cannot feel it but the cats can, and a RED 25 watt bulb in a socket in the lid. (get it.... RED LIGHT.... CAT HOUSE......... ) If it gets in the mid to low twenties I switch to a 40 watt bulb. With three cats in there, on a real cold night, the temp stays between 60 and 70 on the thermometer inside.

Charles

 

[Harry Mo.]

If you go with the light bulb for heat, by all means get the dog some sunglasses!!!

 

[Rod in Smiths Falls, ON]

Heating pad.

 

[mj]

I build the dog house with a false floor of pegboard about 4" above the solid bottom of the house. I then glue and screw 1x2 material in a radial pattern to the bottom sheet and staple a heat tape with built-in thermostat in a circular pattern to the 1x2s.