Coop Criteria

Brooder Heating Cost Calculator

Six weeks of heat for the chicks is the cost nobody prices until the bill lands. A 250-watt lamp and a 15-watt plate keep the same chicks warm; they do not cost the same to run. Pick your lamp class and plate class, set the weeks and run hours, then put in your electric rate and your own prices. The tool runs the same arithmetic as our heat plate vs heat lamp guide: what each brood costs to heat, what the plate saves, and how many broods it takes to pay off the higher sticker.

Heat usually comes off around week six. The Brooder Temperature Chart works out your exact last day.

Both lamps and plates normally run around the clock.

The rate from your own bill; the state-average table is linked below.

Clamp lamp plus bulb, the usual starter setup.

The default is a planning price for the small plate. Bigger plates and the Brinsea units run higher, so enter your own price.

The math behind the numbers

  • The arithmetic: watts × hours per day × days ÷ 1,000 = kWh, priced at your rate. Same planning figures as our heat plate vs heat lamp guide. These are nameplate numbers, not meter readings: thermostatic plates cycle off, so the plate's real bill runs below its line here, and lamps on thermostat dimmers exist but are rare in backyard brooders.
  • Watt classes are maker specs. The Brinsea EcoGlow Safety 600 is rated 12 watts for up to 20 newly hatched chicks and the Safety 1200 18 watts for up to 35; Premier 1's plates run a 15-watt extra-small (about 15 chicks) to the 66-watt 16″×24″ size (about 50) per Premier 1 Supplies. Lamp classes are the standard 175 and 250 watt bulbs.
  • Six weeks is the planning default because the temperature schedule steps down to heat-off around then. The Brooder Temperature Chart works out your exact last day under heat from the hatch date.
  • Break-even divides the price gap by the electricity saved per brood. It counts sticker price and power only; replacement bulbs and how many seasons the plate lasts are not in the number.
  • Rates: $0.15 to $0.20 per kWh is the planning band our guides use. Your own bill beats any default, and the EIA state table has your state's average.

Fire risk, lamp suspension rules, and the honest cases where a lamp is still the right tool: heat plate vs heat lamp.