Plan A - Movement Through Aeration
Full marks on the concept, design and prototype! Successful results, hmmmmm, not so much.
Through experimentation, we found that using air bubbles to create movement in a livestock water trough DOES definitely slow down the freezing process. However, after several hours of testing at single digit temperatures, ice started to form around the edges of the trough where the water movement was the slowest.
After draining the water out of the trough, we found that ice had also been building up inside the trough all along the interior wall. So it appeared the agitated water in the middle of the trough was going to be the last to freeze.
Plan B - Continuous Movement Through ..... TBD Keeping the water moving definitely delays freezing of the water. With this in mind, the engineer has returned to the drawing board to continue trying to find a solution that is less reliant on heaters.
The 500 Watt De-icer
Meanwhile, with temps still around 10 F degrees, the Model C-500 cast aluminum utility de-icer from Farm Innovators, purchased from Horse.com for $27.99 each, are doing a great job while using less electricity than the big heating coils usually used in our troughs.
And as our mare Bea Yewtee demonstrates, she clearly approves of the new lower watt de-icer as well.
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