Magicfly 165W Radiant Chicken Coop Heater with LED Display & Remote Control - Adjustable Temperature Safe Heating for Poultry - Perfect for Winter Chicken Coops, Duck Houses & Small Animal Enclosures (19.7"x14")

It works great so far!Background/ setup: I live in Central Utah, temperatures can get down into the teens at night, but only occasionally. My coop interior is 5’ long, 3’ wide, and 4’ tall, and houses 4 hens. The heater is mounted on the wall inside my coop, so it radiates heat to the roosting bars. My coop is well built, has adequate ventilation, but is not insulated, just a single layer of fit-together(TNG) wood siding.The heater pretty slim, the thickness is close to a computer monitor. The size is a perfect fit for my 3 ft long roosting area. It doesn’t reach all the way to the corners, allowing all my girls to be where they feel comfortable. Some of my hens like to sleep next to the heater for warmth, others prefer to sleep near it but a little farther away. Even with the chicken flap door open, the heater still raises the temperature quite a bit. I’ve mainly been using it to get them acclimated to the current winter weather, since they are only a couple months old(hatched in July). I’ve been turning it down when the nights are warmer, then turning it back up just a little when it’s cold. The small 16oz waterer I have in the coop on the opposite end does freeze when it gets below 30*, but that’s only when it’s in the teens outside the coop.I was a little afraid the hens would peck at the control panel, even though it says it’s peck proof. They don’t even bother it!It did throw me off a little with changing the temperature though. When you press the (+) or (-) buttons, the screen on the heater will flash with the current setting in between flashing the new setting. Otherwise, it’s super simple and easy to use. No calibration needed. Also, if power is cut off, the heater doesn’t come back on automatically, you have to turn it back on. It’s not a problem for me since it doesn’t happen often, but it could cause very unhappy chickens if you don’t realize it.The heater does use a little bit of power, so if you’re running an extension cord from your garage or house, you’ll want a larger gauge than the usual 16 gauge to insure that you don’t lose power when it’s cold. The power cord on the heater is plenty long enough to reach the outlet box on the other wall of my coop, but like I said, my coop is hobby/ backyard keeper size.We have chicks. We have chickens. We have IR heat lamps. We have chicken heaters. We have chicken brooder heaters. And now we have this contraption.True to its name, it provides a nice bit of heat adjustable between 130 and 160 degrees F in one degree increments viewable on its red, LED readout. It’s nice to have a range but likely would be simpler/faster/easier if it merely had a high, medium, and low setting. Also true is that it includes a remote control which requires line of sight (not as convenient as RF). The straightforward control works as advertised, turning the unit on/off and adjusting temperature up and down.This unit features the safety and reliability of ambient, panel type heat. It could also be argued that you’ll save electricity using this versus the typical 250 watt heat bulb set up which, regrettably burns out somewhat frequently and if not secured properly could become a fire hazard. The panel is also easy to configure vertically or horizontally and can be wall mounted.All of these features are probably great for its intended use. However, the unit, when placed on any sort of a timer or thermostat regulated automatic on/off, will not power on. I suspect that is due to its non-analogue nature. There is no toggle switch that may be left in the “on” position to allow for control by an add-on external device which is the primary reason this item receives only four stars. If this is an option you are counting on, unfortunately you will have to look at a different chicken brooder-heater solution.I’m in Alaska and our winters get COLD. We had a cold snap this winter that had our temperature below 20°F for two consecutive weeks and this little heater was a huge weight of my chest worrying about my flock.My ONLY complaint is you have to hold the power button for a handful of seconds for it to turn on. There isn’t anything about it in the instructions so I had a moment of panic that my unit was defective, but clearly it was just user error on my end.My chickens regularly roost on top of this thing, so it’s clearly not too hot for them, even when the temperature is maxed out - so no need to worry about it burning them.I love that it’s a radiant heat, so it doesn’t heat the coop, but it gives just enough warmth to stop my hens from getting frost bite without de-acclimating them from our extreme winter cold.Very easy to use. Comes with legs or you can hang on wall. Wish it had more options for heat settingsWe simply hung it on a wall out of reach of our chickens and turned it on. Easy to use. Remote means we don’t have to go into the henhouse to turn it on or off.I couldn’t figure out how to get legs for this. When I stood it straight up it didn’t barely keep chicks warm. I had to prop it at an angle so they could go under it and then it worked very well. Seems like the buttons to control temp were not working on the unit but the remote worked for it. I used it for three months solid and it didn’t start fire or anything.This heating plate is perfect for my coop. I have 6 chickens that are now about 18 weeks. This is my first time raising chickens and I was crazy enough to attempt to do this over the winter in Iowa. They were born the last week of October and lived in my basement for about a month and a half, but started to get crowded so I had to move them outside. They have been warm and cozy through several snow storms, and last week with windchills of 30 degrees below zero. The coop is right next to our house so I definitely didn't want the massive fire hazard of a heat lamp. The chickens were happy, safe and warm, and now it's warmed up to between 30 and 40 degrees. I highly recommend that if you want to supplement heat this is a great option!This product heats up quickly but it heats up past the level of what I consider to be safe to touch. I would say in a larger area, I.e. a shed like setting, this may be appropriate to use. I bout it for my chicken coup, which I use to house my outdoor bunnies. They would have burned themselves and could not have been sitting anywhere near the heater as even the lowest heat setting is by far too hot.Well made, sturdy, easy to understand operation. Readout is Fahrenheit only (unfortunately)Highly recommended for chickens or just for radiating heat anywhere you needThis product is very disappointing for the money you pay....... there is no sq footage information to begin with for heating purposes so you have to buy to find out, to find out it really doesn't help with heating at all. Never purchase again.