Bubble rock fountain de-icer

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

This is the first winter for my bubble rock fountain and I'm looking for the most economical way to keep it from icing over. I'm in the Chicago area so winters can be very cold.

My reservoir is a 15 gallon pot buried in the ground (pot is about 16 inches tall and 19 inches in diameter). I have small pump (80 gph) to bring the water up and over a rock. For winter I installed a 250 Watt API de-icer. After seeing my electric bill I need another solution! My monthly bill literally doubled when we plugged that thing in.

So my questions:

1. I know moving water takes longer to freeze than still water -- would just the pump be enough to keep the water liquid? I'm guessing probably not or all these de-icers wouldn't exist...

2. Can anyone recommend a lower wattage de-icer with a decent length cord? Everything I'm finding has a laughably short cord.

I've included a picture from warmer times when I was still tweaking the layout.

Thank you for any advice!

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Comments (3)

Christopher CNC
3 years ago
If Lake Michigan can freeze over, your little fountain doesn't stand a chance. The most economical solution is to shut the fountain down and drain the reservoir for the winter.

That tiny 250 watt deicer did not double your electric bill. Do you heat your house with electric? The best those pond heaters can do in extreme cold is keep an open hole in the ice for air exchange with the water. Otherwise, it takes a large pond and a deep enough pump to keep the water flowing in the winter. Your buried 15 gallon bucket doesn't really qualify.
functionthenlook
3 years ago
We drain the water and shut ours down for winter.
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Christy D
Original Author
3 years ago
Ok I did the math and my usage went up 36 percent but that's still way more than I expected. Ok houzhouz is being weird for me right now so don't mind the stuff I can't delete Yeah, anyhow, I may just empty it and pull the pump for the winter. I certainly haven't seen the flocks of birds I was hoping forforforfornotfnot argh! What is going on!? Is there a smaller/lower wattage heater anyone can recommend?