API® Bird Bath De-Icer | Pail and Bucket De-Icer for Winter

After an entire winter of use, we are very satisfied with the 200-watt / 120-volt / 60 Hz API bird bath de-icer (Item 300). The lowest temperature in our location this season was minus 12 degrees F. / minus 24 degrees C. The water in our bird bath never froze. I recommend spending a little extra for a wattage of at least 200 for a de-icer, especially if used in a cold climate. The internal thermostat control keeps the water at a temperature just above the freezing point, but not warm. The short 15-inch / 38 cm. cord is an excellent design feature, because it keeps the connection to the extension cord suspended off the ground and up out of the snow and moisture. There is absolutely no need to purchase a plastic sheath to cover the plug-in between the de-icer cord and the extension cord. (Conflicting information in Amazon product descriptions indicate the cord at 15 ft. / 4.5 m., which is inaccurate – it’s 15 inches.) As you can see in the accompanying photo, we made a couple of modifications to the installation. A brick or stone on the base of the de-icer keeps it firmly flush against the bottom of the basin and prevents it from being pulled up in the direction of the stiff cord. The brick also provides an additional surface above the water, which avian visitors can use as a perch. Second, we slightly elevated the cord from the rim of the bird bath by placing a stick under it. Despite the metal anti-rub coil on the cord, water from a completely full bird bath can still form a creeping icicle up onto the power cord, which continues to draw water from the basin. The gradual draw of water freezes and eventually drains the basin and encases the exposed power cord in ice. Keeping the water level just below the rim, or lifting the cord enough to avoid contact with the rim, prevents the problem. As other users have noted, it will be necessary to top off the de-iced bird bath on a frequent basis, particularly if your basin is shallow, as is ours. Because of vaporization, and in our case due to thirsty squirrels and even a raccoon that stopped by to stand on its hind legs and lap the water, our bird bath needed almost a gallon / 4 liters of refill daily. We kept a gallon jug of tap water inside the back door and made a morning routine of checking and replenishing the water level. The de-icer gets dirty after a while, but it is easy to wipe or rinse clean. We are pleased that the manufacturer is located in the US and is committed to North American production. A de-iced bird bath made a winter of pandemic shutdown much more tolerable. Though avian traffic was sporadic and unpredictable, we enjoyed many sightings in addition to the robins and cedar waxwings in the photo. One morning we counted 8 different species in just one hour. I highly recommend the API 200-watt / 120 volt bird bath de-icer (Item 300).

I’ve owned one now for 2 winters here in WI & it works Great, My plastic Bird bath is completely free of ice except of course the outer ½” or so thatwill have some ice even when temps are -10 below zero it keeps the bird bath free of ice allowing the the birds to still have water to drink all winter long.Yes the cord is short so that when you have it plugged into an extension cord it pulls at it a little, but I solved that problem fairly easily, I just put a Sm rock on top of the heater to hold it in place in the center of the bird bath & it has no problem keeping the water from freezing up all winter long.If you take care of feeding birds all winter & you want them to be able to drink all winter also, then you won’t be disappointed in how this heater keeps your bird bath free of ice.I Highly Recommend ItSteve in SW WI

Was hoping to use this in our PVC chicken watering set up, but it is to large to fit into the 3" PVC pipe (according to others, this will fit in a 4" PVC pipe). So we used it in our frozen water fountain, which is its intended function. After breaking the ice so I could place the heater in the fountain (the fountain bowl is about 3' across and 1' deep) the ice slowly melted as the heated water ran over it. The process took a couple of hours, but this morning, despite there being below 30 degrees all night and icicles on all the trees and our arbor, the fountain is running perfectly with no ice, and the birds are rejoicing.SAFETY TIP: be sure to plug this into a GFI outlet to avoid shocks as water and electricity generally don't play well togetherPROS: works well, only turns on if water temp drops below about 40 degreesCONS: VERY short cord means you will likely have to plug in an extension cord hanging from your bird bath or fountain, which may try to pull the heater up out of the water. They really should have given us a longer cord to relieve pull on the heater position.

Been using this for years. Keeps the water in bird bath from freezing!

The de-icer worked great. When the temperature was 10 below zero (F), and the wind was blowing 20 mph, there was still open water in the bird bath. Unfortunately, after about two months, the de-icer tripped the CGFI, and then wouldn't work. The de-icer had a three year warranty, which said that I could return it to either the manufacturer or the retailer. So, I returned it to Amazon, and I called them to make sure they knew that I wanted a replacement, not a refund. The guy on the phone said that someone at Amazom would review the return and decide what to do for me, which might include a replacement or an 80% refund. I stressed that I wanted a replacement, but he wouldn't assure me. They gave me the 80% refund. I called again, and the lady said that they couldn't give me a replacement, because they had some time limmit on replacements, which had been exceeded. So, I exaplained that the guy I talked to didn't tell me that, and I was expecting a replacement, because the thing was gauranteed for three years. If the guy had told me that I had exceeded Amazon's time limit, I could have returned the de-icer to the manufacturer. The nice lady put me on hold for a while, and then told me that she was refunding the remaining 20%. Because I liked the de-icer, and most reviews are very positive, I'm going to order another. Fortunately, I'm a Prime customer, and won't have to pay shipping. If the new one fails, I'll let you know with an extremely low rating, but for now I'm optimistic. Allied Precision 300 200-Watt Bird Bath De-Icer

Not sure why, but this was very slimy and built up algae each day!! I would clean it, and the paint would come right off....the sliminess was not from my water either....The only good part was that it kept the water very warm, but it wasn't worth it, with having to really clean each time I would refill the birdbath....

This is a low powered unit that just does not keep the bath ice free. At -5C it starts icing up, leaving only a small opening directly above the heater. By -10C it's frozen solid. This was a complete waste of money. Replaced with the round 500W Allied Precision one and that one works great.

I liked it when it worked. It worked for only 8 months. It is out of warranty from date of purchase. It was expensive and not worth the purchase.