how about transforming a baking oven into an incubator?
i just had this idea, and the more i think about it, the more i wonder why i have not seen it before.
an electrical baking oven of good quality has some properties that make it interesting:
- good thermal insulation
- lighting (since you rig it to run at low temps, you could replace the heat resistant light bulb with more efficient LED lighting)
- a ventilator for even distribution of heat
- a window
- heating coils at the bottom and at the top (would need to be rigged and get an overhaul)
- built to resist humidity (even hot steam)
- if you un-rig it again and make sure its empty, self cleaning and sterilizing function.
basically all that would need to be done is to reduce the wattage of the heat coils and to maybe add the right resistors to bring them into the operating range of a thermostat. maybe build in fuses that cut at a certain wattage and prevent the coils from ever reaching their maximum power output. and a good proportional thermostat that can run these coils at the desired temperature.
am i missing an obvious problem, or could this work? what do you think? basically all you need is a good thermostat, and some cheaply obtainable electronic parts (resistors, fuses, a bit of cable). and you need to know how to weld and how to insulate cables.
Re: how about transforming a baking oven into an incubator?
You can certainly use the body as an insulated box for incubating. Bob Clark uses a dish washer as an incubator. But I wouldn't use the actual heating element. Seems too uncontrollable and hard to be accurate.
High humidity is good for eggs too.
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Re: how about transforming a baking oven into an incubator?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
coreydelong
Most ovens have a vent to one burner. That would have to be sealed.
The door seals on an oven are just not as good as a refrigerator or dishwasher.
if the oven is poorly sealed, that would be quite a deal breaker. but im talking about an electrical oven, so there would be no exhaust for combustion products and no oxygen intake. so its electrical coils, desiged to directly heat the air and to emit infrared radiation. quality ones are designed to quickly get to the target temperature, and to then switch off and hold the temperature via thermostat control. then, efficiency is a function of the quality of thermal insulation.
one time i severely burned a pizza to the point that it gave off smoke, and the smoke stayed inside, close to nothing went out, until i opened the door and got hit by quite a wall of smell and smoke.
one problem i see: price. cost. a nice fridge may be cheaper than a nice oven, that may be a deal breaker. but, as is the case with the fridge, you wont need the electronics or the settings of the oven since you drive the coils with your own electronic setup and reconnect them. so a partially broken one is fine.
Re: how about transforming a baking oven into an incubator?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
manicmorphs
Sounds like a fun project. Take lots of pictures. And you could literally say that your eggs are cooking.
the problem is, i have a nice oven with the right characteristics, but its working and expensive and in use. and im not breeding so far. so its more hypothetical. basically the result so far is: when it breaks down, or when a friend is moving or something and one with the right characteristics (pure electric, high energy efficiency rating) gets discarded, i may pick it up and store it away.
