Winter Warmth for Owl House Cats!
0% complete
$350 raised of $1.5K
5 donations
Winter is coming!
The cats at the Owl House Foster Spot need safe, wall-mounted heaters for their in-home rescue rooms, and NYS shelter/rescue regulations requires temperatures that can be maintained between 60-80F.
Our wood-and-oil-heated farmhouse with open metal floor registers that allow heat to rise upstairs will not cut it, because on truly frigid days, this isn't likely to warm the upstairs over 55 degrees (read on for the snafu with heaters we installed in the past).
NYS also requires backup heat OR evacution if heat is out for over 4 days. While this is unlikely (although did happen during the ice storm in 1998) SOPs and heat options still need to be in evidence. We don't have a second location with backup heat that would meet NYS regs that we could evacuate cats to.
We need to purchase and install:
- 2 app controlled wall heaters for 2 upstairs cat rooms so temperatures can be monitored remotely if needed ($200 each)
- 2 standard wall heaters for 2 cat rooms (including the bathroom isolation area) because we want simple heaters in at least two rooms in case the high-tech heaters are unreliable. ($120 each)
- 4 compact rolling propane heaters and tanks for emergency backup during power outages. ($75-100 each)
- $500 to put on account with NYSEG to anticipate increased electrical fees to keep temps at or over 60 degrees, which is warmer than the 58 degrees we previously kept the house at.
- These are heaters ONLY for the cat areas.
These need to be in place before we submit our license form and invite an inspection, especially since temperatures are now dropping. Plug-in heaters are not an option as cats can chew the wires or unplug them. Because the hardwired heaters are being installed in a personal home, they are not eligible for grants or 501c3 funding.
THIS IS THE SECOND HEATER INSTALL!
About six years ago Susan paid to have an electrician install a recommended brand of heaters in the cat rooms and bathroom as backup heat.
They were a bust. Within a year, some of the on-off switches began breaking (pictured, use arrows in picture above) so heaters were stuck in the ON position. The plastic covers discolored from white to brown-yellow, and on some, the top grates showed signs of burning (also pictured) so we disconnected them all. The manufacturer offered no recourse other than to ship them all to Texas at our expense to have the on-off switches replaced.
Luckily the electrical wires that were run can still be used for new heaters, so it wasn't a complete bust.
THE FUTURE:
We hope that when this house is sold in the future, if it has passed a NYS rescue inspection (SOPs and facilities) another cat-loving person might purchase it to continue work in this area. However, again, because it is a personal home, the work is not eligible for the grants NYS offers to improve shelter facilities.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK:
If you can give a little to help, we'll start immediately purchasing heaters one by one and swap out the old ones before temperatures consistently drop below 60 at night (as they already have). We do have an electrician ready to help!
If you prefer another payment option, there is a PayPal link on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/owlhousecats
If you are unable to help financially (times are tough all around), we hope you'll keep an eye on our progress on Facebook. Every view and 'like' helps, too!