Farm Innovators vs Premier 1 Heated Waterer: Three Units, Seven Differences
The choice between Farm Innovators and Premier 1 comes down to your winter lows and to how your birds drink. Premier 1 rates its 3-gallon nipple waterer to −20 °F and for up to 35 adult birds, as documented on our Premier 1 page. Farm Innovators recommends its HPF-100 fountain for use to 0 °F and its HB-60P nipple drinker to −10 °F. For most backyard flocks in moderate winters the HPF-100 remains our pick; for deep cold and larger flocks it is the Premier 1.
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The short version
Choose by the coldest nights you expect. The Farm Innovators HPF-100 is a 3-gallon, 100-watt fountain with an open trough, recommended for use to 0 °F. The Farm Innovators HB-60P is a 2-gallon, 60-watt nipple drinker for up to 15 chickens, recommended to −10 °F. The Premier 1 heated poultry waterer holds 3 gallons, draws 100 watts, has three nipples and is rated to −20 °F for up to 35 adult birds. All three prevent ice; none serves warm water.
Farm Innovators and Premier 1 Supplies are the two brands behind the first and the cold-weather choice in our comparison of the best heated chicken waterers. The brand name decides little. Three documented units stand behind the two names, and they differ in rated temperature, capacity and the way the birds reach the water.
The Farm Innovators figures come from the manufacturer's product pages and instruction sheets, which we read for this comparison. The Premier 1 figures are the ones documented on our Premier 1 heated poultry waterer page; the manufacturer's product page could not be retrieved again for this comparison, so nothing about that unit is stated here beyond what that page already holds. We run no product tests, and no independent laboratory test of any heated poultry waterer was found.
Our pick for waterAd
Farm Innovators
Farm Innovators HPF-100, 3 gal
A complete 3-gallon heated fountain with a built-in thermostat for a dry, sheltered spot in the coop.
Why here: Our pick for most backyard flocks: a complete 3-gallon fountain with an open trough and a thermostat, rated by the manufacturer to keep water from freezing down to 0 °F.
Best for: Small backyard flocks in regions where winter lows stay above about 0 °F.
What speaks for it
All-in-one: reservoir, trough and 100 W heater in one unit
Thermostatically controlled: operates only when temperatures fall below 35 °F (instruction sheet)
Foldable legs allow three heights (manufacturer)
Manufacturer publishes instructions and a one-year guarantee
What to know first
Rated to keep water from freezing down to 0 °F only (manufacturer) – not the choice for deep northern cold
Fills from the bottom, so it has to be taken down and turned over
Open trough gets dirtier than nipples do
An indoor product for a dry, sheltered area, placed on a hard, flat surface and protected from wind (instruction sheet); the product page says “designed to hang”
Needs a grounded cord and plug on a fixed GFCI outlet (NFPA, instruction sheet)
Type
Heated fountain with trough
Power
100 W
Capacity
3 gal
Thermostat
built in; operates below 35 °F (instruction sheet)
Use
Hard, flat surface in a dry, sheltered area (instruction sheet); fills from the bottom
Premier 1 heated waterer (as documented on our Premier 1 page)
Kind
Fountain with open trough
Bucket with side nipples
Waterer with three recessed nipples
Capacity
3 gal
2 gal
3 gal
Heater
100 W
60 W
100 W
Lowest temperature named
0 °F
−10 °F (instruction sheet)
−20 °F
Thermostat
Operates below 35 °F
Operates below 35 °F
On at 40 °F, off at 60 °F
Birds
Not stated
Up to 15 chickens, up to 5 hens per nipple
Up to 35 adult birds
Filling
From the bottom, unit turned over
Top comes off
Top-fill cap
Placement
Hard, flat surface in a dry, sheltered area
Hard, flat surface or hung
Carried or hung
How the maker classes it
Indoor product
Outdoor product
Not classed in our product data
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
This selection covers only products sold on Amazon. It is not a market overview. Products are compared by manufacturer and listing data, not by hands-on testing. How we evaluate
Comparison: Farm Innovators HPF-100, 3 gal, Farm Innovators HB-60P, 2 gal, Premier 1 heated waterer, 3 gal
This is the widest gap. Premier 1 states −20 °F for its waterer, as documented on our Premier 1 page. The Farm Innovators instruction sheets recommend the HB-60P for operational use to −10 °F and the HPF-100 to 0 °F. For the HB-60P the figure stands only in the instruction sheet; the product page names no lowest temperature.
None of these numbers includes wind. Both Farm Innovators sheets say “Protect from wind!”, and a sheltered spot is the sensible place for any of the three.
2. Trough or nipples
The HPF-100 is the only one of the three with an open trough. Birds drink from it without learning anything, and bedding and droppings get into it. The other two are closed containers with nipples, which keeps the water cleaner and takes some training.
The HB-60P sheet describes the training: remove all other water sources, then tap or push each metal pin so that water flows and the birds see it. It also describes the nipples as drip-free and freeze-free, meaning that shaft, spring and seal stay unfrozen; the red outer reservoir is not heated, and a little ice there is called normal. More nipple units are compared under heated nipple waterers.
3. Capacity and flock size
Two of the units hold 3 gallons, the HB-60P holds 2. Premier 1 names up to 35 adult birds for its three nipples. Farm Innovators names up to 15 chickens for the HB-60P, and its sheet adds that each nipple accommodates up to 5 hens. For the HPF-100 the manufacturer gives no bird count.
Farm Innovators gives one number: both sheets say the product is thermostatically controlled to operate only when temperatures fall below 35 °F. Premier 1 publishes both switching points, on at 40 °F and off at 60 °F, and adds that the water in the basin does not get warm.
For the reader that means the same thing in all three cases: the heater prevents ice and is off in mild weather. Whether that is enough is answered under do heated chicken waterers work.
5. Where each may stand
The two Farm Innovators sheets differ from each other. The HPF-100 is called an indoor product for use only in a dry sheltered area, placed directly on a hard and flat surface. The product page says it is designed to hang; this site goes by the instruction sheet. The HB-60P is called an outdoor product and may stand on a hard flat surface or hang in the coop area from a rope and fastener, which are not included.
The Premier 1 waterer can be carried or hung, according to its manufacturer (as documented on our Premier 1 page).
6. Filling
The HPF-100 fills from the bottom. Its sheet has you turn the whole unit upside down onto the four legs on top of the reservoir, pull the rubber stopper, fill, replace the stopper and turn the unit upright. The HB-60P has a removable top, and the Premier 1 a top-fill cap. If the waterer has to be refilled in the dark with cold hands, that difference matters more than it looks on paper.
7. Cord and outlet
Premier 1 supplies a detachable 16-foot grounded cord and asks for a circuit protected by a GFCI. The HB-60P sheet says to plug the cord into a fully grounded 120-volt receptacle, and the HPF-100 sheet names a GFCI receptacle.
The NFPA tip sheet for backyard coops has a line for these devices: be careful with electrically heated poultry waterers, and make sure the cord and plug are properly grounded. It also says: “Do not use extension cords in the coop.” This site follows that line: a fixed, GFCI-protected outlet within reach of the unit's own cord. What that takes is described under electricity to the chicken coop.
What the two brands have in common
A thermostat and a one-year warranty on all three units.
Ice prevention, not warm water.
Ratings that are the manufacturers' own. Nobody independent has checked them.
Daily checks stay. A heated waterer still runs empty and still gets dirty. The HB-60P sheet says not to let the unit operate without water.
Take Farm Innovators if, take Premier 1 if
Which one for which coop?
If you winter lows stay above about 0 °F and the birds drink from a trough → Farm Innovators HPF-100, 3 gal
The HPF-100 is the straightforward choice where winters are moderate and the flock is used to a trough. The Premier 1 waterer is the documented answer for deep cold and for flocks of up to 35 birds. The HB-60P sits between them: nipples, a small reservoir and a rating of −10 °F. The full data for each brand, with the sources for the Premier 1 unit, is on the pages Farm Innovators heated chicken waterers and Premier 1 heated poultry waterer. Ways to keep water liquid without any of them are collected under how to keep chicken water from freezing.
Questions keepers ask
Which is better, the Farm Innovators or the Premier 1 heated waterer?
Neither is better across the board, and no independent test compares them. The Premier 1 has the lowest manufacturer rating, −20 °F, and the highest bird count, up to 35 adult birds. The Farm Innovators HPF-100 offers an open trough that birds use without training, and it is recommended for use to 0 °F. The Farm Innovators HB-60P is the small nipple drinker for up to 15 chickens. Pick by winter lows, flock size and drinking system.
Which of the three is rated for the coldest weather?
The Premier 1 heated poultry waterer: its manufacturer states that it keeps water flowing down to −20 °F, as documented on our Premier 1 page. The instruction sheet of the Farm Innovators HB-60P recommends that unit for operational use to −10 °F, and the sheet of the HPF-100 names 0 °F. All three figures are the makers' own. Both Farm Innovators sheets ask to protect the unit from wind.
Do these heated waterers warm the water?
No. Premier 1 states that its thermostat switches on at 40 °F and off at 60 °F and that the water in the basin does not get warm. The Farm Innovators instruction sheets say the HPF-100 and the HB-60P are thermostatically controlled to operate only when temperatures fall below 35 °F. The devices keep water from freezing. Nothing in the sources read for this site supports a need for warm water.
Can I use an open trough and nipples side by side?
For a changeover, the Farm Innovators instruction sheet for the HB-60P says to remove all other water sources and tap each nipple pin so that water shows, which gets the birds to peck at it. A flock that already drinks from a trough needs no such step with the HPF-100. Ducks are a separate case: Premier 1 also suggests offering them water in a pan so that they can submerge their heads.
Coop heat, winter water and the sources behind both
We are the editorial team at chickencoopheater.com. We read what university extension services, the NFPA and manufacturers publish about heating a coop and keeping water liquid, and turn it into plain-English buying advice with the sources on every page.