Need help preparing for winter

[Chichireeo]

This is our first winter in northern California and i need to start thinking about heating. My cage is in a small room, so with the door closed, there's only a small areas I need to heat.
I searched this forum and read some people use oil filled heaters. Is this type ok?
http://www.lowes.com:80/pd_167509-47166 ... facetInfo=

Is there another space heater maybe someone has used and liked?

I also have a small avitemp panel but it is only 35 watts.

During the summer, I wheel the cage outdoor for sunshine. Can I continue to do this if say, the temperature is in the 50's, sunny, and I
have a 150 watt heat lamp?

We have been relying on the sun for full spectrum. If we can't go outside during the winter, or if it rains a lot, then I guess I would need to look into a good full spectrum lamp. If a bird gets full sun once a week, is that enough for the vitamin D requirement?

Sorry so many questions at once.
Thanks in advance for your help!

[ac12]

You are lucky to have them in a room. You can heat that room w/o heating the rest of the house. Mine house has an open floor plan, and the birds are in the open family room, so I have to heat the entire house. I keep the thermostat so the min temp is about 55F, but since you have a small room, you can put the temp higher, maybe 65F.

[debbie276]

The heater looks good to me. I've used a couple different ones and they all worked fine. The only difference I found was ease of use. The dial ones you have to fuss with to get the right temp tho the digital ones you set and go. I use one in an outdoor "birdhouse" and the temps get well below 30f in the winter, never had a problem with it being able to keep the area warm.

[Chichireeo]

Hi Gary, yeah it's great to have birds where they can see family action. But I don't want to heat the whole house. So this would mean a lot of times my bird has to be alone in his room. I hope he has a hen by then.

[Chichireeo]

Thanks Debbie, ok I'll go get this heater, or one like it. These are compact and not very expensive.

[debbie276]

These are compact and not very expensive.

And oh so handy!

[CandoAviary]

I use those type heaters also. Here in Florida we have some cold nights. I cover the outdoor aviaries with thick plastic and set a radiater inside on 60%. I took the bottom off of a flight cage and set the cage over the top of the heater. The birds are not able to land directly on the heater and burn their feet but they can line up on the top of the cage and toast their little feathers bums
I have several branches hung from the top of the aviary (It is an enclosed carport so has a solid roop) As the heat rises these perches are usually the perfect temperature. They can also easily move to a cooler spot if they desire.

The thick plastic really cuts down on the natural sunlight but they do fine for the short winters we have. I will also suppliment them with Vitamin D if it has been really overcast or a longer period without good sunlight.