Allied Precision Industries (650) Heated Bird Bath with Mounting Bracket, Light Stone Color, 20" Diameter

There have been so many five star reviews that I'll just add a few points and then address some of the negative comments I considered before buying the heated bird bath. In short, this product has enhanced our enjoyment, minimized our chore time, and eliminated inconvenience while improving access to fresh water for many birds and small critters. For many years we relied on an unheated tempered glass bird bath, until it shattered when I bumped it while thawing it to remove ice, and then added hot water too quickly. Since then we have used an upside down trash can lid. Of course, the water in both would freeze, and on really cold days I would remove ice and replace the water two or three times a day. That was an inconvenient chore! And, the early birds got neither worm nor access to water. We still use the larger trash-can lid bath, which is large enough for small flocks and far enough away for wary and big crows, but I only change the water once in that bath, in the morning, and then let it freeze if the day is really cold. Meanwhile, our wonderful new heated bird bath keeps the water fluid even when the temperature is in the teens. Also, it is on a deck rail about twelve feet from our family room, so we have a great view. The birds really like it so there is a lot of activity for us and our indoor cat to enjoy. I am also pleased how easy it is to clean: just release the latch, tip it up, and that dumps the old water. About a gallon is enough to rinse it out and fill it up. We considered the negative reviews carefully before buying, and, while reassured by all the helpful positive reviews, were slightly anxious when putting it to use. Here is what we found about some of the negative points, which all turned out to be fine for us. Complaint about difficulty/impossibility of leveling the bird bath: yes, it is not level, as it is tipped somewhat so that the side toward the viewer is lower. That is actually a design feature that makes it easier to see the birds as the view is not blocked by an upraised edge. It's not a problem for the birds either as we have seen even small chickadees drinking while perched on the higher, rear edge. However, if a buyer wants perfect order and symmetry in their life whatever the cost to enjoyment, this desirable feature could be a problem. Mounting on the rail: we have standard 2" X 6" rails (which are actually by standard custom 1 1/2" X 5 1/2") and the clamp was easy to install and holds the unit in place just fine. Installation took just minutes. We have had high winds and likely some night visits from hefty raccoons, so the unit has been put to the test. However, I did reverse a grip piece at first before quickly spotting my error in following the directions, and I suspect some negative reviewers made the same mistake but did not correct it. That would likely make the unit unstable. Adequacy of the latch: again, it works just fine for us. It both holds well and is easy to release and reengage - a very nice design. Birds not coming: some commenters were disappointed that their intended customers were no-shows. That was the case for about three days with us, but we have been feeding birds and providing water for years, and that has taught us that it takes a while for the little critters to get used to changes. I suspect some negative reviewers were not aware of this and did not give adequate time for birds to get used to the bath before writing their reviews. Placing some seed near the bath might help expedite acceptance. Overall, we are greatly pleased with this attractive, functional, durable, helpful, well-designed and enjoyable product!

I bought the Allied Precision Industries 650 bird bath earlier this year as a gift for my wife. We dont have a deck so I mounted it on a 4x4 post with a 2x6 across the top (makes up for the deck rail). I added a couple sections of 2x6 on the sides of the post to provide better support for the 2x6 on top. Attaching the bracket was easy enough... I recommend actually reading the instructions...lol. Anyway, I used it un-heated all summer and the birds really like it. The only issue I noticed is that algae seems to grow gaster on this plastic bath compared other bath materials (glass, copper, cement). I would state that the bath is in full hot KS sun for much of the day so this doesnt help the algae issue. The cleaning however is easy if you keep up with it (I recomend dumping the bowl and re-filling every other day. Its now a part of my morning routine when I feed the dogs; quick dump and I just add 2 to 4 quarts of water from a pitcher). I also do have some issues with the latch as other reviewers have mentioned... this even after installing correctly per instructions. I will modify the latch later, but for now I put a bungee cord around it to help ensure it doesn't flip up. Before doing this there had been several times when I've come home to find the bath flipped (likely from a squirrel or hawk sitting on the side of the bath opposite the latch). Now that its winter, the true purpose of the bath comes in view. Yesterday (Christmas morning in Leavenworth KS) it was 9° F outside and the bath wasn't frozen. This morning its 22° F and also not frozen. Its been a dry winter so far so this bath has become a critical water source in my opinion. In the early morning the birds are coming in to drink non-stop. Matter of fact, I dumped it yesterday to add fresh water and I already need to add more this morning. Overall I definitely recommend this bath. I plan to buy a second (I do get that much use and have specific birds that like to feed on one end of my yard and other birds on the other end). So far for winter Ive had it plugged in since Nov 2020. I will provide an update at the end of winter as well. I appologize for the video quality as it was taken with my phone through the window and I had to zoom. Final note, the bath is intermingled between feeders which helped the birds to notice it. I think most will find that it may take the birds a few days to notice it and start using... especially if you put it up in spring or summer when water is more available...at least where I live. Oh and the birds like the shallow depth for bathing. I have a deeper bath that is great for drinking, but the birds rarely bathe in it. Hope this helps you all decide.

I bought this bird bath in the summer time not knowing how it would hold up through the winter. Well I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by how amazing this bird bath is! We’ve had subzero temps here recently and we got a foot of snow yesterday and this bird bath keeps working like a charm. There will be snow and ice all around it but the water itself never freezes and most of the time I can see steam coming off of it! It’s like a little birdy spa. The birds love it! They all pile in and drink and take baths in it, even when it’s this cold! Must be like a birdy hot tub for them :). I loved this bird bath so much that I bought a second one to put in my front yard. I have the backyard one secured to deck railing. It’s super easy and convenient to use the latch to dump the old water out and put fresh water in. The front yard bird bath is just on the ground resting on my garden stone tile. It’s very sturdy and has never come close to tipping over even when squirrels drink from it! I’m very happy with this purchase. I leave it plugged in all the time and like I said, even with subzero temps, the water stays nice and toasty for the birdies. It’s been so fun watching them drink and play in it. And it’s large enough for a few to get in at the same time. I saw 6 starlings in it at the same time yesterday!

Update: We've had a couple days in a row in the single digits and no ice is forming in the center, just a touch around the rim. Plenty of heat to keep open water. We bought this to create a full-service dining experience for our feathered (and some uninvited furry) friends during the winter. It's a thumbs up from us with a couple caveats. As others have noted, the official product photo definitely needs to be replaced to show the product's true shape (about the size and depth of a plastic trash can lid) and with a slightly rough texture. All in all, it seems quite sturdy. The same isn't as true for the clamping mechanism. Its design is straightforward, but I wish it was built from slightly thicker steel as even relatively modest tightening causes it to deform. The tip mechanism, likewise, is simple to operate but could be designed to snap together more securely. I have a modest concern that in high winds, the clip may not be sufficient to hold the birdbath in place, but we'll see. To keep it from running during increasingly common midwinter warm spells, I connected the bath to a Thermo Cube thermostatic outlet, which so far--only a few weeks--seems to be working fine. (A fair number of Amazon reviewers report that the Cubes can fail pretty quickly.) The attached photo shows the bath at an outside temperature of 17F degrees showing no ice on the surface. I plugged some Christmas lights into the second outlet on the cube so I could tell when it's on and off more easily, in case it decides to fail and lock in one position or the other, and to add some ambiance to the avian decor. Thus far the birds are much more interested in using it as a drinking fountain than a bath, but I can't really blame them. All in all, I'm happy with the purchase, and so are the birds!

Very nice unit. Easy to put on my railing and it worked well throughout the winter. I liked the fact that I could tilt it and dump the water to refill with fresh water. Our doves loved swimming and playing in it. It did blow off during a very gusty wind, tho.

I've had this bird bath for years and I love it. The birds flock to it and take baths together, and in the winter it's heated so they can still bathe and enjoy it. Fits nicely on the edge of my deck rail. The squirrels and the raccoons love it too. 😏

Afraid I made a bit of a science project out of this. Two months ago I decided to put out a heated bird bath, did a lot of research and felt the API 650 seemed best suited to my purpose, though I did note complaints about the bracket. Being very mechanical, I can say the bracket would not be sturdy enough for squirrels jumping on the rim _unless_ you simply add three screws through the bracket and into the deck rail. See attached photo. I needed to level my deck rail else the water would have been rather shallow on one side. The EZ-Tilt Deck Mount works fine when you are used to it. The first time you try to use it, if you simply lift the rim instead of grasping while you lift, you can be surprised as the water sloshes over to the side of the bowl, which causes the bowl to accelerate away from you. The bracket does separate and the bowl can easily flip right over and down to the ground when you only meant to tilt it. Non-issue for me after using it once. In two months and counting, no critters have knocked it loose. See attached photos. I was a little concerned about needing to fill it frequently due to rapid evaporation in the super dry air that comes with the coldest days. I knew (from farm upbringing) that heating elements designed for immersion shouldn’t be allowed to go dry. I couldn’t find solid info on the temperature setting so I decided to add this Inkbird Itc-308 Digital Temperature Controller Outlet Thermostat, 2-stage, 1100w, w/ Sensor temperature controller. See attached photos. The copper wire is clipped to the edge of the bowl and then spiraled around the sensor of the temperature controller for two reasons: 1) to keep the sensor in a good place, 2) to keep a little gap between the heating element and the sensor. I was able to form the wire so it snaps into place on the rim of the bowl, so the birds don’t move the sensor out of the water. The gap is needed for the controller to work best (minimizes overshoot). I used copper wire for the same reason they put pennies in bird baths - copper helps reduce growth of bacteria in the water. We had a cold spell with lows around 10 F and highs around 28 F, roughly. I found a setting of 40°F (on) to 42°F (off) was the lowest possible setting that keeps the surface 95% ice-free. I also measured the built-in settings were 50°F (on) to 63°F (off). That’s too warm for my intent. UPDATE October 2019: It worked fine all last winter. It still looks in good shape (albeit dirty) despite being out in the sun and weather year round. Hopefully it will kick on next month when we get some freezing nights.

It works nicely as far as keeping the water temperature perfect in below freezing weather. We had some difficulty installing it on our deck railing (2 x 4) and leveling the birdbath. Eventually, a trip to the lumberyard was necessary to get a piece that is 2x6 to nail on our deck railing. Installation went much better on the 2x6. Also needed some thin pieces of wood to shim it up and level it. The "latch" to keep it from tipping is not too secure and a squirrel jumped on the far end and tipped it over. Since it was cold and the squirrel was soaked and cold, this didn't happen again, but the bottom line it can be easily tipped. If you have a long extension cord you have to be careful not to let it sit below the snow line. Our birdbath is fairly close to our outlet and we were able to wind it a few timesThe pros are that the heater works very well and it is super easy to clean out debris by tipping and rinsing. You do have to watch it so the water doesn't evaporate. The bath itself is on the deep side for a bird bath but the rim provides a secure perch for the birds (and squirrels) to drink. Incidentally, you need a screwdriver and rachet wrench to install. I believe the installation depends on your decking and, like us, you may have to become creative if it doesn't work right away.

There were no assembly instructions included and there are small parts we never used because my husband (who is mechanically inclined) could not discover where they should be used. Very unimpressed. Once he set it up and plugged it in everything was fine. So far chickadees and doves have used the birdbath and we hope other varieties will find their way to using the birdbath as the weather plummets. Hoping to snap a picture - if the birds will stay put long enough to let us do so.

Really easy to clean when the weather is very cold, and ice formed on the rim. Light weight, therefore easy to tip the water out as the enclosed heating element does its job well. Ice only formed on the rim and is easy to get rid of. It is big and holds enough water so evaporation does not empty out the water. Birds of all sizes love to drink and frolic in it. It is expensive, but all things considered, worth the money. Should have invested in this bird bath before buying others that don't work as well and have to be discarded.

Easy to assemble and clean. Even in the coldest weather the water doesn't freeze. So far the squirrels are the only ones enjoying fresh water but it's with hope the birds will discover it soon! I flipped it up once to empty old water and the whole thing went flying off the railing. Still, no damage and I just adjusted the nuts & bolts and seems fine.

It was great having birds all winter. It is not coming very clean anymore but still very usable and I can put up with the stains as long as it does not effect the water. THE BIRDS LOVE IT

I was replacing a 10 plus year old Allied Precision Heated Bird Bath with a new one. These bird baths work excellent and last a long time. They are worth the price.