Birds do not contribute to global warming but they are seeing the impacts of it more than us humans. In fact, there are 329 bird species on the brink of extinction, and fossil fuels are not helping. So when you buy a bird bath or fountain, make sure you are not contributing to climate change by emitting fossil fuels to power the fountain.
The cheapest and easiest way to do this is by getting a solar powered pump for your bird bath or fountain. In the long run, it’s actually much cheaper because you don’t have to pay for power from your electric utility! The fountain will do it’s thing every day for free.
What about when the sun is down? Fountains don’t need to operate 24/7 to do their job. In fact, that would be a waste of energy. Fountain pumps only need to run a few hours a day to keep bacteria and bugs out, maintain clean water, keep the water from freezing, and delight your birds.
Check out these solutions for your bird bath, fountain or pond, your birds will thank you by coming around more.
OKMEE Solar Fountain Pump Review
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This is our favorite out of the box solution for a solar powered bird fountain. It fits right in almost any bird fountain and it just works. We highly recommend keeping it simple with an all in one solution like this.
You don’t want to be running wires in through the water of your pond or fountain if you can avoid it. Even at these low voltages it may be dangerous, it looks bad, and it’s just not efficient.
The only time we would use a multi-part solution with a separate solar panel is if there’s absolutely no sunlight where the birdbath is or if you need a very high powered solution for a large pond.
For most of, we can buy something like this OKMEE bird fountain and call it a day. For small ponds, put one of these on both ends.
SolaTec Solar Fountain Review
The SolaTec is very similar to OKMEE. It’s an all in one package and it’s a really awesome solution that works right out of the box. No wiring, no risk of getting shocked, just happy birds.
It’s cheaper but the OKMEE is slightly higher quality and has better reviews so we stick with that as our top choice. The new version of the SolaTec does look higher quality and we will give that a try soon. In fact, we will do a side-by-side comparison this winter and see which ones do a better job.
Solar prices have come down so much it’s really a no brainer to buy either of these, what have you got to loose?
Sunliten Solar Fountain Review
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If you don’t have good sunlight in your fountain, or you can’t fit one of the all-in-one solar fountains in your bird bath, then you’ll have to buy a solar fountain system with a detached solar panel.
These are far more flexible and work for a much wider variety of situations. This method also allows to introduce energy storage batteries so the pump can run even after the sun goes down.
The most basic, simple (and cheapest!) of these systems is the Sunlitec solar fountain. It has a solar panel, a small pump, and cable that connects the two. You’ll have to find a good spot to hang the solar panel near the fountain with good sunlight, then connect the panel to the fountain.
We don’t like having the cable showing, but there are creative ways to hide the wiring.
This type of solution can even work for an indoor fish tank, or a fountain in a garage or enclosed space. Simply set up the solar panel outside where it gets full sun, and run the cable wherever you need the pump.
SmartSolar Ceramic Bird Bath Review
The 21372R01 by SmartSolar is a popular choice on Amazon that looks awesome with a beautiful ceramic fish. It includes a solar panel, but be aware that it is a detached solar panel that needs to be wired to the pump in the fish pond.
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This classic fountain has a blue ceramic koi fish that spits water to the birds, very fun.
However, because it’s ceramic it should not be used year-round and can get very damaged from the freeze thaw cycles of northern climates. If you live in a zone without much freezing, this is a great option.
Conclusion
Depending on your situation, there’s likely a solar powered to maintain your pond. All these bird bath pumps can help keep your water clean, unfrozen, bug-free, bacteria free, and oxygenated. Exactly what birds are looking for, and hard to come by.
