Not necessarily. There are a couple of types of dimmer switches for lights at least. The old school, rheostats. Then the switched to ones with triacs for lights. I would have to look it up but I think the triac version isn’t compatible with led lights.
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I would be surprised if you could find an honest-to-goodness rheostat at a building supply. Too big, too hot, and too inefficient for modern times. Variacs, variable transformers, are great, but would break the bank. Triac dimmers are just about universal, but you have to choose an LED bulb that’s designed to work with a dimmer. For this application LED compatibility isn’t an issue. Heat lamps are incandescent, so you get the heat you need where you need it, not just in the socket 
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Harbor Freight sells rheostats for router speed reduction. Maybe a little more money but useful for a lot of other things around the homestead.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rheostat+harbor+freight
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It shows up with a search for “rheostat,” but inside it’s got a triac type circuit. When I was a kid, a rheostat was a big, relatively high power variable resistor. Most often, it had three terminals, like a potentiometer (pot), though only two were needed for adjusting current, and therefore speed or brightness, or whatever. To handle high currents, they’re made of ceramic, nichrome wire or tape, with bushings, shaft, and a wiper, made like a motor brush for really heavy duty. As you might guess, metal and ceramic are not cheap. Something that would probably handle a heat lamp, say 500 ohms and 300 watts, will set you back $60 us, and that happened to be from Aliexpress. Cost scales roughly as power, so they’re fine for dash lights, but painful for heat lamps.
That said (and more than enough ), while I wasn’t looking, “rheostat” may have become a generic term for power, voltage, or speed control. In any case, the router speed control is not too expensive, comes in a useful package with cord and outlet, and would be fine for heat lamps under 800 watts. You can save some by buying a lamp dimmer and an extension cord, and making your own, as Rindert showed.
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How is the micro homestead doing Marcus?
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Life has been mighty busy lately, sneaking in every available opportunity to go hiking, new job which is wonderfully 4 ten hour days. Interestingly that extra day off every week is immediately taken up by projects of all flavors, been deep on “holy crap it’s snowing and I don’t have firewood in yet!” Prep. Working with the rabbits and quail, discovering the ducks are probably the most messy animals I have ever had, just last week got 2 Werner pigs that we are raising at dads house. Last 2 days of crazy baking for a friends giving today
Couple packs of smoked coho from the freezer pile, 86 deviled quail eggs, one hen is a consistent double yoke layer
Life is busy busy busy right now. Already had one snowfall, and one wicked windstorm that resulted in 2 days without power. We survived just fine
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What new job? Inquiring minds want to know. Hopefully less hours commuting.
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Yes I’m significantly closer to home for work, an hour closer to be exact. It’s a odd job for me I’ll admit but I have a pattern over the years having friends that startup a company and I help get it off the ground and moving, this time around it’s a military surplus store. I run the warehouse and ship all the orders while my good friend the owner does all the marketing. One of the reasons I get to hike so much now is I am supplied with the equipment to do it and I’m paid to go out and take pictures and video for the company it’s very unique position that mixes obnoxious warehouse work with outdoors and I’m very much enjoying it. And for the first time in my life I’m paid what I’m worth that’s pretty damn nice haha
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Thanks for the honest video Marcus.
I just want to share what works for us and hopefully it helps you as well 
The smell, all poultry smell and are dusty buggars but if it is ammonia smell this is a sign that not enough carbon is added (i.e. wood/straw) use what you can get your hands on, we use wood shavings, sawdust and even wood chips work to catch the nitrogen in. Later we use the bedding to cover around trees or bushes as a slow release fertilizer and a weed suppresser at the same time, giving the tree or bush no competition for the fertilizer.
Put it as a layer on the collecting boards so the poop falls on it, it does wonders.
Feed waste, if you put your feeders with the openings at head height so the birds almost have to stretch a little bit you are going to lose less feed in our experience.
J-feeders, these are the ones we use for oystershell feeders for our chickens (4” sewage pipe)
In the bottom is a piece of half inch plywood resting on those roofing screws for easy cleaning. If I recall correctly your plastic sewage piping are glued and don’t have the rubber seal but if you do have those then keep the seal in, that will keep some of the stuff from being wasted as poultry likes to move stuff around with their beek as they eat or look for food. This should also have the bottom of the opening at head or top of neck height.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. If you hang up something like a piece of tarp like in your case halfway between the back and the door it will probably create a cosy and dark corner for them to feel safe to lay eggs where you want them to lay.
All of this is from our experience, we never had quail so I don’t know if it works the same but my guess is that it will.
/ Johan
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Eggsellent information johan, much appreciated!
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.
And no woodgas generator for the woodgas king?
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I don’t know when I will get at round to it, not having a big shop at work to play in during lunch break and after hours puts a serious hamper on fabrication projects but I have a pile of parts sitting that will eventually become I “think” I haven’t designed it completely yet but a small charcoal gassifier for the generator.
The problem I have is I just don’t have a reliable source of hardwood to make charcoal with, it’s to valuable for wood heating in the house and the plentiful Doug fir I just don’t believe will make a trouble free enough fuel source as charcoal. It’s so crumbly and dusty, in my mind it defeats the purpose of a charcoal gassifier being beginner friendly and easily operational. I really like the design @KristijanL made for his bcs, and I started accruing parts that would resemble that system but I truly have no idea when I will get to it.
I am searching for a cheap 2 vehicle carport right now that I can put in front of my shed and purpose into a small shop that I can resume building woodgas projects in, and even use as dry parking for both my trucks. It’s saddening how much rust is showing on both my trucks in this weather, I think we are on day 17? Of straight rain? That puts a serious damper on any outdoor projects. Im soaked right now out building a quail hutch for the meat birds that will be out of the brooder in the next 2 weeks, time ticking to get this done and them in it, with the next batch of eggs already 6 days into the incubator
Quail as meat birds sure keep you moving when you’re not ready to move that is for sure. The meat rabbits are considerably more hands off I think. But I also had hutches built and ready for them before I needed them. So partially my fault I guess
I still haven’t even put any siding on the woodshed/cage, tarps keep getting blown off in the wind and rain. Geo needs rear wheel cyclinders replaced something fierce, I can’t set the e brake overnight without fluid leaking out
And have the bosses suburban here as well needing work, it rusted out a rear brake line that is unobtainable and I have to build a new one, of which lying in a puddle bending lines is not appealing in the slightest
The work is never done, just trying to widdle down the list. Some daylight would be nice at least, this cloudy foggy mess just drives all your energy out after this long consistently just being dark and gloomy all day every day
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charcoal will help keep the smell down in your quail house especially if you can get them to eat it. Then it is all inoculated before throwing it on the garden. And every bit of carbon will help your garden. And it will keep the smell of your compost down as well.
You might also be getting it too hot so it is more brittle then necessary, but I haven’t dealt with much pine.
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I agree that bio-char would be an excellent base for any kind of poultry house floor. Once it’s washed it is not dirty unless you re-crush it I guess. Most poultry needs some form of grit for digestion and char would be a good choice. It’s what I use for my worms. It will absorb an enormous amount of urine with no odor. Not sure what it does with feces. When it’s served it’s chick house purpose it still has exceptional value.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653520326047
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The bacteria in the chickens gut multiply as they take residence in the biochar… At least that is what happens with other animals.
Here is an article for specifically for poultry feed and litter.
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Follow up on these j feeders, the rabbits use them just fine including all the little ones. And now I super sized them to test as quail feeders. This will take the feed tote out of the cage giving the birds more space inside, should even out the manure trays which always have a clean spot where the feeders sit I may get another day between cleaning the droppings, and hopefully further reduce feed spillage 
these feeders also hold twice as much feed so hopefully 4-5 days between refills like the watering system already does. The cardboard template if it works will get replaced with the same politic signs I used for the egg tray covers (best use of political signs I ever seen) and the same material I’ll make up a ziptie mount to the cage lid for the feeder
The big grow out pen is doing good so far other then I had to remove the automatic watering system due to freezing temps the last few weeks and using a tradition water cup and a heat lamp to keep it defrosted. I built a lid covered version that will go on that cage
Snowing and blowing so I made these next to a toasty warm fire today
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I got one better than that; I use them for quail poop trays
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Let’s call it a draw 
cause that’s a SOLID use too haha
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