I disabled my refrigerator defroster, installed all LED DC lighting, heat pump water heater, propane stove, and today I come home to this in the living room.
One trick I read about is to get a chest-type freezer, and set it to refrigerator temperature. When you open the door, the cold air doesn't fall out, and you wind up using about 1/10 the electricity of a standard refrigerator. Of course, it would eat up a lot of floor space...
Did I mention she was also running the air conditioner and the wood stove at the same time. I eventually bought more batteries, installed more panels and hooked the defroster back up. The freezer quit freezing after a few months.
Would a heated reptile rock work? Most of them draw 40w, have a thermostat and don't draw power all the time. So they draw 1/5 the power when on. Worst case scenario the heated rock draws 1\8 the power of a heat lamp.
Yes, we have a big wire cage in the barn for them but it has chickens in it and I think she is afraid they will get in with these...actually I think she just wants them in the house and is using that as an excuse.
I pushed them over next to the wood stove last night and they were nice and toasty without the light.
Mine got nothing but a 40 watt incandescent light bulb and they fared very well. an older incandescent automotive 12 volt bulb will function as well, so you don't have to use AC power . In natural life a laying hen does not put out that much heat.