Published on Sep 1, 2013 by desertsun02
Candle Powered Heater DIY Space Heater. Clay/Terracotta pots absorb the thermal energy of the candles and convert it into radiant space heat. Reaches temperatures of 160F to 180F. Heater stays hot for hours. use caution, the inner chamber can reach 500F. heats a small area very effectively. uses 1 to 3 candles or more. could also use small alcohol lamps instead of the candles. of note: heater works by trapping and concentrating the heat that would normally just rise to the ceiling and quickly dissipate in the surrounding air. once pots have warmed up they stay hot for hours. I built both 2 and 3 pot heaters. the 2 pot heater seems much more effective (if you are using large thick pots). if the pots are smaller then 3 pots may be better.
really impressed with that. so simple. the clay pots and a bag of tea lights and you have emergency heating for a long time.
I believe there is a you tube how to make a small refrigerator with the same pots and evaporation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK93vzes_5g
interesting, thnx.
Found a way to have a much more STABLE base for the unit. I used an old 9 inch cast iron frying pan instead of the bread pan or meatloaf pan. Then fitted an upside down 8 inch round metal basket inside the cast iron frying pan that raised the flower pots level slightly higher (approx ⅞ of an inch) than the cast iron frying pan’s edge’s level to let oxygen to get to the flames. Cast iron frying pan’s handle also makes it easier to move the space heater, {if necessary}, besides giving it a low circular heavy base that is NOT going to be tipped over!
To modify (compact) the source of heat, the next thing to do is to put the vegetable shortening in the empty 12 oz. tuna fish can and then put an old saucer in a frying pan that was half full of water. Once the water came to a boil, place the can of vegetable shortening on the saucer. As the vegetable shortening melts, vanilla extract or lemon extract is added to the solution; this gives the vegetable shortening candle a very nice aroma while it burns. Keep adding vegetable shortening and the flavor extract until the can is full to the brim.
Cooling the liquid back into a solid is best performed by either placing the can in the refrigerator and/or the freezer. After the solution becomes solid, push four (4) of the small birthday cake candles equidistant from each other into the matrix. The birthday cake candles supplies wicks that are better than any DIY homemade wicks.
By melting the vegetable shortening first, this REMOVES all of the air that the manufacturer places in the product during its production. This will help insure 5+ hours of burn time per oz. for each wick in the matrix.
Now there is one (1) fire unit, instead of four (4) separate fire units, that should give the user 10+ hours of continuous burn time for their flower pot space heater!
The ‘secret’ to good design of any device is to REDUCE the number of functioning parts down to the bare minimum!
If the user wants to stick more with the original design, the user could also make a {lamp oil and/or cooking oil} candle out of an old 2.5 oz. baby food jar X 4 and use those instead of tea lights since the user can get about 5 hours of burn time for each ounce of fluid! This way the user can refill the fluid candle bottles as needed and there is a much less chance of the heater being knocked over.
for a small space thats cool as heck
Can make a few and place around the apartment. But I don’t think I would place it onto my living room carpet. :^0
. . .
Wow…y’all got carpet ? Heck Cathleen we just gonna sit it on the dirt inside the hootch…LOL 🙂
yeah but I do see a use for this.
So sorry you don’t have at least carpeting in your *hootch* oldvet. Still living in ‘Nam are ya?
Go to the dumpster behind a carpet store, grab some remnants and sew ’em together. Makes a nice patch work design.
Being resourceful is the key. I know you got it in ya. 😀
. . .
Yeah….LOL why didnt think of it for the man cave…LOL.
I see this as a good emergency tool for gridx if it becomes a reality…..pots,..candles,….small tarp…bottle of wine…fine lady to keep u company…ahh yes………a roughing it dream 🙂
I really appreciate all these prepping ideas. This one is great. I’ve got everything to make one of these right now. Thanks!
My Fellow Patriots:
This is a cool little design,.. but remember,. it does NOT create any extra heat or energy that is not inherent to the candles themselves.
This means that the only heat value, is determined by how much energy is available from the wax in the candles. The Clay Pots are really nothing more than a diffusion method to convert the convection cycle heat (the hot raising air), into radiant heat (infra red) as felt by the guy a couple of feet to side of the clay pots.
In the end,.. I’m going to guess that the two candles are about equivalent to a pint of Kerosene. There are 8 pints to a gallon, and about 120,000 BTU’s per gallon of Kerosene (approx.), so that means this candle system will output about 1/8 of 120,000 BTU’s, or about 15,000 BTU’s,.. which is about 3/4 of one of those 1 pound Coleman propane cylinders.
Niffty little trick to be sure,.. just remember,.. its the heat value of the energy source (candles in this case) that determines how much heat you will get out of the system,.. all the clay pots do, is help to convert the heat type from one to another (convection -> radiant).
Still pretty cool though!
JD – US Marines – I’ll will definitly keep that little trick in mind!
I appreciate your scientific mind JD. Thanks for breaking this down for us.
. . .
All that being said, I used to do a lot of backpacking in the Pecos National Wilderness. One year a buddy and I winter camped for a week and actually built an igloo. Two little brass candle lanterns kept the inside of the igloo well above freezing, and I’m sure they weren’t nearly as effective as this simple clay pot design.
The bonus is, the pots will radiate heat for a while, even after the candles go out. One could place some copper or something similar inside which would also heat up and radiate heat, similar to putting rocks in a campfire.
take plumbing pipe…bend in a spiral….fill with water…solder on two end caps…..place in side the pot……miniature radiator…(ie; heat sink)
I just love it when we “master mind” on a project. What comes out in the end is a new and improved product. 😀
. . .
Can you please specify bolt, nut and washer sizes please?
One that fits in the hole in the bottom of the pot. 🙂
:0 🙂
1/2 inch nuts, bolts and washers seem to work well with the pots I bought today.
You are all missing the real way this works, even Mr Marine. This works on Far-Infrared technology. Good luck finding info on it also. Far-infrared heating radiates the heat to warm things, including people. So you will have a room in which you and the things in there are warm, but if you test it with a thermometer to test the air temp it will seem a failure. It does work but not in the way most people are told through their science teachings.