# Cheap and easy way to heat a room if the power goes out this winter.



## Happyflowerlady (Nov 15, 2013)

I found an article online about how to easily heat a room using tea lite candles, and flowerpots, and it can actually be done for pennies a day. The basic idea is to take 4 little tea candles and put them into a loaf pan, and then you invert a small clay flowerpot over the top, and cover the hole with a quarter, or other similar sized object. You then put a larger flowerpot over the first one, but leave the hole uncovered, thus creating a heat trap, and it will escape out the top, and from the warm sides, and will warm up your room. 
This would be great to do if the electricity goes out, or even just for a little extra heat in a chilly room.
I think it would also work for a greenhouse, if you had an extra cold nite and were worried about plants out there getting too cold.
It would also be fine for a back porch or garage laundry room, to keep the pipes from freezing. 


http://www.realfarmacy.com/how-to-heat-your-room-for-15-cents-a-day/


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 15, 2013)

Sounds good Happyflowerlady!


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 16, 2013)

Found this worthwhile caution on another site:

[h=3]_CAUTION!
_[/h]_Be aware that the baking dish and pots will become VERY HOT! DO NOT TOUCH THEM without oven gloves whilst the candle is alight.

_
_*NEVER leave a naked flame unattended*. Blow it out before you leave  the room. Be aware that paraffin is toxic - you need to ventilate the  room if you try this out. 

_
_Tealights are fossil fuel based - this idea is just a start. Let's  get creative - consider making beeswax tealights or using coconut oil.  We will be posting new ideas every day so do please drop by again!_


Also, don't forget to report your candle usage to the EPA so they can calculate your carbon footprint.  













​​


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## SifuPhil (Nov 16, 2013)

Interesting thing about paraffin is that it is the "bottom of the barrel" cut in oil refining, even after asphalt. 

This is what it looks like before it is further refined through the removal of oils and solvents - it's called _slack wax_ ...



Depending upon the efficiency of the refining process you might end up with a paraffin cut that still has much of the oil and solvent in it, thus posing a health hazard. If it were economically feasible you'd be best served with a candle made of food-grade paraffin, but of course the price would likely quadruple.


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## That Guy (Nov 17, 2013)




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## dbeyat45 (Nov 17, 2013)

That Guy said:


>



I feel much warmer ....


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## Warrigal (Nov 17, 2013)

Hmmm. 
How is a candle going to keep burning after you invert a clay pot over it and close off the only air hole with a coin?
In any case, the amount of heat produced cannot exceed the calorific content of the very small paraffin candles.
Sounds a bit optimistic to me.


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 18, 2013)

Warrigal said:


> Hmmm.
> How is a candle going to keep burning after you invert a clay pot over it and close off the only air hole with a coin?
> In any case, the amount of heat produced cannot exceed the calorific content of the very small paraffin candles.
> Sounds a bit optimistic to me.


I was waiting for your response Warrigal.... and I'm only slightly disappointed.


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## Warrigal (Nov 18, 2013)

Why disappointed? 
I was a science teacher, remember ?
Year 7 science - I'm sure you witnessed the candle in the sealed gas jar experiment.


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 18, 2013)

Warrigal said:


> Why disappointed?
> I was a science teacher, remember ?
> Year 7 science - I'm sure you witnessed the candle in the sealed gas jar experiment.



You obviously didn't watch the video ......


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## SifuPhil (Nov 18, 2013)

Actually I was a bit suspicious of this method from the beginning ... 

There have been studies made on the heat-generating abilities of candles, and if you account for room size and construction and outdoor temperature, and you do all the maths, it turns out that heating by tea candles / flowerpots is vastly inferior to even an electric space heater utilizing mineral oil as a transfer fluid. 

The computer in that video is giving off more heat than those candles, and the price of tea candles, at least here in the U.S., is such that even the best bargain you can find is going to be $5 or $6 / 100, thus making their cost more than if you used electricity. 

4 candles @ $0.05 ea. = 208 watts for 4 hours = $0.20 
Space heater for same amount of heat output for 4 hours at $0.12/kwh (national avg.) = $0.10

Half the price ...

ETA: And yeah, I just noticed the title said "If your power goes out", so there's that ...


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## Warrigal (Nov 18, 2013)

OK, I didn't watch the video but I have now.
I have to agree that the method would warm a tiny room a little bit.
As Phil pointed out, other methods could be a lot cheaper, depending on local prices.


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 18, 2013)

Warrigal said:


> [ Snip ]
> As Phil pointed out, other methods could be a lot cheaper, depending on local prices.


 .... and safer for home and owner.


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## Katybug (Nov 18, 2013)

Good info, as it's happened here many times.  Most of the neighborhoods around Charlotte are covered in hundred+ yr old oaks, and mine has an overabundance.  When a limb goes down, it can sometimes royally screw us with losing power.  Ice storms are rarely the culprit, just a rotten limb.  I usually pack up and go to my daughter's house, or if it's late at night just pile on the covers and comforted that our power company is always totally on top of it and it's back on pronto. 

For those in the colder states, this is great info to have on hand, as it's sometimes days w/o power.


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## SifuPhil (Nov 18, 2013)

I wonder if you can also keep the air conditioning going in Florida with this method? 

Light the candle, blow it out, suck the heat out of the room. Light the candle, blow it out, suck the heat out of the room ...


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## Happyflowerlady (Nov 18, 2013)

I am sure that other methods would be more efficient for heating, and I was looking at the little candles and thinking that they would not produce much heat, even considering that they warm the clay, and it radiates better than just the candles would do. However, I then was remembering when the tornadoes hit here in early spring, and although not freezing, it WAS cold, plus we had no way to even heat water for coffee.
 I brought in the little outdoor fireplace, and we had a small propane bottle to run it, and that was how we had coffee. 
This simple flower pot idea, although not sophisticated, would have kept us warm, and allowed for making coffee, as well as heating up simple foods on the top, and it would not be hard to keep the components on hand in case they were needed.

When I was living with no electricity and water in north Idaho, I used a kerosene heater to try and warm the trailer. One night it clogged up, and if the smoke alarm hadn't woke me up, I would probably have died. As it was, I was so far unconscious that I thought it was my alarm clock beeping at me to get up and go to work, and only after I got up did I realize it was the smoke alarm screeching at me full blast. Then, I of course had to open all the doors and try to get all the black smoke out of the trailer, so I could breathe enough to even go back to bed, and by then I was thoroughly frozen. (you can guess how happy I was when I finally got electricity out there !)


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## SifuPhil (Nov 18, 2013)

That's some story, Happy! 

I suppose if you had an unheated trailer and set up a few candles, maybe make it look like something in a Shaolin temple ...



... then you could take care of all your heating and cooking requirements, but you'd also have to have a sure-fire way to vent out the carbon monoxide. 

Plus, think of how dizzy you'd get blowing them all out at night! layful:


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## Tom Young (Nov 18, 2013)

A fun thread...

So first, build a better mousetrap....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGgHvq4iLa4
note: after watching video, first thought was 

Then do the technical analysis, to support the patent application.

http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q...pot-heater-more-efficient-than-just-tealights


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## Jillaroo (Nov 18, 2013)

Happyflowerlady said:


> I am sure that other methods would be more efficient for heating, and I was looking at the little candles and thinking that they would not produce much heat, even considering that they warm the clay, and it radiates better than just the candles would do. However, I then was remembering when the tornadoes hit here in early spring, and although not freezing, it WAS cold, plus we had no way to even heat water for coffee.
> I brought in the little outdoor fireplace, and we had a small propane bottle to run it, and that was how we had coffee.
> This simple flower pot idea, although not sophisticated, would have kept us warm, and allowed for making coffee, as well as heating up simple foods on the top, and it would not be hard to keep the components on hand in case they were needed.
> 
> When I was living with no electricity and water in north Idaho, I used a kerosene heater to try and warm the trailer. One night it clogged up, and if the smoke alarm hadn't woke me up, I would probably have died. As it was, I was so far unconscious that I thought it was my alarm clock beeping at me to get up and go to work, and only after I got up did I realize it was the smoke alarm screeching at me full blast. Then, I of course had to open all the doors and try to get all the black smoke out of the trailer, so I could breathe enough to even go back to bed, and by then I was thoroughly frozen. (you can guess how happy I was when I finally got electricity out there !)



While the Propane bottle is a good idea HFL i would be worried about fumes being inside, i don't know much about it but could it be dangerous:danger:


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 18, 2013)

Did I get a wrong impression?  Does someone who almost died from a faulty heater now consider using tea candles to stay warm?


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## Happyflowerlady (Nov 19, 2013)

Jillaroo, the propane in the house was after the tornadoes had devastated a good part of the state of Alabama, and had torn the roof mostly off of the house we lived in, so there was no problem with lack of air circulation.

DB, Yes, same person,, but I would not plan on letting the candles burn except when I was awake. I would have been much better off to have warmed up the bedroom with the candle heater before going to bed, than having the kerosene heat running.
Live and learn. 
North Idaho is around 0 (Fahrenheit) in the winter, so some kind of heat is imperative at night, and I really didn't have any other options for heat at that time.


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## dbeyat45 (Nov 19, 2013)

I understand HFL but how do you plan to stay awake with lowered oxygen levels?


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## Diwundrin (Nov 19, 2013)

The Kooris had a very efficient, cheap, and low tech warming system.  They never did invent blankets, nor have the capacity to carry them about on their nomadic travels so they used the self propelled bed warmers that trotted along with them.  As the night got colder they piled on as many dogs as needed.  Simple, effective and environmentally friendly.



There was a band called 5 Dog Night and I always presumed that was where their name originated. 
 I remember it still being a saying among older rural types,  that especially cold snaps were referred to as '5 doggers.'


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## Ozarkgal (Nov 19, 2013)

Yes Di..this method of keeping warm inspired the name of the band "Three Dog Night".  There is question as to whether this phrase or method of keeping warm can be attibuted to the Australia Aboriginies or the Alaskan Inuits...Last night I had a One Dog Night, as Rooney insisted on sleeping with us.

Di, I can see where your account of the Koori's is plausible.  Carrying trunkloads of blankets on nomadic wanderings would certainly slow them down.

Oh, and Phil, the way to test your theory would be to head on out to Florida with some candles and flower pots.  Let us know how it works out.  If it is a success, you could put together a little package of candles and cute flower pots and sell it on an "As Seen on TV"  promo.  You could make a mint, then you could live in style on the Florida beaches.  Just don't forget to double the offer...LOL


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## Diwundrin (Nov 19, 2013)

Was it 3 Dog Night?  Told you I was rubbish at numbers. 



Phil, here's a marketing idea...


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## Happyflowerlady (Nov 19, 2013)

dbeyat45 said:


> I understand HFL but how do you plan to stay awake with lowered oxygen levels?



For thousands of years, people lived without electricity, DB, and they heated their homes with a fire, and used candles or an oil lamp for light. Assuming you are not in an airtight room (which that old trailer certainly wasn't), just burning 4 little candles for a  couple of hours is NOT going to suffocate anyone. 
No form of heating is completely safe, including electricity. I simply presented this as an easy-to-do way to warm up temporarily if winter storms put the electricity out, that doesn't require a generator, or other large, expensive equipment to own, and is simple enough that anyone can easily set this up. 
It is not intended to do  more than that, and should be as safe as any other candles a person would be burning in their house for any other reason.


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## That Guy (Nov 19, 2013)




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