Flower Pot Candle Heaters

[FlashPan]

Hi All,

So I just been testing this theory myself. I bought 2 different sizes of flower pots from Ikea and a bunch of 4 hour tea lights and a bread baking tin.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/deco ... -50258040/ (did not use the pot stands)

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/deco ... -50097995/

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/cook ... -40133036/

Well after an 90 mins I threw the towel in.

Why? Mainly as the Mrs was getting cold in the lounge. I was (mistakenly) expecting more heat to permeate or at least warm up the room a bit.

Our lounge is a good double sized, low ceiling approx. 5 x 4.5 m and not drafty etc. but most likely the heat output was far too small to accommodate this.

The flower pots themselves were quite hot to the touch and I can see how they "may" help a little in a very very small room.

So I'm considering other candle heating methods. I was thinking about large food tin cans. Same principle as above 1 large a the other smaller.

Has anyone tried/experienced tin can candle heating? Or something else with candles?

Also as I type this I still thought to test the candles and smaller pot to heat up 500ml of water in a small sauce pan. So will report back on that in due course. Not really looking to boil but heating up well enough still for a nice tea/coffee/hot chocolate.

Cheers

[Brambles]

I've got 500ml water to almost boilng with a homemade 3 wick candle in a tin. It works surprisingly well and at about the same speed as a hexi block, if that's any help at all. The plus is, you can burn indoors.

[FlashPan]

Good info, thanks Brambles.

I should have said earlier that I am using 4 of those tea lights.

Anyhow....after 50 mins I would say that the water is just above tepid and has been like that for quite a while now.

The single smaller clay port is nearly too hot to touch though.

I guess most of the candle heat is going into the pot?

Wondering if a turkey foil lining on the in and/or outside would be advantageous?

[Yorkshire Andy]

I would forget the idea..... if each tea light is giving out 80to 100w fork handles will be giving you about 400w in a ideal world thing most fan heaters run about 2000w, So thats a fair few more needed (like 20)


https://www.quora.com/How-much-energy-h ... le-produce


One thing we have realised is the "warm light" is far more physiological we have a several tea light lanterns and whilst they might take the chill off the warm light is very soothing


usually warnings about unattended candles and if under a pot the risk of the melting wax hitting flash point is greater so beware of mini "chip pan fires" of wax

[nickdutch]

Yes wikipedia said that each candle flame gives off 80W of heat. The flowerpots get hot and radiate the heat down melting and vaporising the wax which means you are breathing in wax fumes if you have many of these things going. But the ceramic of the flowerpot gets hot meaning it becomes a brilliant hand warmer when you take the pot off the candles.

Its not as good as a room heater as a bioethanol fireplace (google that sexy babe!!!) but in an extreme emergency having 3 candles under each flowerpot and 4 flowerpots plus a reflective screen behind them could take the edge off the cold.

But in the meantime, google for the bioethanol fireplace. A Chimnea (cheap model) from B+M plus a "Chimburner" for bioethanol isnt too expensive and you get the benefits of a pretty fire to look at in the cold winter nights.

[jaffab]

Hmm - Bioethanol....

Some quick googling shows.....

1Kw of power is needed to warm/heat 20m-cubed of air space,
Depending on the mix, Bioethanol fuel produces 2 to 3 kilowatt hours' of heat, and 1 litre of fuel will burn for approx 4 hours
12 litres of Bioethanol fuel costs £38 on your favourite online reseller
You can purchase indoor/outdoor bio fires from just £38 (see https://www.gardengiftshop.co.uk/fire-p ... 0wod76kBrw)
But, in a fix, you can burn Bio fuel in a saucepan (safest option is a small saucepan sat in a very large pan with a wood/water bolster at the bottom to stop heat transfer down)
Biofuel is safe for inside, but burns oxygen, so the room still needs to be ventilated otherwise it will eat all the oxygen - it will produce a lot of water vapour.

Might be a good solution.

[jaffab]

So somebody (sorry, cant remember who) was talking about a Calor Gas Heater for winter heating should the power/gas be switched off. This was not in my plans, but got me thinking....

In terms of the calor gas option, the 15/17.5 kg gas tanks give about 50 hours of heat time - about enough for a week or two. So for a month, you would need at least 4, and regulations seem to be that you only store 2 at any one time.

But then doing a bit of research, came across these paraffin heaters....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Heating-Cool ... fin+heater

Now I am not sure of the stats - how long paraffin will last, and also if they have to be plugged into the mains as well (i.e, need Electric) as a few of the models talk about a 'loss of power auto cut off'.

I remember my old Nan and Grandad had various paraffin heaters - tall cone shaped beasts - I guess these are new updated versions of those devices.

Thoughts?

[shocker]

Wick type paraffin heaters can still be bought new as greenhouse frost preventors, they are notorious for fume problems (chemopneumonia, had it, nasty) and CO and the ever present moisture but well ventilated, still a good option as they can burn many, many fuels.

For all things paraffin go look at the classic stoves forum who cover much more than the odd primus and have excellent supplier links for obscure parts, viz:

http://classiccampstoves.com

[jaffab]

Thanks shocker....

Some Amazon review folks have answered a couple of questions I had on the devices which were....

1) Do they need to plug into the mains = No, they use paraffin and a couple of batteries for a spark
2) How long does the fuel last? = 1litre of paraffin will last about 40 hours when generating 2.5Kw of heat
3) Do they create smoke? = No, but they do create moisture

It looks a good backup source of heat to me. Added one on to my 'to buy' prep shopping list. Although the same model is cheaper outside of Amazon (around £80 elsewhere, and 20l of paraffin for £20

[FlashPan]

Since starting this thread and the initial posting being poo pooh'd I was thinking myself of other small/portable(ish) heating.

I then found these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-Gas- ... rkt%3D1%26

Am not sure on maths myself (never my strong point) but if this seller is correct doe that mean 1 can of butane would last approx 2 hours?

I guess just looking at the size of the unit that it would still probably be only good for a small room?