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So all over the internet on prepper websites lately they've been talking about making a small heater for a small space out of two clay pots and a few small tea candles and by using convection.

Basically you take two different sizes of pots and place them both over some candles. The smaller pot on the inside get's very hot and warms the air in between the two pots and that is what heats the room. I was at TSC just bored and remembered I wanted to try this out. So for about $6 in pots and candles I already had in my SHTF stock I'm going to give it a go.

Here is the supply list.

8" Standard pot
6" standard pot
bread pan
6 tea candles



Starting temps of the pot and the room.

The larger outer most pot.



The room temp. 58*



And the outer most pot's temp at 15 minutes!



So maybe this has some merit? My prediction is that the pot won't get much hotter and I doubt the temperature of the room will raise more than it would without the pot. My living room where the "heater" is, is 220 sq/ft give or take.

Stay tuned for the next update at the one hour mark!

I love experiments like these.

Its not going to bring it to room temp, but it will keep a small space (like a truck cab) warm enough to keep you alive in a survival situation.

Be a good thing to put in an outhouse.

bill herian wrote:Its not going to bring it to room temp, but it will keep a small space (like a truck cab) warm enough to keep you alive in a survival situation.

Be a good thing to put in an outhouse.

Get a bigger pot and a bigger candle.

Just past the hour mark and the outside pot is over 160* if you're standing within 3ft of it you can feel the heat slightly. Room temperature remains the same.

What you are "proving" is called ohms law.
Its an electrical thing but the same formula...
V=IR is used but with different variables.
R is resistance or insulation value...hmmm

looks pretty neat, but how do you have it set up exactly? candles under the big pot which has the little pot in it?

A computer gives off more heat than a candle. So does a human body. A candle powered heater is like trying to heat a room with your sisters easy bake oven. 15 of them would do it.

If the room was a refrigerator box... it'd be perfect. Ever watch "dis ole box" on In Living Color? Hehe

2 hour mark and the outside pot is over 190* and the room as gone from 58* to a whopping 63*.

aunt betty wrote:What you are "proving" is called ohms law.
Its an electrical thing but the same formula...
V=IR is used but with different variables.
R is resistance or insulation value...hmmm

So can the flower pot shock him?

Pretty cool stuff. Been looking for a blind heater and this looks like its worth trying.

Trying it on the 21st if it's cold.

3legged_lab wrote:

aunt betty wrote:What you are "proving" is called ohms law.
Its an electrical thing but the same formula...
V=IR is used but with different variables.
R is resistance or insulation value...hmmm

So can the flower pot shock him?

only if he's grounded

Hour 3 and that is the outside temp of the pot.

However it doesn't seem to have done much for the temperature of the room. I'll wait until all the candles are out but if you have a room bigger than 50 sq/ft I'd call this myth busted. I might try this in my bathroom. With the door closed and see how much it affects a much smaller room.

Olly wrote:

uploadfromtaptalk1386534841370.jpg

Hour 3 and that is the outside temp of the pot.

However it doesn't seem to have done much for the temperature of the room. I'll wait until all the candles are out but if you have a room bigger than 50 sq/ft I'd call this myth busted. I might try this in my bathroom. With the door closed and see how much it affects a much smaller room.

yeah i think you'd need a bigger pot with more thermal mass to make it work in a big room. i bet it would work great in the bathroom/truck bed/blind though.

Olly, try this one but outside. Old timer I know who fishes in February uses a two-pound coffee can filled with sand and a quart of gasoline to make an el cheapo heater. According to him it will burn for hours. Never had the cajones to try.

Think of the possibilities: perhaps scented candles for this heater in the bathroom or bigger pots and bigger candles.

A small room maybe but the blind - gone like a fart in the wind.

3legged_lab wrote:A small room maybe but the blind - gone like a fart in the wind.

I don't know, this might work pretty well in a blind, might have to try it out.

Cool experiment boss!

I pay my heat bill, so I really don't see the need for this in the future

I use a ready heater in my boat/blind. Its 10 or 15,000 BTU. It takes the chill off, keeps your stuff dryer, and also keeps the guns from freezing up from the dog shaking water on them.

Can we all just admit who was right?

You mean me in my first post when I said it wouldn't do anything?


Thanks for backing ME up Bill.

Didn't know you were a prepper, Olly. Try cooking on the pots. Just to see if it worked.

huntall6 wrote:Didn't know you were a prepper, Olly. Try cooking on the pots. Just to see if it worked.

It would take hours to get a pot of water boiling I think. Maybe 10 of these would warm a room or fewer larger ones with more candles but the size that I tried was a failure.

Olly wrote:

huntall6 wrote:Didn't know you were a prepper, Olly. Try cooking on the pots. Just to see if it worked.

It would take hours to get a pot of water boiling I think. Maybe 10 of these would warm a room or fewer larger ones with more candles but the size that I tried was a failure.

I wouldn't consider it a failure because you used a small space heater in a large room. Think of it as a "Success" with no consequences.

Had an older gentleman show me another poor man's means of heat in a blind, similar to Betty's. Use a 1 lb coffe can and insert a roll of toilet paper, minus the cardboard core. Pour enough rubbing alcohol in it to just cover the roll and light it. It will burn low and slow, and give you enough heat to warm your hands, dry your socks, and will last a couple of hours.

Deltaman wrote:Had an older gentleman show me another poor man's means of heat in a blind, similar to Betty's. Use a 1 lb coffe can and insert a roll of toilet paper, minus the cardboard core. Pour enough rubbing alcohol in it to just cover the roll and light it. It will burn low and slow, and give you enough heat to warm your hands, dry your socks, and will last a couple of hours.

Used to do the same thing with kerosene. Called smudge pots.