Flowerpot candle heater

Now, this is an interesting idea!

I just happened to be looking on You Tube at various designs for rocket stoves (if you don't know what one of these is, Google it) and I came across flowerpot candle heaters.

Apparently if you bolt 2 or 3 flowerpots together and put some tealights underneath, it creates quite a effective little heater for say a boat cabin, small room or, in my case, the back of a Land Rover for wild camping in Belgium (and the like).

Have a look at these pics of the one I put together. 

The outside pot is 6" and the inside one is 5". They can really be any size you like and you can use up to 3. However, they must all be earthenware or you'll just end up with a gooey mess! The base is an upturned pot stand with a hole drilled through it and I have stood the whole thing on a heatproof clay tile. I happened to have a 200 mm length of 10 mm turned rod (studding?) in the garage and fitted the whole lot together with suitable bolts and washers. Obviously you can't tighten them more than finger tight or you stand the risk of breaking the pots.

Now for the clearer stuff, when you put 2, 3 or 4 tea lights underneath, after about 5 minutes, the pots start to warm up and, after about 10 minutes they are too hot to touch. The metal rod gets very hot and retains much of the heat and the pots themselves radiate heat into the room. Great for standing on a dining room table or desk.

Now for some lessons learnt:

You need to either buy new pots or clean up some decent old ones because you don't want scruffy or broken ones gracing your dining room table. The rod must fit the holes unless you are able to drill bigger ones (the earthenware is very soft so a wood drill will do). You can develop your own design using different bases and even one to hang from above (the rod with either need a hook at the top or maybe a chain - use your imagination). There must be enough room to slide the candles underneath and to feed with air. Another related issue is giving the candles enough space to expel the CO2. If you don't, the candles will simply go out. 

Health Warning. Since reading about these, I have learnt that the paraffin wax used in tea lights is a little bit toxic and can cause cancer if you breath too much of it in - it's on account of it being a petroleum based material left over from the oil refining process.  In fact, most candles do this - did you see Trust me, I'm a Doctor recently?

I bet you didn't know this when you used these as night lights for your little Jimmy!

But don't worry too much. You would have to inhale quite a lot over a long period. Google it, and make your own judgement. Alternatives to paraffin wax candles are Soy and Beeswax candles - much more expensive but much better for you. Incidentally one You Tube video mentioned these heaters are often used on boats because they are very dry heat and are good to avoid condensation.

Lastly, obvious health and safety rules about matches, candles and fire apply.

Enjoy!