The candle flame shines quite pleasantly, but trying to warm up with it seems crazy. Meanwhile, just as a light source, a candle is an extremely wasteful device. But as a room heater it can be useful. Under a number of conditions.
Californian inventor Doyle Doss and his company DOSS Products offer original system Kandle Heeter, that is, “Candle Heater”.
This strange-looking candlestick, its creator claims, can be indispensable during a power outage. Its height is about 23 and its width is about 18 centimeters.
And from it appearance The inverted pot above the candle attracts attention. In this pot (and it's in " past life» flower pot and was) and the main highlight of the system is hidden.
This pot is not simple, but composite. It is made from three pots different diameters, nested one inside the other and connected by a long metal bolt, on which a whole bunch of washers and nuts are strung (fortunately, the pots usually already have holes in the bottom).
Doss sells Kandle Heeter for $25 each.
This intricate combination of ceramic and steel is called Quad-Core, and is designed to trap heat from a candle. But why?
An ordinary candle, burning in a room, produces, as it seems, very little heat. But the point here is that its hot “exhaust” simply goes up and quickly evaporates with the ventilation.
Meanwhile, the energy reserve in the candle is not so small. Moreover, with the hot flow of combustion products, most of its energy content leaves, and only a smaller part is converted into light.
The labyrinth cap above the flame collects energy and carefully stores it, heating up quite strongly (the central rod is especially hot). And then this heat is slowly transferred to the air by the entire surface of the ceramic radiator.
The pots also help trap soot from the fire, which helps keep the ceiling clean...
The inventor emphasizes that one such device will in no way save you in the winter when the heating and electricity are turned off, but, on the other hand, it is better than nothing at all.
In addition, although this simple design is designed primarily for emergency situations(and not only at home, but also outside), a mini-candle radiator can slightly reduce the cost of heating a room, adding a little warmth to an occupied room, while the entire house is “adjusted” by thermostats for more low temperature. Here, however, you still need to calculate the cost of one joule per candle.
The heater is also equipped with a top-mounted stand that can hold a pot of soup.
Before a fresh Kandle Heeter can properly heat a room, you need to wait for the residual moisture to evaporate from the ceramic. This can take 3-4 hours, Mr. Doss notes.
But then the owner of this thing can fully enjoy soft warmth, produced by the heater for a long time. It is necessary to store the unused device in a plastic bag so that it does not absorb moisture from the air.
Heater operation diagram. The flame heats the rod (1), hot gases pass from cavity to cavity (2), each layer of ceramic emits infrared rays, heating the next layer (3), the outer pot (4) ultimately heats the air in the room (5) (illustration and photo from heatstick.com).
Doss writes that a 4.25-ounce wax candle contains approximately 1 thousand BTUs of energy. In conventional terms, this is approximately 120 grams and 1.1 megajoules.
If we consider that such a candle burns for 20 hours or a little more, it turns out that its energy production is 55 kilojoules per hour, which corresponds to a power of 15.3 watts.
True, according to some data, the total “useful output” wax candle this size will still be higher. Closer to 3 megajoules. Which will give an average power of approximately 42 watts. And if we carefully “look” at a paraffin candle, then, perhaps, we will find even more potential heat in it.
However, the exact calorific value numbers are not so important. It is clear that such a candlestick cannot compete in power with household electric convectors and oil radiators at 0.5-2 kilowatts. As long as there is current in the outlet.
On the other hand, even if there is current, you are unlikely to burn a kilowatt heater all day long if you do not want to go broke on electricity bills. And Kandle Heeter, as already mentioned, lasts more than 20 hours on one candle. The only important condition: it cannot be left unattended. Still an open flame.
The American innovator believes that such heaters should appeal not only to people sitting at home, but also to those who rarely go there, preferring to travel away from the hustle and bustle of civilization. Kandle Heeter should become a simple and cheap alternative to kerosene stoves and other kerosene stoves. And someday it can save the life of a person who is caught, say, in a car in a snow trap or a blizzard.
Lastly, this tiny firefly is just cute. “Kandle Heeter should remind us all that once upon a time we (humans) sat in caves at night around a fire and told each other stories,” says the inventor.
Winter is approaching and we are again faced with the issue of heating rooms. These days, in addition to standard methods heating there are many heaters that not only cope with the task assigned to them, but also decorate the room with their original design And beautiful view. It is this heater that will be discussed in this material. So, we will look at a way to make a beautiful heater from flower pots.
Before you start making the heater, we suggest you watch the video
What do we need:
- 3 steel corners;
- 3 pots different sizes;
- bolt;
- nuts;
- washers.
Collect necessary materials will not be difficult, since everything can be found in almost all specialized stores. It is worth noting separately that when purchasing pots, you need to make sure that they are clay and have a hole in the bottom. Let's start assembling our heater.
First of all, we need to assemble three pots into one whole. To do this, take a bolt and put a washer on it.
We put on the washer and tighten the nut.
After this we put on another washer.
Screw on another nut, then put on another washer and the middle pot.
Let's move on to the next stage. We put on two washers.
We tighten two nuts.
Then we put on another washer and the smallest pot.
At this stage, it is necessary to ensure that the resulting structure is as strong as possible. To do this, screw 5 nuts one after another.
We put on the last washer and finally secure everything with the last nut.
Now you need to take care of the fastening. To do this, take a pot tray and attach the corners to it. The author does not use special fasteners, but we will add that for greater reliability of the structure, you can attach the corners to the pallet with glue.
A structure of three pots is placed on the corners and a candle in a tray. Again, the author does not use fasteners, but we advise you to be sure to secure all parts so that the upper part of our heater does not accidentally fall and break.
Is there an eternal heating device that will never break? How can you utilize the heat of an open flame in a living room? How to assemble a free room heater lamp with your own hands? Read about all this in this article.
Simple natural materials in one form or another continue their “life and work” as components of modern formulations. Thus, ordinary clay has gone from being a free and publicly available raw material for the construction of the first houses to a nano-component of the composition of insulating paint (liquid ceramic insulation). In its raw form, they coated the walls with it for insulation, then they began to mold it and burn it - they got dishes and bricks. With the development of steelmaking, they learned to expand clay - this is how expanded clay and a whole section of science appeared - “The use of expanded ceramic materials.” In the end, it was formed into balls with a diameter of 0.02 mm with a technical vacuum inside. And clay was in demand everywhere due to its main property: when fired (ceramics), it effectively accumulates heat. This once again proves that everything that a person needs for life has already been invented by nature.
Is it possible to distribute heat from fire
Another property of ceramics, derived from heat capacity, is the ability to distribute heat evenly throughout the entire volume (except for the heating point). In other words, if we take something ceramic (like a brick) and place it on something hot (like gas burner), then the following will happen:
- the brick will begin to accumulate (recycle) the heat of the burner flame;
- the temperature will be evenly distributed throughout the entire volume of the brick and will reach its edges;
- heat exchange with the surrounding air will occur on the planes of the brick;
- as a result, the heat exchange area will increase from the area of the flame to the area of all planes of the brick;
- in this case, the temperature will decrease in inverse proportion to the surface area (the larger the area, the lower the temperature).
The quick-witted reader, of course, understood that the operating principle of the Russian stove was described above. Our task is to create an equally effective device, but based on a candle.
How does an “eternal” heater work?
When a regular candle burns, the following happens:
- air heated by combustion rises to the ceiling;
- under the ceiling it mixes with the topmost layer.
Due to the large temperature difference (76 degrees), the surrounding air does not have time to mix with the exhaust combustion gases, and they intensively rise to the ceiling. A column of hot air is formed, which dissipates at the top. We will utilize this heat using a “trap” made of ceramic domes.
What can a heating device be made from?
So, to build a “miracle micro-stove” we will need:
- flame
- fired clay (ceramics)
- metal
The scope of ceramics is limited only by the imagination of the engineer. In this case, we are only interested in publicly available cheap materials, in particular, dishes. It’s not for nothing that in the old days they used clay pots in the oven - they retain heat for a long time. Assortment of ceramic products household use is huge these days, but we'll stick to regular flower pots. Unpretentious in appearance, they will help us solve the problem of auxiliary heating.
The second component of the heater is the heat source. The first thing that comes to mind for indoor use is a regular candle. Of course, there are a wide variety of types of gas and kerosene burners, but cheapness and accessibility come first for us. In addition, the candle has no expiration date and can be stored in the cold.
The third component is a record holder in thermal conductivity and an outsider in heat capacity - metal. Its property of quickly heating up and giving off heat (low heat capacity) will play into our hands when creating a heat lamp.
Assembling a heat lamp with your own hands
What you will need:
- Ceramic (flower) trapezoidal pots with an outer bottom diameter of 50, 100 and 150 mm, 1 pc. In this case, the smaller pot should be approximately 25 mm lower than the larger one.
- Threaded pin with a diameter of 6-12 mm. It should go through the holes of each pot. If necessary, drill holes to the required diameter using a tile drill.
- Washers for a hairpin with an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the bottom of the smallest pot - 20 pcs. Nuts 7-8 pcs.
- Free-form frame, hanger or stand meeting the requirements described below technical requirements(conditions).
- If desired, use fireplace sealant or non-flammable (paronite) gaskets.
Operating procedure
1. Install the pin into the hole largest pot and screw the nut on the outside.
2. Place several washers on the pin inside the pot and secure with nuts if necessary.
3. Place the middle pot on the pin.
Attention! The outer edges of smaller pots should be inside the dome of larger ones at a depth of 20-25 mm.
4. Fix the middle pot with washers and nuts.
5. We expose and fix the small pot.
6. The edges of all three domes should go inward in steps of 20-25 mm. We adjust the planting depth by adding washers and nuts.
7. If the distance from one bottom to the other is noticeably large, fill it with washers spaced apart - this will give greater thermal conductivity to the rod.
8. We install the structure above the candle so that the pin rod is located strictly above the flame at a height of 30-50 mm.
9. Further adjustment is made experimentally based on observations.
Use of gaskets and sealant. While praising ceramics, we tactfully avoided its most inconvenient drawback - fragility (causticity). Even solid brick crumbles when it falls on concrete, let alone flower pots. When assembling the lamp, you should tighten the nuts very carefully - if you tighten it a little, the wall will burst. There is also a risk of accidental splitting during operation or during transportation. The hard metal of the pin crushes the ceramic and can crack it. To soften their contact, use sealant or non-flammable gaskets.
What is the benefit of a “pot” heater?
At first glance, the design is extremely clear, but does not inspire confidence. We should immediately make a reservation - do not rush to cut out steam heating radiators - our lamp will be an “apprentice”, but not a “master”. The use of such devices in each room will reduce the overall boiler supply temperature by several degrees completely free of charge - and this is already the result!
Let's carry out a primitive thermal calculation based on publicly available data and logic:
- A wax candle weighing 120 grams (diameter 30 mm) contains about 3 MJ of energy.
- The approximate burning time of such a candle is 20 hours.
- During this time, it releases approximately 140 kJ of energy, which is about 42.5 W.
- Paraffin candles give a greater effect of releasing thermal energy.
By choosing the most efficient candle, we can achieve 50-55 W of thermal energy at the output, and this is already 10% of the power of an electric heater of 500 W.
Attention! Fire hazard. Heating element- open flame. The lamp must not be left unattended.
Scope of application
A simple design based on cheap materials will last a long time if handled with care. The heater does not require any conditions for storage, service life, maintenance or replacement of spare parts. Simple, like everything ingenious, it will become a support during forest overnight stays or during a power outage, as well as in extreme conditions.
- In places where there is no electricity: tents, dugouts, shelters, cars caught in a snowstorm.
- In places where there is electricity: small but pleasant savings on heating costs.
- If you assemble a well-thought-out frame, you can hang a small container (pot, mug) above the candle and heat water.
So simple and reliable assistant it worked out. It will become not only a warm place in your interior, but also an interesting decorative decoration.
Video on the topic
My publication is addressed primarily to fellow St. Petersburg residents. Not far off New Year, and I always waited with horror for the onset New Year's holidays. Either the neighbors' battery will break, or they will turn off the electricity, or they will slip some security officer into our hands. Once, I don’t remember, maybe in 2007, our electricity was turned off in the Moskovsky district for several hours, and my friend from Kupchino had it for several days. Moreover, they did not have heating. There was an accident at the substation, Matvienko said. So it’s time for you, dear St. Petersburg residents, to stock up on some simple alternative energy, you never know... The power of this heater is enough to heat a room with an area of 12 square meters. The principle of operation of a candle heater is simple and clear from this figure:
To implement this project, you need to go to the nearest flower shop and buy three flower pots of different sizes so that they fit into each other freely, with a gap. Gaps are needed for free air circulation. Also, in a flower shop you can buy a square ceramic flower stand.
In addition, you need to look in the pantry or on the balcony for unnecessary bolts and nuts and, of course, buy candles.
Assembling the entire unit is a simple matter:
A square ceramic flower stand (you can use a baking dish or an old frying pan) is needed for candles so that wax or paraffin does not spread all over the table or floor. 4 candles are placed in it, lit, and your device is installed on top. As picture:
How many candles should I buy? Taking into account the fact that the candle burns for 4 hours, you need to buy eight candles for the 8-hour operation of the heater. I hope that during this time the emergency workers will arrive and eliminate the accident in your home.
Good luck to you!
The candle flame shines quite nicely, but trying to warm up with it seems crazy. Meanwhile, just as a light source, a candle is an extremely wasteful device. But as a room heater it can be useful. Under a number of conditions.
Californian inventor Doyle Doss and his company DOSS Products offer the original Kandle Heeter system, that is, the “Candle Heater”.
In this case, an intricate candlestick is not a tribute to design, but a thoughtful thermal device
This strange-looking candlestick, its creator claims, can be indispensable during a power outage. Its height is about 23, and its width is about 18 centimeters.
And from its appearance, the inverted pot above the candle attracts attention. The main highlight of the system is hidden in this pot (and in a “past life” it was a flower pot).
This pot is not simple, but composite. It is made of three pots of different diameters, nested one inside the other and connected by a long metal bolt, on which a whole bunch of washers and nuts are strung (fortunately, the pots usually already have holes in the bottom).
This intricate combination of ceramic and steel is called Quad-Core, and is designed to trap heat from a candle. But why?
An ordinary candle, burning in a room, produces, as it seems, very little heat. But the point here is that its hot “exhaust” simply goes up and quickly evaporates with the ventilation.
Meanwhile, the energy reserve in a candle is not so small. Moreover, with the hot flow of combustion products, most of its energy content leaves, and only a smaller part is converted into light.
The labyrinth cap above the flame collects energy and carefully stores it, heating up quite strongly (the central rod is especially hot). And then this heat is slowly transferred to the air by the entire surface of the ceramic radiator.
Heater operation diagram. The flame heats the rod (1), hot gases pass from cavity to cavity (2), each layer of ceramic emits infrared rays, heating the next layer (3), the outer pot (4) ultimately heats the air in the room (5)
The pots also help trap soot from the fire, which helps keep the ceiling clean.
The inventor emphasizes that one such device will in no way save you in the winter when the heating and electricity are turned off, but, on the other hand, it is better than nothing at all.
In addition, although this simple design is designed primarily for emergency situations (not only at home, but also outside), a mini-candle radiator can slightly reduce the cost of heating a room by adding a little warmth to a occupied room while how the entire house is "adjusted" by thermostats to a lower temperature. Here, however, you still need to calculate the cost of one joule per candle.
The heater is also equipped with a top-mounted stand that can hold a pot of soup.
Before a fresh Kandle Heeter can properly heat a room, you need to wait for the residual moisture to evaporate from the ceramic. This can take 3-4 hours, Mr. Doss notes.
But then the owner of this thing can fully enjoy the soft heat generated by the heater for a long time. It is necessary to store the unused device in a plastic bag so that it does not absorb moisture from the air.
Doss writes that a 4.25-ounce wax candle contains approximately 1 thousand BTUs of energy. In conventional terms, this is approximately 120 grams and 1.1 megajoules.
If we consider that such a candle burns for 20 hours or a little more, it turns out that its energy production is 55 kilojoules per hour, which corresponds to a power of 15.3 watts.
True, according to some data, the total “useful yield” of a wax candle of this size will still be higher. Closer to 3 megajoules. Which will give an average power of approximately 42 watts. And if we carefully “look” at a paraffin candle, then, perhaps, we will find even more potential heat in it.
However, the exact calorific value numbers are not so important. It is clear that such a candlestick cannot compete in power with household electric convectors and oil radiators of 0.5-2 kilowatts. As long as there is current in the outlet.
A regular candle, without a glass or metal cup, melts too quickly in the Kandle Heeter
On the other hand, even if there is current, you are unlikely to burn a kilowatt heater all day long if you do not want to go broke on electricity bills. And Kandle Heeter, as already mentioned, lasts more than 20 hours on one candle. The only important condition: it cannot be left unattended. Still an open flame.
The American innovator believes that such heaters should appeal not only to people sitting at home, but also to those who rarely go there, preferring to travel away from the hustle and bustle of civilization. Kandle Heeter should become a simple and cheap alternative to kerosene stoves and other kerosene stoves. And someday it can save the life of a person who is caught, say, in a car in a snow trap or a blizzard.
Lastly, this tiny firefly is just cute. “Kandle Heeter should remind us all that once upon a time we (humans) sat in caves at night around a fire and told each other stories,” says the inventor.