Testing the Clay Pot Heater | Truth or BS | Prepping and Testing

Testing the Clay Pot Heater to see if it actually works or is it a hoax. When the power goes out - it's no time to experiment. Please note - this unit uses candles which are a major cause of house fires. Candles can also produce toxic gasses and should only be used in a ventilated space.

#claypotheater #survivalhacks #diyheaters #candlepower #terracottaheaters #outdoors #heatingyourhomewithcandles #howto #survival #offgrid #preppers

[jeremy_h]

The thermometer measuring the room temp was within the radiant zone of the pot. Another yard/meter away, no significant change would be measured. The only room this could heat is an insulated dog house. They work great as hand warning stations, though.

[fredpatrick]

BTU's are BTU's, adding a few clay pots does not change that. At most you created a thermal storage device/radiant area heater, not a room heater. Your thermometer was too close to the pots to accurately measure overall room temp, and you being in the room will add heat as well.

[rolandwrithe]

T lights give out around 40 watts of heat so 3 is 120 watts. The flowerpot does not amplify the heat merely acts as storage & radiator.

[leenomedal-lafon]

I think measuring the room temperature change just using the candles, without the pots, would really answer the question as to whether the pots made any difference or not.

[TStheDeplorable]

Compare it to just 3 candles burning. Back in the day when cars got stranded in blizzards more often, people kept candles in the trunk and they heated the car up enough to avoid dying of exposure.

[bdv]

A candle is only going to produce so many BTUs. No amount of pots will increase that. You would have the same result by burning the candles by themselves..

[IvoryPagoda]

Great video; I really enjoyed it. I would like to point out to some of the other folks in chat who want to discuss the laws of thermodynamics that if I were to ever NEED to do this in order to keep myself warm (power outage, whatever), that all these arguments about radiant zone and thermometer placement do not mean much to me because if my fingers are freezing and the room is freezing and so on... guess where my hands are? Yeah, my hands are about as close to that terracotta pot as the thermometer was in this video. You know why? So I can keep my hands warm.

[dallassukerkin]

In simple physics terms it is not possible to get more energy out of a system than you put into it.

The heating effect you will get is exactly the same as whatever number of candles you burn with the only changes being that you will get 'lag' at the start as the candles heat the pots and then you get a tail of some 'extra' heat release after the candles have gone out as the pots radiate the residual heat.

Although, it has to be said, it will make it easier to warm your hands without burning yourself, so they are not a total waste of time :)

[mlindsay]

Best thing to do with a few candles is to heat up a quart of water in a pot, pour it into a nalgene type bottle, place to the bottle in a large sock to protect you from the heat, then place the bottle in your sleeping bag, or inside your coat. I did this routinely when I lived in a cold college apartment. The water will still be lukewarm after 8 hours. Note that buying tea candles for the purpose of heating is quite expensive. I used wax salvaged from previously burnt candles. Least expensive ways (in our area) to heat the water are probably wood, electric, followed by propane. Not sure if a solar oven will heat water to near boiling on a cold winter day, but that would be an interesting use of one.

[ravenrock]

The candle produces 'X' B.T.U.'s. which would normally rise in the air (convection) and be wasted at the ceiling. The clay pot captures and stores the B.T.U. energy, to be released as infrared energy (radiant). The infrared light spectrum has some very unique qualities. For one, it transmits through the atmosphere with little loss of energy (so it doesn't heat the air). Second, infrared tends to penetrate most materials (rather than being reflected back). To sum up what this means, the infrared transmits through the air in the room and warms up the surfaces of the room directly.

[tomshepherd]

The only thing the pot does is prevent most of the heat from rising to the ceiling. All of the heat results entirely from burning the candles. (Conservation of energy) Can you heat a room with candles? Yes, of course you can, depending on the size of the room and rate of heat loss. This also comes with risks of fire and carbon monoxide. It should be noted that clay pots are not the best choice for this as they sometimes shatter when heated. Pyrex or metal would be a better choice.

[garymorrid]

1 pot on its own works just aswell, and you can also use bigger candles and raise the pot higher and it gets really warm.

[razerx]

the closer you keep the thermometer to the pots the more significant the "heating" effect will be. 3 candles don't have the therm/btu capability to heat a large area home and keep the pipes from freezing. but if you huddle around them, it'll be a bit more comfortable to sit in a heater-less area.

[mattypants]

Its crazy how these work for some things. Didnt believe it until i made my own. Not going to heat a room, but definitely can feel it when you're sitting at the table with it. Worked well for hand warmer

[DWmaniacn]

The question i have is, how does this compare to simply burning the candles?

[ukuuusw]

The average tea candle is 352 btu if you burn all of the wax at one time or 80 btu Continuously the average human is 356 btu Continuously so if you think you can heat your house with this you should see how well the pot works on your head you already produce 4 times more btu than the candle the only thing this is going to heat Is a tiny space and keep in mind that you are going to heat the tiny space more then the 3 candles are

[OOTurok]

The Laws of Thermodynamics make it impossible for these pots to increase the heat of these candles... because 100% of the candle's heat output is already being released into the room.
Covering the candle with a pot will not increase that efficiency.

The whole concept of using thermal mass to trap heat from a fire, is to reduce waste heat.
For example... only 5% of the heat output from a Fireplace actually heats the room. The rest is vented out the chimney.
Where as a Tunnel Furnace, (depending on dedign), can recover as much as 60% of the heat it produces to heat a room/building, by channeling the hot gases through a ductwork before it gets vented out of a chimney.

Electric heaters & Infrared propane heaters don't have to vent hot gases outside of a building, allowing 100% of their heat to warm the air inside the room... which is why they are the most efficient means of heating a room.

[svgsr]

There are laws about these things and if folks had paid attention in middle school they’d know this.
How many ‘BTU’s” are those candles capable of generating?

[NegdoshaManido]

Yes, this does work. The operative principle is the increasing of the surface area of a very hot surface. The greater the surface area in contact with the air in the room, the more air can be heated. Also, do not disregard the radiating quality of the pots as far as being able to warm skin when close to it. I have a few of these set aside for use in a small room in case of a total power failure in winter. It will keep the room warm enough in an emergency situation, but I would not be using these as a way to save money on my heating bill every month.

[urbandad]

2 scenarios. 1:I pour a litre of gas (oline) on the ground and light it on fire. #2:I burn a litre of gas in my vehicle. Was the same amount of heat produced? Were the results different?