DIY cheap radiant heater.

[Blackmarch]

I real good idea (at least it seems so anyways) i came across today, how to make a heater that is powered by cheap candles and uses flower pots and nuts and bolts + a stand.

or if you're lazy you can order one from heatstick.com

has anyone tried this before and if so how well does it work? Edited November 21, 2014 by Blackmarch

[PolarVortex]

Very nice.  May I offer a suggestion for the reverse problem (sort of)?

 

I had a problem with my laptop overheating.  My friends suggested that I get a "chill mat" or "cooling pad," which were fairly expensive and came with all kinds of silly extras, like USB ports and fans and rubberized "ledges" and adjustable viewing angles.  

 

But an inverted muffin tin works perfectly, and I got one at a neighbor's garage sale for 25 cents.  I crow and cackle every time I see it.

[Blackmarch]

Very nice.  May I offer a suggestion for the reverse problem (sort of)?

 

I had a problem with my laptop overheating.  My friends suggested that I get a "chill mat" or "cooling pad," which were fairly expensive and came with all kinds of silly extras, like USB ports and fans and rubberized "ledges" and adjustable viewing angles.  

 

But an inverted muffin tin works perfectly, and I got one at a neighbor's garage sale for 25 cents.  I crow and cackle every time I see it.

Nice i like that idea. mine was usually to rest the laptop on top of 2 book piles like a bridge witha fan going behind it. i'll def have to try the inverted muffin tin idea.

[pam]

Very nice.  May I offer a suggestion for the reverse problem (sort of)?

 

I had a problem with my laptop overheating.  My friends suggested that I get a "chill mat" or "cooling pad," which were fairly expensive and came with all kinds of silly extras, like USB ports and fans and rubberized "ledges" and adjustable viewing angles.  

 

But an inverted muffin tin works perfectly, and I got one at a neighbor's garage sale for 25 cents.  I crow and cackle every time I see it.

 

Empty egg carton works just as well.

[JimmiGerman]

Empty egg carton works just as well.

 

I've sawed a hole in the dining table and put a fan under it, so that the laptop can be cooled from below through the tabletop. I'm thinking about making the same with the sitting room table.

[PolarVortex]

I've sawed a hole in the dining table and put a fan under it, so that the laptop can be cooled from below through the tabletop. I'm thinking about making the same with the sitting room table.

 

I bet that's very convenient when you use your dining table for ordinary dining.  You can put a box under the table and just push the dirty dishes into the hole.  :)

 

The hole and egg cartons are nice, but my metal muffin tin conducts heat away from the laptop like a champ.

[NeuroTypical]

has anyone tried this before and if so how well does it work?

 

I tested this out for an entire winter last year.  It never rose beyond the level of hand warmer.  It made no detectable difference in the temperature of the room it was in, vs other rooms.  

 

I found it to be useless, and more dangerous than necessary.  The clay pot and coin gets hot enough to melt through stuff that can be melted through.

 

It was indeed interesting and fun.  Just not good for making anything warm.

[JimmiGerman]

I tested this out for an entire winter last year.  It never rose beyond the level of hand warmer.  It made no detectable difference in the temperature of the room it was in, vs other rooms.  

 

I found it to be useless, and more dangerous than necessary.  The clay pot and coin gets hot enough to melt through stuff that can be melted through.

 

It was indeed interesting and fun.  Just not good for making anything warm.

 

How could it ever rise beyond the level of a hand warmer? The thermal energy of the candles or tealights can't be multiplied by the flowerpots - that's a hippie dream - even if one believed in the mystery of flower power.

 

Just for warming your soul, and not your rooms. And you've really checked it and did compare the temperature of the room it was in vs other rooms...? Then we might even have an experimental proof!

 

 

hi!

Edited November 22, 2014 by JimmiGerman

[JimmiGerman]

I bet that's very convenient when you use your dining table for ordinary dining.  You can put a box under the table and just push the dirty dishes into the hole.  :)

(...)

 

That's exactly what I've already thought about, and I'm still working on some improvements, i.e.  what shall I do with the box when it's full?    ookay - I could marry (hypothetically) and let my (hypothetical) wife do whatever and who knows has to be done with dirty dishes... hmmm...

Edited November 23, 2014 by JimmiGerman

[PolarVortex]

 

That's exactly what I've already thought about, and I'm still working on some improvements, i.e.  what shall I do with the box when it's full?    ookay - I could marry (hypothetically) and let my (hypothetical) wife do whatever and who knows has to be done with dirty dishes... hmmm...

 

Phyllis Diller once wrote a riotously funny book called Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints.  She had many zany tips, but my favorite was one for cleaning a horribly stained casserole dish.

 

You simply bake something in the stained dish and give it to a neighbor, who will do anything to get the dish clean before returning it to you, even using acid and a blow torch if necessary.  

[JimmiGerman]

Phyllis Diller once wrote a riotously funny book called Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints.  She had many zany tips, but my favorite was one for cleaning a horribly stained casserole dish.

 

You simply bake something in the stained dish and give it to a neighbor, who will do anything to get the dish clean before returning it to you, even using acid and a blow torch if necessary.  

 

  ... But what if the neighbour is one of those persons who would "forget" to give the dish back and  who would rather like to keep it as a feeding bowl for his dog? But either way, the dish-problem would be solved.

Edited November 24, 2014 by JimmiGerman

[PolarVortex]

The candle-and-flowerpot heater is sort of neat and I bet it would work in tightly sealed rooms where the outside temperature is only cool and not winter cold.  I once had a tiny apartment in San Francisco that had no heat at all, and on cold nights I would close all the windows and light some candles.  It didn't generate a blast of hot air like a furnace would, but it kept the place from getting too chilly.  On really cold nights I would turn the burners of my stove on for five minutes, and that heated the whole place up. 

 

I also seem to recall some office in Minnesota or North Dakota that was specially designed to be heated by a single coffee pot.  It was a big coffee pot, of course, and the room was totally sealed and had triple-pane glass.  It may have been warm, but there was no air circulation and I bet it smelled like a gym locker.

 

I love posts like these with novel ideas.  LDS Hints from Heloise...

[Blackmarch]

 

How could it ever rise beyond the level of a hand warmer? The thermal energy of the candles or tealights can't be multiplied by the flowerpots - that's a hippie dream - even if one believed in the mystery of flower power.

 

Just for warming your soul, and not your rooms. And you've really checked it and did compare the temperature of the room it was in vs other rooms...? Then we might even have an experimental proof!

 

 

hi!

most fuels actually have quite a bit of energy in them the problem is that most of it gets wasted by various means. the concept behind something like this is to trap some of the wasted energy and use it. I don't know how well it works and after crawling the web a bit, for some people it seems to work and for others it doesn't at all.

I may just hav eto spend a few bucks on making one for kicks and giggles just to see if it works or not. Seems cheap enough.

[JimmiGerman]

(...)

I may just hav eto spend a few bucks on making one for kicks and giggles just to see if it works or not. Seems cheap enough.

 

Okay... the undertaking seems able to be financed and cheap enough in order not to bankrupt, but don't use flowerpots made of real Italian marble... or old Chinese vases from Ming Dynastie.

[Blackmarch]

Okay... the undertaking seems able to be financed and cheap enough in order not to bankrupt, but don't use flowerpots made of real Italian marble... or old Chinese vases from Ming Dynastie.

LOL no joke