Ceramic pot heater. How to heat a room with one candle? Heater from flower pots and one candle with your own hands

I really liked the idea! And the materials are available, and inexpensive ... In general, in search of an inexpensive source of heating for my not yet built autonomous dacha, came across the article "A hearth from pots heats a room with one candle." According to the assurances of the developer - this device can successfully heat the room and heat the water on it really. I quote the article in full:

The flame of a candle shines quite pleasantly, but trying to keep warm with it seems like madness. 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.

California inventor Doyle Doss and his company DOSS Products offer the original Kandle Heeter system, that is, the Candle Heater.

This strange-looking candlestick, claims its creator, can be indispensable in the event of a power outage. Its height is about 23, and its width is about 18 centimeters.

And out of it appearance the inverted pot above the candle attracts attention. In this pot (and it was a flower pot in the “past life”) the main highlight of the system is hidden.

This pot is not simple, but composite. It is made from three pots different diameter nested one inside the other and connected by a long metal bolt, on which a whole heap of washers and nuts is strung (fortunately, there are usually already holes in the bottom in pots).

This intricate combination of ceramic and steel is called Quad-Core and is designed to trap the heat from the candle. But why?

An ordinary candle, burning in a room, gives out very little heat, as it seems. And the point here is that its hot “exhaust” simply goes up and quickly disappears with ventilation.

Meanwhile, the energy reserve in the candle is not so small. Moreover, with the hot flow of combustion products, a large part of its energy content is lost, and only a smaller part passes into light.

The labyrinth cap above the flame collects energy and carefully accumulates 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 to trap soot from the flames, which is good for keeping the ceiling clean.

The inventor emphasizes that one such device will in no way save you in winter when 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 emergencies(and not only at home, but also outside of it), a mini-candle radiator can slightly reduce the cost of heating a room, adding a little warmth to an occupied room, while the whole house is "regulated" by thermostats for more low temperature. Here, however, you still need to calculate the cost of one joule in a candle.

The heater is also equipped with a top mounted stand that can hold the 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, notes Mr. Doss.

But then the owner of this thing can fully enjoy soft warmth emitted 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.

Scheme of the heater. The flame heats the rod (1), hot gases pass from cavity to cavity (2), each ceramic layer radiates infrared rays heating the next layer (3), the outer pot (4) ultimately heats up the air in the room (5) (illustration and photo from heatstick.com).

Doss writes that a 4.25 ounce wax candle contains approximately 1,000 British thermal units of energy. In terms of the usual values, this is about 120 grams and 1.1 megajoules.

If we take into account that such a candle burns for 20 hours or a little more, then 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. That will give an average power of about 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 numbers of heat of combustion are not so important. It is clear that such a candlestick cannot compete in power with household electric convectors and oil coolers 0.5-2 kilowatts. As long as there is current in the outlet.

On the other hand, even if there is current, you will hardly burn a kilowatt heater all day long if you do not want to go broke on electricity bills. And Kandle Heeter, as already mentioned, works more than 20 hours on one candle. The only thing important condition: It must not be left unattended. It's 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 show up there, preferring to travel away from the bustle of civilization. Kandle Heeter should be a simple and cheap alternative to stoves and other kerosene stoves. And someday it can save the life of a person who, say, by car, gets into a snow trap, into a snowstorm.

Finally, this tiny firefly is simply adorable. “Kandle Heeter should remind us all that we (humans) used to sit in caves at night around a fire and tell stories to each other,” says the inventor.

Such is the article!
In my opinion, the idea is not bad, especially if instead of an ordinary candle we take the one described here, with an asbestos wick and wire. The only thing that confuses is oxygen ... Isn't this device going to consume a lot of oxygen in such a small room? Who thinks what?

California inventor Doyle Doss and his company DOSS Products offer the original Kandle Heeter system, that is, the Candle Heater.

This strange-looking candlestick, claims its creator, can be indispensable in the event of a power outage. Its height is about 23, and its width is about 18 centimeters.

And from its appearance, the inverted pot over the candle attracts attention. In this pot (and it was a flower pot in the “past life”) the main highlight of the system is hidden.

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).

Doss sells Kandle Heeter for $25 each (photo courtesy of heatstick.com).

This intricate combination of ceramic and steel is called Quad-Core and is designed to trap the heat from the candle. But why?

An ordinary candle, burning in a room, gives out very little heat, as it seems. And the point here is that its hot “exhaust” simply goes up and quickly disappears with ventilation.

Meanwhile, the energy reserve in the candle is not so small. Moreover, with the hot flow of combustion products, a large part of its energy content is lost, and only a smaller part passes into light.

The pots also help to trap soot from the flames, which is good for keeping the ceiling clean.

The main "secret" of the invention is the Quad-Core radiator, a heat trap (photo from heatstick.com).

The inventor emphasizes that one such device will in no way save you in winter when 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 emergencies (and not only at home, but also outside it), a mini candle radiator can slightly reduce the cost of heating a room, adding a little warmth to a room occupied by people, while all the house is "adjusted" by thermostats to a lower temperature. Here, however, you still need to calculate the cost of one joule in a candle.

The heater is also equipped with a top mounted stand that can hold the 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, notes Mr. Doss.

But then the owner of this contraption can fully enjoy the soft heat given out 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.

Scheme of the heater. 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 of the room (5) (illustration and photo from heatstick.com).

Doss writes that a 4.25 ounce wax candle contains approximately 1,000 British thermal units of energy. In terms of the usual values, this is about 120 grams and 1.1 megajoules.

If we take into account that such a candle burns for 20 hours or a little more, then it turns out that its energy production is 55 kilojoules per hour, which corresponds to a power of 15.3 watts.

An ordinary candle, without a glass or metal cup, melts too quickly in Kandle Heeter (photo from heatstick.com).

True, according to some reports, the total "useful yield" of a wax candle of this size will still be higher. Closer to 3 megajoules. That will give an average power of about 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 numbers of heat of combustion are not so important. It is clear that such a candlestick cannot compete in terms of power with household electric convectors and oil radiators of 0.5-2 kilowatts. As long as there is current in the outlet.

On the other hand, even if there is current, you will hardly burn a kilowatt heater all day long if you do not want to go broke on electricity bills. And Kandle Heeter, as already mentioned, works more than 20 hours on one candle. The only important condition: it must not be left unattended. It's still an open flame.

Finally, this tiny firefly is simply adorable. “Kandle Heeter should remind us all that once upon a time we (people) sat in caves at night around the fire and told stories to each other,” says the inventor.

Is there an eternal heating device that will never break? How can the heat of an open flame be utilized 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 modern formulations. So, ordinary clay has gone from free and publicly available raw materials for the construction of the first houses to a nano-component of the insulating paint composition (liquid ceramic insulation). In its raw form, it was coated with walls for insulation, then they began to mold and burn it - dishes and bricks turned out. With the development of steelmaking, they learned to swell clay - this is how expanded clay and a whole section of science appeared - “The use of swelled ceramic materials". In the end, it was formed into balls with a diameter of 0.02 mm with a technical vacuum inside. And everywhere clay was in demand 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 a fire

Another property of ceramics, derived from heat capacity, is the ability to distribute heat evenly throughout the volume (except for the heating point). In other words, if we take something ceramic (for example, a brick) and put it on something hot (for example, gas burner), then the following will happen:

the brick will begin to accumulate (utilize) the heat of the burner flame;
the temperature will be evenly distributed throughout the volume of the brick and will reach its edges;
on the planes of the brick, heat exchange with the surrounding air will occur;
as a result, the heat exchange area will increase from the area of the flame tongue to the area of all brick planes;
in this case, the temperature will decrease inversely proportional to the surface area (than more area, the lower the temperature).

The quick-witted reader, of course, understood that the principle of operation of the Russian stove is described above. Our task is to create the same effective device, but based on a candle.

How does the "eternal" heater work

When an ordinary 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) ambient air does not have time to mix with the exhaust gases of combustion, and they intensively rise to the ceiling. A column of hot air is formed, as it were, which dissipates at the top. We will utilize this heat with the help of a “trap” made of ceramic domes.

What can a heater be made of?

So, to build a "miracle micro-stove" we need:

flame
fired clay (ceramic)
metal

The scope of ceramics is limited only by the imagination of the engineer. In this case, we are only interested in public cheap materials in particular crockery. It is not for nothing that in the old days they used clay pots in the oven - they keep heat for a long time. Range ceramic products household purpose is huge these days, but we will focus on the usual flower pots. Inconspicuous 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 an ordinary candle. Of course, there are the most various types gas and kerosene burners, but cheapness and availability come first for us. In addition, the candle does not have an expiration date and can be stored in the cold.

The third component is a record holder in thermal conductivity and an outsider in terms of heat capacity - metal. Its ability to quickly heat up and give off heat (low heat capacity) will play into our hands when creating a thermal lamp.

We assemble a heat lamp with our own hands

What you need:

Pots ceramic (flower) trapezoidal with an outer diameter of the bottom 50, 100 and 150 mm, 1 pc. In this case, the smaller pot should be about 25 mm lower than the large one.
Threaded stud with a diameter of 6-12 mm. It must pass through the holes of each pot. Drill holes if necessary desired diameter tile drill.
Washers for studs with an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the bottom smallest pot— 20 pcs. Nuts 7-8 pcs.
Frame, hanger, or free-form stand as described below technical requirements(conditions).
Optionally - fireplace sealant or non-combustible (paronite) gaskets.

Operating procedure

1. Install the pin in the hole largest pot and screw the nut on the outside.

2. We put several washers on the stud inside the pot, fix it with nuts if necessary.

3. Install the middle pot on the hairpin.

Attention! The outer edges of the smaller pots should be inside the dome of the larger ones at a depth of 20-25 mm.

4. We fix the middle pot with washers and nuts.

5. We expose and fix a small pot.

6. The edges of all three domes should go inward in steps of 20-25 mm. We adjust the landing depth by adding washers and nuts.

7. If the distance from one bottom to the other is noticeably large, fill it with washers apart - this will give a greater thermal conductivity of the rod.

8. We install the structure above the candle so that the pin shaft is located strictly above the flame at a height of 30-50 mm.

9. Further adjustment is made empirically based on observations.

Use of gaskets and sealants. Praising ceramics, we tactfully bypassed its most inconvenient drawback - fragility (causticity). Even solid brick crumbles, falling on concrete, what to say and flower pots. When assembling the lamp, you should very carefully tighten the nuts - it is worth pulling a little and the wall will burst. There is also a risk of accidental splitting during operation or at the time of carrying. hard metal hairpins crumble ceramics and can split. To soften their contact, use sealant or non-flammable gaskets.

What will be the use of the "pot" heater

At first glance, the design is extremely clear, but does not inspire confidence. You 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 general temperature boiler flow by a few degrees completely free of charge - and this is the result!

Let's carry out a primitive heat engineering 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 watts.
Paraffin candles give a greater effect of the release of 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. A heating element- open flame. The lamp must not be left unattended.

Application area

An elementary design based on "penny" materials will serve for a long time with careful handling. 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 in the forest overnight stays or during a power outage, as well as in extreme conditions.

In places where there is no electricity: tents, dugouts, shelters, a car caught in a snowstorm.
In places where electricity is available: small but pleasant savings on heating costs.
If you assemble a well-thought-out frame, then you can hang a small container (pot, mug) above the candle and heat water.

So simple and reliable assistant turned out. It will become not only a warm place in your interior, but also an interesting decorative decoration.