If all the people had basic knowledge of the law of physics and chemistry, many products and gimmicks we see worldwide could not be sold.

I would agree with this gentleman. When I was camping in my van, I tried this clay pot method. I was very disappointed. Yes, the pot became extremely hot, but the heat did not radiate through out the small area of my van to warm it.

Had a family member discover this "miracle" magic heater a few years ago. They were SO excited and went on and on about how much electricity they were going to save... strange, but they never ever mentioned it again and I never saw it in their home after that first day.

Neither "produces" more heat. The clay pot slows the escape of the heat. Do clay pots work at slowing the escape of heat? Yes! Two thumbs up, turn that frown upside down!

This is what happens when you watch American Idol instead of doing your science homework...

The physics applications to this is that the clay pots allow the air inside to be heated faster than the larger room. Like a hot air balloon. In effect, you are focusing the heat from the candles. The focused heat is spread over the larger area of the clay pot (larger than the candle flame, that is). This is one of the main reasons for the multiple pot use. A similar use that most understand is how boiling water on the stove in cold weather will warm up the house faster than simply cooking on the stove. The pots act like the water vapor in concentrated heat transfer. I've found one of the wood stove fans on top of the pots will allow to heat the room just a bit better. So, no, this does not allow you to create "more" heat, but it does allow you to focus the heat to utilize in a better way than a simple open flame. In the same exact manner that your house heater uses the small flame within to warm your house. Smaller flame than a fireplace, but directs heat far more efficiently. In short, you need a lesson in applied physics.

You set up the heater wrong, you are supposed to cover the hole on the top - usually the base of the planter is used for this. This does work. The terra-cotta heats up and radiates heat even after the candles burn out. This heater hack raises the temperature of a small room by 10 to 15 degrees and can save someone’s life when the power goes out. Is it a replacement for a modern heating system? Probably not. But it can save someone’s life, and it is used across the country by people with greenhouses to keep their plants from freezing in the winter. I urge you to try this experiment again, this time actually try it in a small room and put together a real heating system, not a tiny terracotta planter with one tea light.

A pot obviously doesn't make the candle produce more heat. There are two things that still make it "work". 1. Heat from an open flame travels upwards pretty quickly and heats the ceiling, which transfers the heat out of the room. An open environment is even worse as there's not even a ceiling to stop the heat. The pot stops the heat from escaping quickly by keeping it in the middle of the room and radiating it to all directions from there. 2. The greater the temperature difference between two things the faster the equalization. The pot slows down the entire heating process by storing the heat and giving it back to its environment much slower than the open flame would, so it prevents the room heating up quickly and then losing a lot of heat to the outside by equalization. The first point can be understood as a parallel to heat lost through a chimney, the second one is behind mass stoves. This doesn't make a candle a miracle heating device but it does help a bit.

While a clay pot is not enough of a thermal battery. It is used to store energy, not produce energy. If your burning a candle and have a thermal battery releasing heat you have more heat than just burning a candle. They have fireplaces in Europe that they can burn one fire a day and it heat the home all day. Long after the fire is out.

No one is claiming that they produce more energy, it's about thermal mass and how that energy is distributed. If you had 20 candles burning in a room totally naked, and then you had 5 clay pots with 4 candles each underneath them, you would find the room much more comfortable with the clay pots simply due to the fact that the heat isn't all up at the ceiling, and it's being absorbed and then let out at a slower rate. Just saying "they don't work because you can't create energy" is more than a little inaccurate in terms of the way they're used, not to mention you run exactly zero tests to prove your hypothesis. When you've got some data to back up your claim, let us know, but right now all you have is an opinion.

So while the output will be the same the location of the heat will not be. The convection fans that work off heat that you for example put on top of you furnace help to spread the heat in the room. Much of the heat energy would otherwise be wasted by super heating the ceiling and the floor remaining cold. The clay pot is the same principal by spreading the heat over a larger area and keeping the heat retained it does not instantly rise to the ceiling and heat just the ceiling. There is no argument of thermodynamics to be made here, it's as simple as pointing your space heater out the window is not going to be as effective as as having on the floor. Now I don't own a clay pot heater, I've seen them in many houses here. I live in subarctic Sweden where -40 temperatures aren't all that uncommon and the sun doesn't rise for a couple months a year. A lot of people heat their homes with a wood burning furnace in their living room and these types of heaters are a common sight in different versions. They have always been around, in one form or another and it's just a new take on very old and very real and functional thing Värmeljuskamin, they are nothing new, they have been around since candles became a household commodity. The ones I have seen are more decorative, usually ceramic little houses or made to look more like a lantern. Or they have a bowl over the top you put fragrances in. They're even recommended by the government for crisis warming. www.krisinformation.se/detta-kan-handa/hemberedskap/varme-vid-kris

I just want to know a simple thing.. Does it heat up a room?!

Yep, the amount of heat energy the candle puts out won't change by putting it under a clay pot, but the point is to direct that energy in a way that works better for you than just heating up a small spot on the ceiling

I think its more important to ask if they reduce the chance of ground tempts getting too low for tender plants in a poly/greenhouse. I have seen ones with a larger pot over the first and a broken bit of pot covering the. These are meant to act as stoorage heaters with a 24hr candles. Just like a five gallion drum of water will gather heat during the day and let it out at night. The point is not to heat the space. But rather to reduce the chance of frost damage to tender plants in the area around these pots. Not that they heat the entire atea. Its also a safety with naked flame. Esp hen you may have fleece around the place. Nobody wants to wake up to a burned down poly. I agree totally about it giving off a set amount of heat. Its more a question of does it keep a decent percentage of that heat where it's most needed.

The same distance around the candle will not be as warm as the pot, so the pot does help radiate a more broad area of heat than the candle.

It does work for proximity of the room space. When I'm in south America in Bogotá. It really works at night when it's cold. It's great heats the room efficiency

Yes. It works to keep our green house from freezing. Two small candles and five clay pots radiate the heat out slowly. Cheap! I need the heat low on the ground and that's how we use it. It works for our application.

I have a double unit - they are each constructed using 2 pots, m10 threaded bar. At least 10 nuts, numerous penny washers and an eye bolt to hang it all from. It’s all that metalwork + the pots that absorb the heat from 3 tea lights each and then radiate it out that keeps our flat cozy. But there again I could always listen to all the doomsday merchants and put my central heating on.😮 I have been using them for 2 years and my gas bill has just got down (but I would say that wouldn’t I) 😊

I tried this out yesterday, approx -10 Celsius. It seemed like the candles under the pots burned much slower than just being out in the open. It was also nice having a larger radiant area to warm up my hands.

I think you're asking the question wrong - yes, obviously the clay pot doesn't create (or amplify) the heat generated by the candle. Anyone wanting to do a life-hack for energy-"production" would be fooled. However, most uses for the clay pot technique that I have seen (which I haven't tried, but I would love you to do an experiment) is to heat the local area (to which there is a difference, as you pointed out), i.e to concentrate (and radiate) heat to nearby frost-sensitive plants. To THAT question my guess is that they actually do work (to a certain degree)

“In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics.” H. Simpson

If, your going to do the clay pot candle heater, the ones I've seen use at least four to nine candles. The larger the room size means, to get any benefit, you will need a bigger pot. Or, just the top of one setting on top of some bricks, or a patio paver. (12 by 12 inch) Leaving a bit of space between the bricks/ bottom of the pot for air circulation. Ambient heating :)

I have been testing this layout in as controlled of an environment as possible in my ability. I have found that the amount of mass that has to be saturated with heat has a direct correlation to the amount of heat able to be output and measured. Having a lid on the pot works great, but you have to make sure that you put the pot up a little higher or the exhaust will snuff out the candle. Overall, yes, they produce heat. However, they don't produce enough to overcome what most houses need. There is a reason why most houses have 20K to 100K BTU HVAC systems.

I have one that I have made. It has 3 pot inside. I can only burn 4 tea candles at a time. This is not a heater like a furnace or a small electric heater. What I use mine for is to eliminate a draft. I have an old house and a corner of the house is always cold. It take 2 hours to heat the clay pots. Then it radiate heat from the clay pot eliminating the draft. I also use it in my RV. During the summer, The night can get cool. This will radiate enough heat to take out the chill. If the RV is cold like a late autumn, I do put on the furnace.

obviously it can't produce more heat for the same reason all electric heaters are basically the same in terms of efficiency, you're converting chemical energy (or electricity in the space heater example) at near 100% efficiency to thermal energy . I would assume the real purpose of these is to act as a radiator so the hot air rising from the wick doesn't carry too much of the heat to the top of the greenhouse immediately and it gets more evenly dispersed. The warmer air would still rise but probably more slowly .

no wrong, so sorry the pot holds the heat .... It has nothing to do with the candle but what happens to the heat of the candle and stores it . The problem is with your ideas is you forget it is for small rooms and small areas ... btw it worked (and is working) in the Northern Ontario wilds (in small cabins).

I assumed the actual intention of these devices was to store some of the heat to release over a longer period, with the main horticultural purpose being to protect greenhouses against early frosts to extend the growing season. All that said, while they may act as a temporary heat sink I can't imagine an empty terra cotta point is very efficient at this. I'm guessing that within 15 minutes of the candle being out the pot will be back to ambient temperature. I'm guessing a bucket of warm water, a similar pot full of warm sand or even an incandescent light bulb would be better.

They make wood stoves out of iron to collect and radiate the heat. the clay pot heater is the same principle on a smaller scale. My wood stove was cold this morning as was the room. The stove was not “producing” heat, it was storing and radiating it as will the clay pot on a very much smaller scale. So the clay pot “heater” does work, as it can store and radiate the heat of the candle in a small space more efficiently than the candle alone. I have pocket warmers that heat my pockets and my hands but really suck for warming the house.

Friends, there are at least two reasons why the clay pot makes you feel warmer, even though the candle puts out the same amount of energy. #1 The candle puts out energy as light and heat. The clay pot may convert more of the light energy to heat, making you feel warmer. #2 The bare candle lets the heat quickly rise to the ceiling, which might be badly insulated and lose heat to the exterior. Thus, a clay pot heater will produce heat closer to a person and make them feel warmer. This might even be more true in a greenhouse where we care about warming the plants and soul rather than the air.

Thanks for the correct evaluation. "A candle puts out a certain amount of heat, this heat cannot be amplified without the addition of external energy, laws of thermodynamics. Adding a ceramic pot or two will not increase the amount of heat from the candle. Therefore the ceramic pots are only a safety device so stupid people do not touch the open flame, just light the candles and enjoy the flame"…I posted this on many videos last year, a few thumbs up. On 1 video (can't find it) there was some back and forth chatter with the other person disputing the laws of thermodynamics...

do you know the difference between infrared radiation and convection?

I love these because they retain most of the heat produced down nearer the floor intead of it all rising to the ceiling. Not once did I think they actually made more heat than the candle itself could produce, that's just a lack of education or common sense, really. I made one (houses several tealights) to sit in front of my wood-burning fireplace (which I don't use) for a little glowing accent. It doesn't do much to heat the room overall but it helps defray the cool air that still comes in from the closed damper. My cats love sleeping beside it. Their little cat egos likely think I put it there just for them!

Good to know, I thought about this for when the power goes out.

On one end, anything burning produces heat at a fixed rate, so there's literally not more heat being produced. On the other there's effectiveness of convection and radiation that alters how much air is being heated that can differ, but also where. If you heat air near the ground, it'll share the heat by rising through colder air above. If you heat air ner the ceiling, you won't feel warner at all, since the heat stays up there. Recycling heat that's near the ceiling back down to the ground is a good way to save. Finally, insulation, preventing heat escape. I'd start using aerogel, since that is currently the best insulator for prevention of 99.9% convection.

A clay pot traps the heat closer to the floor, rather than flying to the ceiling and dispersing. The pot also adds thermal mass, so you can get your hands closer to more heat . I should have watched the video.

It's basically like a dam if the heat was a river. Yes you can extract more energy from a dam than a mere river, but only at the dam. Ie, the energy is localized in potential energy in the case of the dam. Fully working metaphor.

A BTU is a BTU... Nice work , you are right !

A lot of naysayers come on here and say well it's about focusing heat near plants. If so, why bother with a clay pot. Use a metal pot which conducts heat much better and radiates it adjacent to plants you want to keep warm. Or route metal conduit near plants. Also, the idea of thermal mass for a little pot is silly. Once the candle is out the pot is cold within 15 min. And there is no "slow" release from a pot or else it would heat up indefinitely. At some point the temperature of the pot is going to stop increasing where there is equilibrium between in and out.

Wait until someone suggest burning a tub of crisco.

The measurement that I would like to see is, how long does the candle burn before it is fully consumed? It is possible that the chimney effect makes it burn faster. Yes, it would still be the same amount of total energy, but it may be hotter, just for less time. To put another way, you say the candle has 30 watts. But how many watt-hours of energy does it have? Watts implies a rate of consumption that is steady. But how long will it produce 30 watts? And with the chimney, will it produce 40 watts but or a shorter time? This would be an easy test to do. Secondly, regardless of how much heat is produced, it may be advantageous in some situations to create radiant heat that warms the plants next to it instead of convection currents that disappear into the sky.

"Do we have to actually test this? ... No"

I'm curious about the conversion of the fuel to heat efficiency of the candle versus the clay pot. My question is, are the unburnt gasses from the candle converted to heat better when using the clay pot, and by what percent? For example, if the candle wax (which is melted, then starts to turn to gas, and the gas is burned) consumes 85% of this gas when alone but 95% when paired with the pot, the pot indeed produces more heat.

It "works" because the clay pots absorb and distribute the heat over a wider surface area that can warm hands and other body parts as opposed to the heat flowing freely up a narrow path straight to the ceiling, where it is of no use. The first law of thermodynamics does not explain why it works, but it certainly works nonetheless. Try using it to warm cold body parts in a tent outside on a freezing cold night and you will see it "works."

I haven't tried the clay pot idea yet, but the theory is that ceramic conducts heat. That's why they have ceramic heaters you can buy now

I'm gonna be homeless pretty soon so I am binge watching these vids to get ideas on surviving the New England winter in my car.

Geez, you don’t use these to heat your house. Use them to survive.

They do work- as with most experiments, the devil is in the details. One bitterly cold April night I gave it a try to heat my new 6 x12 ft. polycarb greenhouse. I’m happy to share my data and setup with anyone who wants to try it. Depending on the candles, I get about 5-15 degrees of benefit. (By morning, my baseline thermal mass heating typically only adds about 5 deg. over outdoor temps, sometimes none if it's been cloudy). It’s not a question of more heat- obviously it doesn’t do that, it’s a question of its distribution. The pot shown in the video is not adequate, however. I have a tower of successively smaller pots that stack about 18” inches high. Also, ordinary candles are not great. If I use a decorative 3 wick candle, I might get 5 degrees. If I use a small can of Crisco and 4 candles, I can get up to 15 degrees, both will burn for several nights- though sometimes the candles go out. Although it’s easy to set up once you have the kit, I’m switching to electric once the greenhouse is wired.

The video I have seen also uses lard in a glass jar with the candle inside the lard. They say it will heat for about 8 days. I think that oil burning under the pot would produce more heat than a candle I think.

Don't know if the work as efficient heaters but do know they cause a lot of fires when not properly constructed.

There is the possibility that one of the methods produces more total heat. And that is because the combustion efficiency can be affected by the altering of the air flow around the wick.

Thank you Mr. P. 🎃🍁🍂💚🙃

Its a guy that did a control study on in loaf ....the temperature went up in the room.

I have been saying this for years! Thank you

Are acc sythase / oxidase liquids ? Is that why drought lowers ethylene to the growing shoots in cucumbers ? Less water = less acc = less ethylene ?

I don't know anything about physics but I do know something about common sense. The reason you layer your clothes is the more layering, the more spreading out of the heat, the more you feel warm. That's actually how they make heaters is the heat goes through all the different layers making it much hotter which means more hear is seemingly created because of all the heat layers. I think this would be way more ideal with layers of the pots and then maybe some type of small fans to move the heat out???

Dilution. It's like a single drop of food coloring dropped in a cup of water versus a full bathtub of water The smaller cup will be noticeably more concentrated and darker than the water in the bathtub.

The thing about clay pot heaters, is the open flame is covered, the pot also acts as a heat regulator..., which is more of a personal heater ... As far as a room heater No .... A candle is a candle ...it takes energy to make energy......

Elementary my dear Watson!

Finally the truth. Thank you for sharing. I wish there were more people willing to spread the truth.

You cant create energy, but you can retain it and let it build up...

Dear sir, I really like your videos, could you please add the caption translate of chinese? There it is but it doesn’t work. Thanks.

For a clay pot heater it's pretty important not to have a hole at the top as its primary function is to not let the heat escape towards the ceiling.

Well said Sir. KZfaq is flooded with false claims and it's good to see people like yourself debunking them with scientific facts. If anyone wants to heat a room with candles, then get 67 of them and they will have a nice 2 Kw heater. Oh, and a serious fire risk as well 😂

4:03 First law of thermodynamics. Energy in closed system is fixed, but... to energy there's no closed systems.

Yes, I said from the start they didn't work. One way they can work is that the clay pot acts like a thermal battery. If your sleeping in a tent on a cold night. Heat a pot up with your candle light. Then put the pot in your sleeping bag with you.

Thermal underwear and a good sleeping bag will work much better. If you put your head inside your jacket and light a lighter for a few seconds it gets quite warm too.

How are these heaters used in a garden?

How you say it doesn’t work but do no test. I wanted to see ur science

I'll just use my kerosene heater thank very much.

I think I will stick with a natural gas heater.

Correct😊

Gold went up while the dollar went up which is very bullish

It is not a closed system...so your point is moot.

Anything that defies the laws of physics or Natural Law should be assumed untrue.

If you don't believe this guy, go spend $10 and make a clay pot heater for yourself. Then you be the judge. Oh, yeah, please report your findings.

"...maybe thermodynamics doesn't apply near a black hole, we can't say for sure without a Peer-Reviewed Journal-Published Whitepaper, but since it's 250 years old, most Scientists 'accept' thermodynamics..." - this is scientism.

I’m not a technical expert, nor do I want to be. When I see the question…Do these work… I simply want to click on it in here yes or no and the example of the best one👎

So i guess the millions of people who do this or have in the past are all wrong then???!! . Guess I'll find out for myself eh'''

Can't fool Mother Nature!!

👍👍👍

it is BS the candle only has so much energy..

No, it does NOT 'create more heat' ! What it does is convert some (not all) the convection heat of the candle(s) into RADIANT heat - only 'feels' hotter. But please speak to your local Fire Department (!!!). They will confirm these concoctions do make a lot of heat when your house/structure burns down !!! THESE THINGS ARE DANGEROUS !!

Do heaters work? Well... That depends. kzfaq.info_cpNa4eKCdc

First!

It work during WWll and thats a fact to keep the soldiers warms. Look it up.

It works... This gut does not know what he is talking about...

I haven't tried the clay pot idea yet, but the theory is that ceramic conducts heat. That's why they have ceramic heaters you can buy now