this guy is the science teacher we all wanted as kids , bloody awesome bloke. love the videos.

Today years old I learnt a Watt is a Joule/second. Casually dropping that into a conversation asap.😊 Thank you Mr Rob

When u use plant pot, u should wrap some wire around it. So if it crack, it still stay it form and not fall apart and u do not burn all stuff.

Basically the same as the old Boy Scout heater, which I keep in my basement emergency survival station. A standard church-key can make draft holes around the top and bottom of a very large aluminum can; invert the can over a candle or two (tea lights and votives work as well as utility candles, but need to be replaced more often), and - voila! - you have enough heat to take the worst of the chill from the room.

My boy scout troop used to go snow caving. We'd often heat the snow caves with a few small candles. The walls would turn to ice and then the heat from a candle reflecting all around seemed 10x greater.

But where's the vortex? Lol, thanks as always Robert! Your thinking is always just a little off of conventional, and that makes it genius. Simple genius.

I've used the top off a gas bottle.. a big dog food tin fits nicely over the top

This is the stuff that benefits the poorest amongst us " Instantly " in dark freezing day's like these. Bravo Robert, keep the life saving stuff coming. Keep ya cuppa warm on top 2. 👍

Really taken by how you took on our comments about the flower pot heater and instead of just pushing the idea that it’s the user and not the design that’s at fault. you have taken the ball in to your court and gone and produced a new and more safer tea light heater. So nice advancement in the flower pot fire starter design. Will it make the nice click clicking noises that remind you that its time you started to feel warn? well done.

I remember looking at the plant pot design & it's really no different than the Bell heat chamber in large home masonry heaters. Eastern Europe is known for using large stone bells on the wood stove after the burn box to hold onto & radiate heat over very long times. As for the wick I took some natural hemp twine & spun a wick out of that & held it with a wadded up ball of aluminum foil. I pressed the wick into the center of the ball after I crushed a pencil into the center to make a hole. This let me put the wick & holder into the mouth of a very odd shaped bottle. Since it's foil the heat never gets to the glass of the Crystal Skull bottle I used. Very spooky too ^_^

Robert must be an absolute nightmare for his other half to go shopping with. "Oh, look. This stainless bowl would make a great heater....... And this cutlery stand could make a great heater....... Ooh, and these blocks of beef dripping just needs some wicks and an enclosure to become a really great heater..... And..... And...... And...... TOILET BOWL ROCKET STOVE !!!" "But look, there's REAL pre built heaters for sale, right over there." "Nah, it's alright, I don't need one......... But if we pass an exhaust place on the way home, can we pop in?......... I need some stainless pipe, because I've got an idea for a really great heater". 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you very much Robert, I will test this in the ongoing dark and cold Finnish winter where strange things lurk in the shadows and peak in through the windows (even though I live in the fifth floor of our yurt). I have some anger issues so this will be a good project to distract my self from the inner malice that tries to force it self out through me. I was given a "calming" brew by the local medicine hag, but the brew has only made the things lurking around more aggravated and they have started to bang on my windows. I hope the extra warmth provided by this contraption will make my living space more hostile for the creatures. Ps. Love your positive presence, very jolly fellow.

That heater works awesome Mr. Smith! I can tell because you went from wet hair to what looked to be completely dry hair in just minutes

I am 66 years old. And have been an electronics technician and electrician for most all my life. _How am I just now learning that a Joule and a Watt are the same, as far as heat???_ Oh. Right. I'm a Yanker... But, yes, stratification is the biggest problem for heating. Friend had a loft house, and was complaining about the heating bills, and the difference in temperature between upper and lower. The solution was a ceiling fan. I'm already looking at a couple modifications. Starting with a second and third leg to add stability and support to allow cooking on top. You will want a MUCH LARGER BASE to do this safely. Also, you penetrated the pie tin. It is now not a safe containment for spilled fuel. If you spread the offset on the support more, you can mount them to the cutting board, but then will also need multiple supports for stability. Three is the perfect number, here. And now I need to figure out how to make a wick adjuster easily.

If you put a reflector behind the candle it it will also provide decent lighting.. I have an almost identical mop I bought just for wicks, I showed it in my recent mini alcohol stove vid

I made something similar, with a little more mass behind it. i still had the old breaking discs of the rear breaks of my old BMW layin around. they are rather deep dished because the handbreak goes inside them. also i put a "skirt" around them made from ravioli cans, so its even more volume. takes ages for it to get hot, but stay sooooo damn hot even hours after the flame is off (okay, its several kilos of metal) of course needed to clean them quite well so i dont burn old break pad dust etc. and break pads are made to withstand high temperature differences etc. so i dont see them giving in ever from my alcohol fueled "candle" (have something similar to your contraption, just use 99% alco) edit: thinking about to make a 2nd one, since i have another disc layin around. its pretty damn effective. so if someone wants to go "next level" maybe ask in your local scrapyard if they have rear break discs for cheap, or keep them when you change your own. can only recommend

Brilliant solution, but I'd be tempted to not cut a hole in the cake tin, just bend the strapping more, otherwise spilt fuel will go through the hole in the tin and wooden base.

Brilliant! it seems in the US, a stainless steel toilet brush holder will be plastic, with a faux metal facade. Going to get to work finding a good alternative

Once again, great idea well made. Thanks Rob.

this also works with an oil lamp and your idea to use stainless steel mesh as a mantle around it instead of a glass globe. great idea and it can be scaled up significantly. had seen a 55 gallon steel drum with one end removed set on cinder blocks open end down and a pan with fiberglass insulation in a pan soaked in ethanol as a burner. worked great as a shop heater

This is really clever. I think the carbon felt wick might be a really good choice but the cotton did the job by showing what can be done with less. You keep my mind engaged with possibilities and I love that. Now have several concepts in the works for my own projects. If I can just get around my work, farm and side hustles I might have time to try some. 🙂

I've got a large cutting board, 2 bricks and a hamster bowl with 5x8 hour tea candles. Originally I covered it with a stew pot with handles, worked a tree then I saw your graphite plant pot and coloured it inside and out, covered the holes with aluminium foil to reflect the heat and topped it off with a little terracotta bonsai dish. I'll keep my eyes out for cracks. It was really cold one night so I put a glazed white plate on top to spread the heat outwards even more. Warms the whole room to an ambient temperature 👌🏻

Hi. I am using an empty glass sandwich paste jar (any flavor will do 🙂), punched a hole though the metal lid, and then filled with Bio ethonol, I pushed the wick through the hole in the lid and screwed the top on the jar, and placed in an old stainless steel bread bin. No need for plate at the bottom.. Works a treat and warms up my workshop/garage nicely

- if one were to wrap the original plantpot in wire - straight or chicken wire - the pot won't explode / collapse if it cracks - placing inside a bunded reflector increases safety no matter the "blackbody" used.

Looks like it should be a nice little room heater for a winter emergency or power outage.

this is the only channel i don't cancel google ads, actually I click them so I can support this guy somehow. THanks pal

Brilliant video, I learned some things I did not know and had never considered about soot and clean burning. Makes perfect sense, just never thought about it before. Wonderful video.

You are one of a few people I like to see wacking things

Happy new haircut Robert.

there's a video out there someplace where someone placed a few tea candles under a cast iron skillet (supported by a couple of bricks) and placed a wood stove fan inside the skillet and off it went pushing air and continued to do so well after the candle went out.. He also did the same thing by using a can filled with sand and created some hot sand that still operated the fan for a while after the candle had extinguished.

The only thing this is missing is a Stirling engine fan put on top to help direct the air. Or maybe one of those peltiers with a motor and a fan blade

Put your metal toilet brush holder above a standerd oil lamp and enjoy the heat in the light. From a sunny warm South Africa 😊

Confining warm air has been a "fun" challenge for me this winter, since the heat and air unit died. The small space heater works well, but it needs help. I obtained the lid of a disposable roasting pan (aluminum). I bent it over the arm of the couch to form an arched "duct". In front of the heater the flow of air can be aimed better. Sitting at the table I am quite cozy, with the heat aimed underneath and captured by some makeshift "skirting" around the table.

This is best channel on this subject ive seen.

Perfect adaptation for my van👏👏👏 Thanks for sharing your thoughts 👍👍👍

Well done good amount of humor along with the knowledge

Robert, there is something this heater is not doing optimally. Shiny surfaces have low emissivity in the infrared spectrum. If you shot-peen or sand-blast the surface and blacken it, it will radiate heat much more efficiently. A shiny material will simply not emit as much radiant heat as a dull material at the same temperature.

Funny enough, I just picked up a toilet paper roll holder that would make a great cage to hold that toilet brush holder and potentially keep that burner in place! I had other plans for it, but now I'm positive I will try this.

Excellent candle radiator instructions.

Made a mini one with a shallow tin, some tea candles, and tea infuser (LJUDLÖS) from IKEA. Brilliant idea

Thank you for the excellent demonstration.

Really appreciate the data for calculations. Top job. Ta.

Hair cut looks good lol. Great job once again. 👍👍

Thank you so much. An excellent little heater.

One of the best videos ive seen on this subject- again well done !

Great idea , you make the science easy to understand

You could increase the heat in the chamber by drilling a few holes around the bottom of the chimney and lowering it on the candle. Thank you for the cool (pun intended) videos.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

Maybe I need more experimenting but heating plant pots didn't quite have the effects I was looking for. Atm I put a 50x50 sidewalk tile on an upside down 30liter soup pot. With 5 tea lights I have a great foot warmer for about 30 cents (6 hour tealights)

Brilliant 🤩 what an awesome job 👍👍👍👍👍🕯🪔🕯🪔✅❤️🙏🏻

I love this channel so much! Great channel for all of us inventors. Much love everyone.

As always excellent ideas, Your both an inspiration.

You are so fun! LOVE your videos...so informative and entertaining! Making my 'candle' now...thank you.

Another dose of common sense ……. So DESPERATELY needed in these times! THANK YOU SIR👍👍👍👍!

and thanks for all your brilliant work. Mr. Murray-smith you are the best.

Great stuff!

Looks like a good setup for the safety burner :)

Thank you for this video. Looks like a great idea. Subscribed.

Excellent video again,.

I've subscribed and have been binge watching. Very clear instructions from a very informative guy.

Super Smart Simple Solution. I'll be building one of these very soon. Thanks for brilliant idea.

Thank you very much.

Dankeschön für dein Video! Es ist wirklich sehr gut gemacht und super erklärt! Ich hoffe du machst noch viele weitere. Thank you mate for sharing your experience and wisdom!

I'm seventy now, when I was young more people kept birds in sheds as pets and they used plant pots with a light bulb in a holder inside to keep the chill off the air so it is an old idea, but I really like the new methods and materials, thanks

Wow, you're smart, entertaining, and very educational!! Thanks for sharing.....

This looks like a great topping for a Bright Betty lamp!

Great idea in this bitter cold thank you

Brilliant idea !

Another fine video, sir!

Great video

nice one Rob.

I must have gotten lucky👍🏼i used my double plant pot heater for 5 years at least for a foot warmer under the computer desk. 3 small tealight worked fine. But!! This version will heat faster and longer. 👍🏼🍺

Try painting the inside of the not flowerpot with mushu black paint to absorb the candle light and see what a difference it makes. I tried doing the same for a metal tray and just put it in the winter sun inside and was surprised how warm it got.

Very good thanks best yet!

Clever design. Thinking about household trash common in the US: aluminum pie plate, peanut butter jar, coffee can. I hadn't thought of a mop head for wick, nice improvisation! If we're parking it in an existing fireplace, we could hang the radiant can from the existing damper with a bit of chain or wire; can't knock over something that's hanging, right?

Thank you

You are a legend Bob x

the pot heater reminds me of the 12volt diesel parking heaters that have been the new crave.. the plant pot with a intake and output.. and a fan going over the container blowing it out..

This is fantastic.I will try this with my simple glass,table top oil lamp. Maybe put a metal plate at the top on an angle,to force the heat coming out the top,to the front and sides. Can't wait to make it.I will gift it to my old mother to put in her bathroom that's always freezing.

I kept thinking about Hannibal Lectar watching this lmao! great video sir!

Progably worth mentioning to avoid chromed containers - very dangerous when heated.

6 inches of fresh wet and heavy snow since last night , in south central Upper Michigan

Looking smart today

your a breath of fresh air i love your style and the communications of your instructions' are a blessing even with that twangy accent .. thanks for your help im never going to be board even started turning my spare room into a workshop .

Hi Robert, I’m new to your channel and particularly took inspiration from this video as I’ve often thought about making my own plant pot heater. My design consists of an 8” diameter Panettone tin which is 7 1/4” tall. It is inverted so that the tea light candles can sit within the lid and act as a tray. I initially punched 4 small holes around the side, just above the lid’s lip but I noticed there wasn’t enough airflow. So I increased the quantity of holes to 15 which are just under 2” apart. This still wasn’t enough so I got my step drill out and cut 7 1”holes whose centres are 2” from the bottom. This seems to be working well now. I’m currently running 3 tea lights inside and it is giving a surface temperature in the middle of the upper surface at 114 degsC. The sides are warm to touch but not hot enough to burn me. I’m going to add a 4th candle to see if it improves the output and see how it fairs. Does anyone have any further suggestions for improvements please? Update: Adding the 4th candle takes the upper surface temp to 130degsC.

The saying 'necessity is the mother of invention' springs to mind, I have lots of empty jam jars, 🤔

Great vid👍, I wonder how long it would take for a candle set up in a small sealed room, for the oxygen levels to drop off???,, Say a tent or a cupboard,, u know standard room in London🤣🤣

You could also add some insulation on the back side to make it a directional radiator(heat the person not the space and all)

Nice one Robert, l may look for an old storage heater as their bricks are a decent size for this

So this is why I keep candles in my glove box. Winter storms in Western New York often catch people unprepared. When your car runs out of fuel, people freeze. The blizzard that started on the 24th of December saw more than 27 freeze to death. A candle in a tin could have stopped this. I also carry an emergency blanket.

Robert would be a great leprechaun for this year's Halloween

Great idea! Takes me back to shared student houses with one paraffin heater that was passed around! You could rough up the stainless with fine sandpaper then spray it with black barbecue paint to make it radiate more heat. Thinking of trying something with one of those steel triangular axel stands that have a tube at the top

Always Quality !

thank you for sharing this wonderful idea! I may have missed the necessary lesson at school, but, would seating the candle on a base of sand be a good safety precaution to contain any accidental spillage?

Nice haircut. You've cleaned up a bit.

Thank you :)

I can't stop thinking of Del Boy....

Heating the Human.. Yet another great uploads by RMS. Atm I am finding that this keeps me cozy. I use a tall non combustible container apx 2 foot / 24 inches in height and apx 8 inches in diameter... just imagine a saucepan but with 2 foot high sides. In the base a place a tea light - which is then lit, the rim adorns a contoured wire mesh - this prevents anything from falling into the base and potentially causing a fire - that whole set up is then placed inside a sleeping bag. My 1st attempt was with a blanket wrapped around my legs - which also did the trick. I then place my legs inside and try to eliminate any gaps. Any heat that rises is trapped in the small environment and hey presto - warmth. As the set up is not hermetically sealed the chance of the tea light being snuffed out if very remote. I have tried using more than 1 tea light but have found it can get too hot. 1 tea light suffices. As with all naked flames... great caution is advised

Cool. It would be interesting to know how the heat would flow if you put a cap on the toilet brush tube and added an inner tube to facilitate the circulation.

Seen a lot of videos about "1,000 hour" candles. Where you put a candle in the middle of a mason jar. Then pour molten vegetable lard around it. So the burning candle flame also melts and burns the lard as well. Wondered if there was simple way to solidify vegetable oil?