Ditch the energy-wasting fan heater! Instead, warm draughty rooms with this stoneware device at the bargain price of four cents per hour.
With the cold season in full swing, many homeowners in need of warmth are turning up the thermostat, causing their energy bills to skyrocket. Others rely on supplemental heating, which detracts from the size and style of their home while driving up their energy bill by an average of 18 cents per hour. Since both of these cost- and energy-inefficient perspectives left him cold, video blogger Ben Galt decided to make his home warmer himself by converting two terra cotta flower boxes, tea lights and various accessories into an ingenious heating element. Both easy to build and good for the wallet, Ben’s new terra cotta heater can warm drafty rooms at a fraction of the purchase and operating costs of a traditional auxiliary heater.
To make each side of the homemade heater, Ben placed a 5-inch clay pot inside a 6-inch pot and connected the two pieces using a metal rod, nuts and washers. Only after threading several more nuts and washers inside the two pieces did he slide a planter over the rod to place tea lights inside. This design decision was critical to his success: more than holding the pieces in place, the metal hardware stores the candles’ energy and radiates it upward into the lined pots and then outward into the room. According to his calculations, four tea lights in this fixture could heat the room for just four cents per hour, a savings of 14 cents per hour or over $1200 per year compared to a traditional supplemental heater!
Although a terra cotta pot stove isn’t necessarily a new design, Ben has made a crucial change by incorporating a chain and a two-arm stand. Suspending the two pots keeps the flames away from furniture and floors, unlike traditional models that sit on a loaf pan and overheat or damage furniture. Plus, the adjustable planter bowl (the candle base) can be easily lowered to replace spent candles without scalding your fingers, and raised to minimize heat loss. With this clever do-it-yourself heater, you’ll always be comfortably warm regardless of the outside temperature and gain a stylish new table decoration piece to boot!
source : Photo: youtube.com user Ben Galt
