Although spring is just around the corner, there are still plenty of places around the country experiencing bitterly cold weather. Unfortunately, the cost to heat a home has increased substantially. For that reason, some people have turned to fireplaces and space heaters to keep their living spaces comfortable.
Alternative solution
While both fireplaces and space heaters work, there are some issues with them. For example, you’d need to keep enough wood stockpiled and make sure the heater doesn’t tip over, thereby causing a fire hazard. Well, one man came up with a different solution for heating homes and it’s downright brilliant.
Use a flower pot
Okay, that by itself sounds ridiculous. But this guy discovered a way to turn a flower pot into a mini heater. Not only is this a fun project but it also looks great and it produces heat.
Super inexpensive to make
To make a flower pot mini heater for your home, you’ll first start by gathering all the necessary supplies. You’ll have no problem finding them at a local gardening center, hardware store, or home improvement store. And nothing is overly expensive.
The supplies you’ll need
For this project, you’ll need the following supplies:
- Terra cotta flower pot – You can make the heater using one pot or two. But if you go with two, be sure that one of the pots is slightly smaller than the other one.
- Base – Anything like cement blocks, bricks, or even muffin pans and glass pans work fine.
- Hardware – If you decide to go with the two-pot mini heater, you’ll need a few nuts, bolts, and washers.
- Candles – For these, simply get the tea light size.
Assembling a one-pot heater
For a heater using just one terra cotta flower pot, put your base on a level surface. Then, place the tea light candles either on top of the base or inside of it. Next, light the candles, followed by turning the pot upside down over them.
Assembling a two-pot heater
If you prefer a mini-heater made with two, terra cotta pots, you’ll follow the same instructions above. However, you’ll use the nuts, bolts, and washers to create a shelf on which the larger pot rests. The interesting thing here is that in addition to the candles producing heat, the steel bolts work as a heat conductor so two pots put out even more heat.
How does a flower pot heater work?
You might think that little tea lights wouldn’t get hot enough to produce any heat. And in reality, they don’t. But what the candles can do is make the pot itself hot.
Warming up your home
As the flames of the candles burn, the air inside of the flower pot gets warmer and warmer. Within a short amount of time, the terra cotta pots absorb the heat. Then, that warm air transfers to the interior of the house.
Similar to a convection oven
This flower pot mini heater works much like a convection oven. And you know how fast an oven can make a kitchen hot. Although the intensity of the heat won’t be the same, it’ll still work great to take any chill out of the air and make a room feel much more comfortable.
Even a one-pot heater can make a significant difference. But, with a steel bolt on the inside of a two-pot heater, which as mentioned serves as a heat conductor, the hot air inside of the two-pot design stores up as energy. As a result, hot air continually radiates outward.
Key benefits
There are multiple reasons for making a heater like this. First, it’s safer than using a space heater and more cost-effective than buying chopped wood for a fireplace. Second, this heater might be little but the heat it produces is enough to help lower your monthly utility bill.
To learn how to make a mini heater out of a flower pot, check out the video below. One important note … because of the candles’ flames, it’s essential to keep small children and pets away from it. But with supervision, this is a super innovative way to heat your home.
