Low Buck Shop Heater

[skoda]

One Glass Jar or Metal Coffee can (or several)

Emergency candles.

Melt a dot of wax on the bottom of the container, stick the candle in. In a few minutes you have a tiny rocket of heat.

Any candles work, but if you get actual "emergency" candles they seem to work better.

Wal-Mart has big fat ones this time of year. I prefer these to a space heater because I have circa 1954 wiring.

 

[Markm]

I use a "bucket" type mosquito candle with a coffee can upside down on 2 metal rods balanced on the candle...silly, but works...

 

[user 135]

I assume this is just for warming your hands.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Here in Texas we just fire up a cow pattie and warm with that. I ,for some reason cant imagine living in the north and warming anything with a candle in a bucket...this is another one of those ...jerk your chain deals huh? If I was going to heat and my wireing wouldnt take an electric heater ,I would hook up a small refilable propane tank ,with one of the heaters on top. They sell them cheap down here , and they really warm a space quick and last along time on a tank. I'm still running the air conditioning :roll: :roll:

 

[user 135]

I'm still running the air conditioning :roll: :roll:

I have snow in my backyard. :?

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Ah snow ...we had some a few years back. It lasted for a night. Was kinda neat to see a real flurry. Down here that's when the wind blows fifteen snow flakes around. Those heaters are about $79 for a double and I think the singles were like in the $49 range at Home Depot.

They do work good and since they are propane you can use them indoors and not kill yourself with carbon monoxide.

 

[sensor]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... 60.1902072
had these at about every shop ive been at(one draw back is theyre loud as heck other than that youll be sweating in seconds)....

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Had one of those. The fumes will choke you to death. You have to open the doors to let the carbon monoxide out and then you freeze again. :|

 

[Chainsaw]

Hey Unc, you really wanna get some heat of those Mister Heaters, take a chunk of plate steel or thick sheetmetal and face the heaters toward it. Then get a small fan and blow across the metal. A friend of mine uses this setup in his garage all winter and works on his cars. It's a 3 car garage and it will run you outta there in no time! He usually leaves the door into his house open just to send some heat out. Works great!

From my experience, keep an eye on those type of heaters. I've had two of them and on both the screens wore holes in them and started spitting flames.

 

[deorman]

Cool, mount it on your bike! :lol:

 

[skoda]

Hmmm.....$79.99 plus a propane tank, not low buck in my book, but certainly more cost effective. Can also heat up a cast iron skillet on the grill or oven and bring it out with you, just don't fall on it :shock:

 

[DougC]

...Those heaters are about $79 for a double and I think the singles were like in the $49 range at Home Depot.

They do work good and since they are propane you can use them indoors and not kill yourself with carbon monoxide.

A general term for that type is "sunflower heaters".
They are pretty cheap and do put out lots of heat, but they are usually not indoor-rated.

-------

I got a Mr Heater Big Buddy ceramic job, works well for emergency house heating and is indoor-rated as well. You need to run them off the 20-lb tanks though. The little 1-lb tanks will ice up too easily.

--but then again, you're not supposed to use 20-lb propane tanks inside your house... so you can't obey all the safety rules unless you get a kerosene heater.

But ----kerosene heaters smell like kerosene when starting up and shutting down,,,, so many people will move them outside to light them and shut them down.... and you're not supposed to move them while they are lit, either. You just can't win it seems, the power company just wants you to freeze to death if the power goes off.
~

 

[Rustinkerer]

Reminds me of a job I worked on a couple years back. The guy lived alone, hermit style, and heated his house w/a kerosene heater for 20 some years. We called it "the bat cave"! The ceilings were dark brown, fading to a lighter color at the floor. While the drywall was being (re)finished, my boss bought a propane heater that hooks up to a tank. It was sort of a metal can with the flame at the bottom. Worked pretty good.

 

[Road Master]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3706562&cp=2568453.2627946.2627955.2627960.1902072
had these at about every shop ive been at(one draw back is theyre loud as heck other than that youll be sweating in seconds)....

And if some numnutz puts gasoline in it instead of kerosene it becomes a bomb.

 

[Chainsaw]

Reminds me of a job I worked on a couple years back. The guy lived alone, hermit style, and heated his house w/a kerosene heater for 20 some years. We called it "the bat cave"! The ceilings were dark brown, fading to a lighter color at the floor. While the drywall was being (re)finished, my boss bought a propane heater that hooks up to a tank. It was sort of a metal can with the flame at the bottom. Worked pretty good.

One of my old bosses had one of them. they work great plus give ya a flatspot that you can cook on. We used to get in his freezer and grill up his venison or steaks. He loved us fixing him lunch everyday, that is until he found out where lunch was coming from! :lol:

 

[Tommy Atoms]

Nothin says yum like food cooked over kerosene. Seriously though up here in Michigan you'll use whatever you have to keep warm. I have a kerosene radiant heater that runs about 11 hours on a gallon. I also use two torpedo or salamanders as we call em. One uses propane the other kerosene. Those will melt the snow off your roof. If you use K1 kerosene there is very little stink from it. I highly doubt any candle trick is going to do any good here but it might work in Texas.

 

[Chainsaw]

H ey Tommy, I was referring tp the "metal can with a flame at the bottom" heater, they'r propane. Yeah Kerosine flavored cooked meat would suck!

A candle probably couldn't handle the Michigan cold even if it was used to light a real heater! :lol:
But then too, some of these guys wear parkas when the temp gets below boiling point!