Me gottem TP… you keep warm
Look for a following installment about items to store with special value, barter for trade with neighbors during an energy crisis. TP is one of those, as in ‘toilet paper'. I have even tried stuffing bulk packages of the stuff between roofing rafters to serve as extra insulation until needed otherwise.
This recipe for portable heat, to warm space or for cooking, features another use for that soft and cushy, highly absorbent commodity; a dual-use that I bet you never imagined. This idea borrows from the traditional ‘buddy burner' credited by some to the Amish:
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| Buddy Burner |
Start with a quart-sized paint can rather than the tiny tuna can. Just make sure your cans are pre-burned to clean off old paint, glue or lining. When it cools, wipe off any remaining soot. Instead of cardboard, grab a roll of toilet paper to serve as your wicking material. For fuel, try rubbing alcohol or cooking oil:
preparednotscared.blogspot.com/2010/01/preparedness-project-paint-can-heaters.html
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| Paint Can Heater and Cook Stove |
Of course, you could simply store a supply of Sterno cans or votive candles, though that is hardly as fun or inventive. And what when those run out?
Once you have your burners, how can the energy be maximized to actually heat a room or fry an egg? You need a heat exchanger, of course, such as a half-gallon paint can. Poke holes in the side or set it on small stones to allow air to draw, placed bottom up over the burner. A ceramic hot plate works as well or iron frying pan; try a flat-bottomed pot, iron or clay; even a thin slab of slate or flagstone from the yard. Again, you must prop up your plate on three supports -spare bricks work good- so that air flows to the flame. Then slide your burner (maybe two or three) underneath and toss on the wieners.
For warming space the plate or pot draws currents of air to heat and dispense about the room. Set it up in a corner opposite doors and windows. A drop of scented essential oil will also change the mood.
Here follows a design using clay flower pots, again repurposing items found about the yard and garage. Ambient temperature from one small flame is shown to reach well over 150 degrees Fahrenheit, quite enough for a small bedroom:
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| Candle Heater |
www.indiegogo.com/projects/egloo-candle-powered-heater
Remember to print this page and fold up for reference in your zero-energy Disaster Prep shoe box database. See the link at top right for browser-based printing instructions.
