Tea light stove with burning tea lights on the right half of the image. On the left half of the picture text over blurred background: "Can tea light stoves work?".

Air quality

Is a tea light stove worth it?

Heating is becoming increasingly expensive in the gas crisis. Many people are worried about the upcoming utility bill and are looking for alternatives to save on heating costs. One savings trend is the tea light heater. We took a look at how the stoves work, what advantages and disadvantages they have, and whether the small heaters are a healthy alternative.

Author:

Undine Jaehne

Date:

7.10.2022

Heating with a tea light and an upside-down flower pot - that's supposed to work? The DIY heaters are propagated especially in the social media and here instructions are spread to build a flower pot heater yourself. The idea behind the clay heaters: The heat from the tea light is supposed to be better distributed in the room instead of just rising to the top. One downer in advance: even the advocates admit that the tea light stoves do not get as warm as real heating systems. Nevertheless, they are supposed to noticeably warm the room.

How to build a tea light heater?

These utensils you need for your flower pot heater:

2 different size flower pots
1 bowl with hole
1 Threaded rod
Nuts for fastening
Drill screwdriver with masonry drill

You need a bowl with a hole in the middle. Here you can use a flower pot bowl. This will be the bottom. In the hole of the bowl, insert a threaded rod. To this, attach two flower pots of different sizes, one on top of the other, with the opening facing the bowl. Screw the pots together with a nut. The smaller pot is inserted into the larger one and is thus the inner pot. For optimal heat distribution, you can drill holes in the outer pot, through which the heated air can better escape. On top of the bowl, place several tea lights. Ready is your tealight heater.

You can also build your tea light stove with only one pot, it will not affect the heat output much.

How does a tea light oven work?

Once the tea lights are lit, the heat rises and collects under the flower pots. The heat emanating from the individual flames now heats the air under the pots and the pot itself. The material of the pots stores the heat and releases it in the form of radiant heat evenly and over a longer period of time in all directions. Now you can hold your hands or feet to the miniature oven and enjoy the cozy warmth.

How effective are tea light stoves?

While temperatures up to 80 degrees can be reached under the inner pot, depending on the number of tea lights, the temperature of the outer pot already decreases to 50 degrees. This means that the further you move away from your tea light stove, the less heat output you will feel. Accordingly, the heat output of a single tea light stove will not be enough to actually warm a room. One tea light has about 40 watts of heating power. However, you need about 75 watts per square meter to warm the air in a room to 20 degrees. However, the tea light stove can help increase the perceived temperature (room temperature / radiant temperature) especially in the immediate vicinity of the miniature stove.

So, unfortunately, such a tea light stove is not more than a cozy hand warmer and a chic way to bring candlelight into the apartment.

What are the advantages or disadvantages of a tea light oven?

Advantages at a glance:

Since the tea light stove is very small, it can be placed anywhere. It fits perfectly on a desk or dresser.
The initial cost is very low and can be quickly obtained at the nearest hardware store.
The clay pot prevents the candle heat from rising directly to the top. Rather, the heat is collected and slowly released into the environment.
The larger surface area of the tea light stove results in improved and even heat distribution.
If the pot is not touched directly, there is much less risk of burns than when heated by the tea light flame.

Disadvantages at a glance:

A tea light stove works with an open flame that should never burn unattended to prevent a wax fire.
A single tea light heater is not enough to effectively warm a room.
When a tea light burns, air pollutants such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and particulates into the room air and you have to ventilate more often.

Does a tea light stove affect indoor air quality?

The burning of the tea light causes air pollutants to rise and enrich the room air. You can check the extent to which these negatively affect the air quality with an air measuring device such as the air-Q. We are currently conducting a practical test with a tealight heater. You will find the results of our air-Q Lab here in the next few weeks.