Clay Pot Heater Using Tea Lights

So... Since its now 25° outside and my shop doesn't have heat. I decided it was time to warm things up. At least a little. I only have two plug in in my garage that I work out of and after and the plug in heater would trip the breaker when I was using my saws. So after looking at $300 heaters I decided to go a cheaper route. I made a clay pot heater. It does not create enough heat to warm my entire garage but it does heat up nicely within 6' radius around it which allows me to work without seeing my breath. I purchased everything to make this for under $20.

You will need to get a clay pot and a base. I picked up a pot with about a 10" opening for $3.00 and the base to go with it for $2.00. The plate does not have a hole in it so I had to drill one. I will cover this in the next step. But before I started I filled the plate with water to help keep it from cracking or breaking when I drilled the hole.

After letting the base plate soak with water in it for about 5 minutes, I placed the base plate over a block of wood to act as a backer to help keep it from breaking. I then used a 1/2" masonry drill bit. This was the most expensive part of the build. The drill bit was $9.00..

To drill the hole, I first centered the bit as best I could and filled the plate with water. Then slowly started boring the hole. I backed the bit out a few times to let the "red mud" get out of the hole. It only took a couple minutes to drill thorough and it had no issues with cracking.

Here are the parts I used to attached everything. The total for all these parts was in the ball park of $4.00

(1) 1/2" x 7" carriage bolt full threa(d

(12) 1/2" washers

(6) 1/2" nuts

First you will need to place 1 or 2 washers on the carriage bolt. I only used one since my clay flower pot was not that heavy.

Next I inserted the 1/2" carriage bolt through the plate.

Next I placed a washer and then a 1/2" nut on the carriage bolt and gently tightened up the assembly where it met the plate. Be sure not to over tighten and break the plate. I just hand tightened my assembly.

Next plate another 1/2" nut onto the carriage bolt and screw it down to about 2" down from the top. You can place a second nut if you want but I did not. After that I plated another washer on top of the nut.

Now place your clay flower pot upside down onto the carriage bolt assembly. You may have to adjust the nut to set the height you want. I set mine with just enough space to place the tea lights inside and still be able to light them with a long lighter.

I used 3 tea lights that you would find at any big box store. These just so happened to be French vanilla scented. So no my shop smells better too! :) I used a long lighter to light each one after I laced them onto the plate.

So with the bolt sticking out from the bottom, the assembly leaned and pivoted alot. So to corrected the I cut up a piece of scrap mahogany I had laying he in shop to place the heater on. Leaving space in the middle for the bolt to go.

No that everything sits nice a flat. I put the tea lights inside the heater assembly and lit them. It took about 20 minutes to really feel the area around the heater getting warm. The pot got VERY warm to the touch but was not too hot to handle. I would say it warmed the air up around it about 15° to 20° which makes it a little nicer in my shop. SO TAKE THAT WINTER! I will build a few more of these and it should heat the shop up nicely. The candles burned for about 2 1/2 hours before the flames went out.