Cool Un-Candle Thingies.

So, while trying to find a way to use (burn, recycle, etc) the used (3.5 gallons!) turkey veggie oil, I found an interesting thing.

The Un-Candle.

It is basically a plastic float that you float on some vegetable oil, which is floating on water. When the vegetable oil is used up it extinguishes.

For 1.99 bucks I got i think 100 1.5 Cm wicks and 3 floats.

http://www.parachutecordcraft.com/Th...ack_p_327.html

These things might be handy to have around for emergency lighting. The canola oil i used to test them burns pretty clean actually.


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Have you tried to see if you can light the whole container on fire? Like if a cat tips the rig or something? Might be something you want to know before leaving one unattended.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Have you tried to see if you can light the whole container on fire? Like if a cat tips the rig or something? Might be something you want to know before leaving one unattended.

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I think the one flame would be insufficient to raise the whole surface of the spilled oil to its flash point. I will have to try something. This is why I tried it using a bowl because of the low center of gravity.

Candles don't get left unattended or near other easily combustible material.

In a SHTF situation, nost if the time will be in near dark because I know my house better than any intruder would. One little candle light in a central location of the place will help with some tasks that would need accomplishing.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Have you tried to see if you can light the whole container on fire? Like if a cat tips the rig or something? Might be something you want to know before leaving one unattended.

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he says their cat is trained to not climb and or knock things over, isn't yours?

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

he says their cat is trained to not climb and or knock things over, isn't yours?

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Cats would not be safe near our house in SHTF situation. I hear they are delicious.

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Originally Posted by rbeau30

Cats would not be safe near our house in SHTF situation. I hear they are delicious.

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Like dogs they must be fed a decent cooking wine, mixed in to the water bowl. 5 - 8 days of a 60/40 (wine) mix softens the muscle / connective tissue making a nice stew. Braising when possible is best. OR very thin sliced as jerky.

Speaking of candles, I keep running into videos of this on Youtube. This particular video is for a purchase version, while nearly every other video is how to build your own. I just don't buy that they work as well as all these videos say that it does. Anyone else think differently?



Here is a less annoying video.

Perhaps I can do a "DIY" version with these "UN-Candles".

I think I saw a vid of these heaters with someone using one of those laser thermometers and it was convincing.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Have you tried to see if you can light the whole container on fire? Like if a cat tips the rig or something? Might be something you want to know before leaving one unattended.

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Room temperature oil needs a wick to burn... Like cat hair, for example.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

he says their cat is trained to not climb and or knock things over, isn't yours?

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F no... and I mean my wife's cat.... he's not mine. I married into a cat. That POS. Ok, I'm kidding, he's ok, but no he's not trained.

Night before last I woke up to the sound of a coffee mug and spoon banging around in the sink because the freakin feline jumped on the counter, walked behind the sink knocking over the dish soap bottle, which fell into the sink causing the ruckus. The spoon and mug went off like a dadgum church bell in the middle of the night.

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Originally Posted by Sawin

F no... and I mean my wife's cat.... he's not mine. I married into a cat. That POS. Ok, I'm kidding, he's ok, but no he's not trained.

Night before last I woke up to the sound of a coffee mug and spoon banging around in the sink because the freakin feline jumped on the counter, walked behind the sink knocking over the dish soap bottle, which fell into the sink causing the ruckus. The spoon and mug went off like a dadgum church bell in the middle of the night.

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Did you get to practice your Friend-Foe/Challenge-Response exercise? That would be a great way to get rid of it since they cannot speak.

I have a "Kandle Heeter" on the way to my house. I may attempt to see if it works with these "un-candles" The wick burned for 6 hours, and I still have oil left in the bowl. I only put about a half cup of oil in on top of the water. So it consumes fuel really slowly.

Finally a use for a laser pointer on a home defense gun!

So I got a "Kandle Heeter". A tea light doesn't make it all that hot. BUT, it got it hotter than I thought.

I got a Pyrex bowl and put some water and oil in it (per un-candle floating candle instructions) and we will see what this does. The Un Candle burned in the previous trial for quite a long time on a half cup of vegetable oil 12 + hours. And I still had some left. I started this one at 5:45 PM lets see how long it burns.

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I assume those heaters are the equivalent to leaving an iron on, or one electric burner or similar in a small room for a long time. How big of a room is it in? Also, a lot of the reviews post temp differences over time, but never say what time they started/ended. If you start at 5 am and burn for 8 hours, the room is most likely hotter at the end of the time anyway because of day light alone. Glad to see you trying it at night.

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Originally Posted by Irving

I assume those heaters are the equivalent to leaving an iron on, or one electric burner or similar in a small room for a long time. How big of a room is it in? Also, a lot of the reviews post temp differences over time, but never say what time they started/ended. If you start at 5 am and burn for 8 hours, the room is most likely hotter at the end of the time anyway because of day light alone. Glad to see you trying it at night.

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It is a large room, with vaulted ceilings I want to make sure it does not shatter and stuff because of heat is why I am using Pyrex. I will probably do more trials in a bedroom for example after I don't get a catastrophic failure. I'm going to borrow a laser thermometer from work to do more stuff.

With the tea light , toward the ed of the burn and while the flame was still strong The outer pot was warm to the touch. With this setup the flame is burning longer (before having to change candles) and it is closer to the overhead ceramic pots.

The heat differences over time probably have something to do with the heat expending the absorbed moisture in the ceramic possibly?

What I am looking for is being able to hold my hands or body near it and feeling the radiant heat, I think that would be useful.

I'll post more data as I go, Right now is just the start to make sure it will safely burn in this configuration.

Thanks for the review/input, Rbeau.

5 hours later... the Un-Candle is still burning strong. It really sips the fuel. I do not notice any visible consumption of the fuel.

The ceramic outer pot is warm to the touch. but still comfy enough where I don't feel as though it is burning my hand. Looks lie it is pretty safe.




I keep my home thermostat at 61 normally. So I am going to try to set this up in a bedroom (one with a window and another in the basement without a window) that I do not use. Close it up. If it does anything I will be able to notice the difference in temp of the room when I go in there.


My opinion so far, you would need something like an oil lamp to get this thing to a really hot state in order to do anything lie heat a small space.


BUT! It looks like an interesting way to get rid of your used cooking oil in a very slow manner.

From the raving reviews, I was expecting the outer pot to be too hot to touch, like at least 200 degrees. I feel bad you even bought that thing!

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Originally Posted by Irving

From the raving reviews, I was expecting the outer put to be too hot to touch, like at least 200 degrees. I feel bad you even bought that thing!

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I probably have a few more options yet to get it really hot (taller candle, oil lamp of some sort, etc) but I don't think it should be this hard to get this thing to work (based on the reviews)

However... If the grid were down, and all I had were some candles, I think maybe I would still rather have the heat go into these things to be kept low, instead of the heat of a candle ( no matter how small ) go right up to the ceiling.

The theory is nice to have in my brain just in case I have some extra flower pots and fasteners available in the yard to maximize the energy. I sure as heck would not buy it for a pre '65 dime for it though.

I am curious how effective they would be in a cold environment, such as a garage, or even better, a 4 season tent. They might be able to raise the temp inside a small enclosed space by a few degrees, and at the very least, provide a perception that you are warming up. [Dunno]

I can see this maybe heating a tent but a room? No way. Candles put out at best about 80 watts combined between light and heat generated. Think you can heat a room more than a little bit with an 80 watt bulb? I just looked at the little space heater I have and it's max'd out at 1500 watts and barely keeping the chill off in my little 8x9 room I'm in.