Candle Heat

Candle heat? Well, heat goes up - period. We use storm lanterns indoors for power outages, a bit safer and they generate a lot more heat (they also don't smell the greatest) but in a situation where it's bone-chilling cold, the plan is to set up a tent on the living room floor, and light a candle or lantern in there to retain the heat. I have also switched totally to down filled blankets (duvets), down pillows and sold the synthetic sleeping bags - they are not as efficient as goose down at insulating a person. We all have several loosely fitting caps that keep our heads warm, and snowboard gloves (longer than normal ski gloves). BIG woolen socks work better too. And we all have several sets of long sleeve sports underclothes, I get them at Ross and Marshals in the off season, a slippery thin layer under everything helps body heat get retained.

But a candle, or candles, alone will not do much for heat in a truly cold place. Insulate yourself, food (fortunately) keeps better in the cold, so you don't have to worry about THAT.

Winter Car or RV Survival Heater Kit

You can construct a simple homemade heater that can be used in your vehicle, which could save your life, and is very easy to make. Items needed are as follows:

• An empty one pound coffee can or a 30 oz. fruit can
• A regular roll of white plain toilet paper not scented,(because of fumes)
• Four 8-ounce bottles of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol - again, plain unscented and do not use a higher percent alcohol
• An empty large popcorn can, I believe it is a 3 gallon size like the ones
that you buy at Christmas
• Two aluminum square cake pans or pie pans ( without holes in the bottom)
• Matches or a lighter

Start your project by removing the cardboard core from the toilet paper, (not the cheap loose rolled type) and push the roll into the coffee or fruit can so the roll is below the rim.

The coffee can will have some space above the roll; if you use a fruit can, the roll will be just a little below flush. In either can, the roll should fit firmly without space around the roll. A larger can will allow the paper to burn around the sides, which you don't want; also I found that a plastic lid from a peanut can will fit loosely on the fruit can. This lid is used for storage purposes.

To use the heater, pour about 2 or 3 ounces of alcohol onto the paper, the saturated paper will act as a wick which can be ignited with a match or lighter

I suggest keeping both on hand, each stored in separate sealed containers or sandwich bags to prevent fumes from soaking into the matches and lighter which render them useless (this was learned from giving demonstrations).

Operation:
Use the heater to warm the vehicle, then put the cake or pie pan over the can to extinguish the flame, as you don't need to run the heater after the vehicle is warm. You can also use the cake or pie pan to melt snow for drinking.

Do Not Eat Snow, as it will bring down your body temperature. Four pints of isopropyl alcohol will keep a car at 60 to 70 degrees for 24 hours, so you can carry more if want.

Safety:
Isopropyl alcohol does not produce carbon monoxide, but a window should be cracked open for fresh air while burning. The burner can will become hot at the top, and maybe warm at the bottom so perhaps you might want to put one pan under the burner. This extra pan could be used to water pets.

Warning:
These heaters are safe, but make sure flame has been snuffed out before adding more alcohol. The empty popcorn can be used to store items for a winter survival kit such as the burner, alcohol, pie tins, lighters and matches.

Other winter survival items items to always carry in your vehicleWinter survival kit should include: flashlight and extra batteries, winter type clothing (hats,gloves, extra pair of long johns, scarf), first aide kit including any medications needed, extra diapers for little ones, bottled water (allow room for expansion, as it will likely freeze), high energy types of food (candy, nuts, granola bars), small bag of sand or kitty litter for traction, bendable shovel, basic tool kit (leatherman, swiss army knife), paper towels or toilet paper, spare tire, signaling devices (flares), blankets and/or sleeping bags, windshield scraper, booster cables, tow rope or chain, compass and
road maps, cell phone and/or CB or ham radio, and a hand-held NOAA Weather Radio.

Carry the popcorn can in the back seat rather than the trunk.
If you slide in the ditch and end up with the trunk buried in a snowbank, have a frozen trunk lock, or have damage to the trunk; the trunk might not be able to be opened.

Dress appropriately when traveling in the winter.
How many times have you seen women driving alone in freezing temperatures dressed in heels, nylons and blouse and hear them say " my car has a good heater, and I have a cell phone"…teenagers with sneakers, blue jeans, and T-shirts… men with dress shoes, slacks, shirt and tie - when the fan belt breaks, or the gas line freezes, and it's usually many miles from anywhere?

Last winter I stopped and helped a gelled-up trucker from El Paso, Texas (his first winter in Montana using number two diesel) that was using socks on his hands. After 30 minutes in the pickup he could finally feel his fingers, (his boss in Texas, didn't want to pay the tow fee to get the tractor
pulled to the truck repair service garage and expected the mechanics to work on the truck out on the interstate, he finally relented and paid the $45 towing
fee when the mechanics refused to work on the truck out in the cold).

So be firm everyone, and demand that your family members dress for the unexpected, you might save their life.

Basic Heater concept by:
Steve Jenkins, Winter Survival Instrucftor/Montana State University
Jeff McLaughlin, Montana Highway Patrol
Edited by: Maurice Luke, NWS Storm Spotter/Glendive, MT
Distributed by: Tanja Fransen, Warning Coordination Meteorologist/National Weather Service Glasgow, Montana

One Candle = 1 BTU/Sec.

NappyRootz said:

I keep candles in my emergency kit but how can I get the most heat from a candle flame only?

Click to expand...

If all you have is one candle, the amount of heat generated is limited by the size of the flame and the amount of fuel available. A candle produces about 1BTU per second, or about 3600 BTU per hour.

In a survival situation your action is to contain the candle's heat as best as you can. Most improvised shelters wil be airy enough you won't need to worry about being overcome by carbon monoxide.

An uncle was a WWII veteran who had lost several toes to frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944. He survived by using the heat of a single candle to warm a crude tipi shelter improvised by jamming the fixed bayonet on his M1 rifle into the frozen ground, pulling the hood of his GI poncho over the butt of the rifle to form a chimney, staking the corners down to form a wall and raking up a pile of leaves and pine needle thatch from under the snow to hit on. He wrapped his GI green wool blanket around this shoulders, and sat cross legged and huddled under this makeshift shelter while holding a lit candle in a ration can between his feet. He lived to tell the tale, this method is still being taught to another generation of soldiers and Marines.

NappyRootz said:

I keep candles in my emergency kit but how can I get the most heat from a candle flame only?

Click to expand...

In a closed vehicle, a single candle will keep you from freezing to death with an outside temp of 32°F (0°C).

Two candles will keep you alive down to 0°F (-18°C)

Bees Wax or Paraffin wax candles put out very little Carbon Monoxide, so risk of poisoning is slim.

Putting the candle under something, like a can with sand in it (like you are cooking sand) will disperse the heat more evenly and give you longer heat retention.

Some people say to put a can of water over the candle, and that is fine for making warm drinking water that will help keep your core temprature up, but DO NOT let that water sit on top that can for long periods of time!
It will release water vapor and water vapor will saturate your cloths making the insulation less effective.

In the winter, I keep a gallon or two of that 'Kitty Litter' clay or sand in the vehicle and that sand makes a very good 'Thermal Mass' to radiate the heat down low.