I’m baffled by this whole Crisco/shortening candle-in-contraptions meme circulating around. You’ve got folks shoving these things in everything from copper pots to elaborate sand enclosures, claiming superior heat output and somehow making a case for off-grid energy.

Let’s unpack the physics, because frankly, it doesn’t add up:

Combustion 101: A candle (or our Crisco-fied iteration) works by burning the fuel source (fat in this case), releasing heat and light through a chemical reaction with oxygen. The material surrounding it doesn’t inherently influence this combustion process. Copper, terracotta, or sand won’t magically accelerate the burning rate or somehow trap more heat.

Radiation & Conduction: Sure, these materials might hold and radiate a BIT more heat absorbed from the flame compared to open air. But the difference is negligible. Convection (hot air rising) is the primary heat transfer mechanism, and the enclosure doesn’t significantly enhance it.

Scaling Up Fallacy: If this contraption truly held the key to efficient off-grid heating, wouldn’t we be ditching fuel oil and natural gas entirely? Imagine a skyscraper-sized Crisco candle in a cosmic copper pot - it wouldn’t magically solve our energy needs. The heat output wouldn’t scale proportionally due to limitations in combustion itself.

In short – why are people so fascinated with this? A simple test will show that it is not more effective than a simple candle, yet people seem to be continually fascinated by it.

  • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    24·
    7 days ago

    The first time I saw this was right after the Texas ice storm and power grid failure a few years ago. A lot of people were suddenly stuck in their now unheated homes trying to get by with what they had on hand. That’s when people found out that containing most of the heat from a candle is better than nothing.

    Word spread because most people had time to kill and the stuff to try it. If you are careful about it you could warm cold hands or get a mild radiation effect if you’re close to it.

    But yeah it’s not going to heat a room to any comfortable level on it’s own. And you probably don’t need the $100+ ones they sell on Etsy.