The Lemon Fool

DIY candles using vegetable/cooking oil.

Oil £50 per 20 litres, £2.50/litre bulk purchase type cost.

A typical candle generates 80 watts, most of which is heat (90%) rather than light (10%), so 20 candles in a room might generate approaching 1.5KwH heating, enough to warm a room during cold winter months, along with providing around 160 watts worth of lighting.

Around 30ml for a single candle typically lasts 5 hour burn time, 6 ml/hour.

20 candles x 24 hours/day x 30 days x 6 ml/hour each = 86,400 ml per month = 86 litres x £2.50/litre = £215/month. Continual. I guess you might settle for half power at night times, 750w heating 80w light, for perhaps 12 of 24 hours/day. So £160/month. 3 winter months (mid December - February inclusive), around £500 total, rest of year rough it with blankets/clothing and that's near a £500/year total heating/lighting cost. With some slow cooking (pot) ingenuity - that might also include cooking costs as well.

Just saying, not recommending (fire risks etc.). I bet as ever however that someone somewhere already lives or has lived like that and it would be interesting to hear the differences between the above conjecture and applied. From the cooking side I do have some family history recollections of country based grandparents who cooked and bathed in front of the hearth, and where the cooking was a continual stew of locally grown veg along with whatever the catch of the day was (rabbit, duck, pigeon, salmon ... etc.). Night chamber (pot) under the bed, or having to go outside to a shed next to the coal bunker for #2's. Kept their own chickens and also a Turkey. And all within a two up two down type 'corporate' townhouse. Raising a large family in the process (on my mothers side who was one of their daughters). Days when the shotgun was stored on top of the wardrobe in their bedroom alongside the fishing roads and nets. Neighbours were a true community, with most even leaving their front doors open whilst at home, and where people just walked in and sat down for chats - which as a young child Londoner seemed very casual/strange. I guess when most had very little the risk of thefts were remote.

...small boys playing football in the park. Jumpers for goalposts...

What about the cost of the other ingredients such as paraffin wax, wicks, tooling?, energy required to heat and mix the oil with the wax?
https://youtu.be/h2IGaCCgIJI

monabri wrote:What about the cost of the other ingredients such as paraffin wax, wicks, tooling?, energy required to heat and mix the oil with the wax?
https://youtu.be/h2IGaCCgIJI

Never mind all that, the OP starts off with £2.50 a litre for cooking oil. I suspect diesel at £1.80 a litre contains more heating energy!

What was with the aroma oil in the video.
Surely chips and Southern fried chicken scented candles are the way to go.
Although may make you feel hungry more

1nvest wrote:Night chamber (pot) under the bed

slang name
gozunder (think about it)

Mike4 wrote:

monabri wrote:What about the cost of the other ingredients such as paraffin wax, wicks, tooling?, energy required to heat and mix the oil with the wax?
https://youtu.be/h2IGaCCgIJI

Never mind all that, the OP starts off with £2.50 a litre for cooking oil. I suspect diesel at £1.80 a litre contains more heating energy!

And central heating oil/pink diesel is less expensive again than diesel road fuel for essentially the same product plus a bit of red dye.

BullDog wrote:And central heating oil/pink diesel is less expensive again than diesel road fuel for essentially the same product plus a bit of red dye.

Against the law (for heating) as of April this year
https://www.speedyfuels.co.uk/faqs/red-diesel-faq/

pje16 wrote:

BullDog wrote:And central heating oil/pink diesel is less expensive again than diesel road fuel for essentially the same product plus a bit of red dye.

Against the law (for heating) as of April this year
https://www.speedyfuels.co.uk/faqs/red-diesel-faq/

You can't use pink central heating oil for firing domestic central heating?

pje16 wrote:

BullDog wrote:And central heating oil/pink diesel is less expensive again than diesel road fuel for essentially the same product plus a bit of red dye.

Against the law (for heating) as of April this year
https://www.speedyfuels.co.uk/faqs/red-diesel-faq/

Where in your link does it say this?

All I've found is the opposite, unless you meant specifically commercial heating (whatever that means):

"CAN RED DIESEL BE USED AS HEATING OIL?
Yes, red diesel is commonly used for domestic heating applications. After the 1st of April 2022, red diesel can no longer be used as a commercial heating fuel. Our Speedy Flame industrial heating oil is a cost-effective alternative that has been specifically manufactured for boilers, dryers and furnaces."

Mike4 wrote:

Apologies, I got that wrong

pje16 wrote:

Mike4 wrote:

Apologies, I got that wrong

Never mind. I queried because the consequences in the world of canal boating would have been MASSIVE !!

We have some candles made of pig fat... too bad for the pig. Bit niffy to burn them indoors though.

V8

80 watts from a candle? Blimey, some people are made of money.

You can get 100 watts from a child pedalling a stationary bike in the spare room. Get a couple of them exercising on a 24 hour relay system, and you can watch all the TV you like. And what's more, they can be outside in the garden, growing their own dinner when they're not working on the power project.

Mind you, when I were a lad the stationary bike was set up for uphill pedalling all the way. We used to get so hot that the rats would come out from the skirting boards just so that they could stand next to us and enjoy the radiating warmth.

BJ

Snorvey wrote:As I've mentioned elsewhere, an adult cow gives off something like 3kw in heat. One of them would be perfect for my lounge.

Ok, that might be a bit smelly.

How about if you have any fat mates, invite them round on cold nights. They can't wear warm clothing though.

Failing that, star jumps work well.

My fat mates are also smelly so it's a close call with the cow.

Snorvey wrote:

88V8 wrote:
We have some candles made of pig fat... too bad for the pig. Bit niffy to burn them indoors though.

Hmmm. I might book myself in for some liposuction.

I reckon my ass could heat the who house this winter.

Won't get cooled again?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Itsallaguess wrote:

Snorvey wrote:

88V8 wrote:
We have some candles made of pig fat... too bad for the pig. Bit niffy to burn them indoors though.

Hmmm. I might book myself in for some liposuction.

I reckon my ass could heat the who house this winter.

Won't get cooled again?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I was thinking methane wouldn't require liposuction

Snorvey wrote:

servodude wrote:

Itsallaguess wrote:

Snorvey wrote:

88V8 wrote:
We have some candles made of pig fat... too bad for the pig. Bit niffy to burn them indoors though.

Hmmm. I might book myself in for some liposuction.

I reckon my ass could heat the who house this winter.

Won't get cooled again?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I was thinking methane wouldn't require liposuction

My ass is the Saudi Arabia of human energy production.

...it regularly violates human rights?

monabri wrote:What about the cost of the other ingredients such as paraffin wax, wicks, tooling?, energy required to heat and mix the oil with the wax?
https://youtu.be/h2IGaCCgIJI

Ball of cotton yarn and some jars, tin foil. With oil candles there's no heating/mixing of oil and wax (or paraffin) involved

https://youtu.be/LbHFrvL99eA

Snorvey wrote:As I've mentioned elsewhere, an adult cow gives off something like 3kw in heat. One of them would be perfect for my lounge.

Ok, that might be a bit smelly.

They're too polite to complain.