DIY under $10: terra cotta heaters

It has been far too bitterly cold this winter, and so many people are looking for ways to warm up a room without also hiking up the heating bill.

This week’s do-it-yourself project is a YouTube sensation that I had to test out for myself.

For just $9.06 you can create a personal heater that will last a few hours.

Supplies needed

Items I purchased:

• 4-inch terra cotta pot – 78 cents at Home Depot

• 10-inch terra cotta pot - $5.78 at Home Depot

• Tea lights - $2.50 at Walmart for a pack of 50

Items I already had:

• Bread pan

• Lighter

• Aluminum foil

Directions

1. Place four tea lights in the center of the bread pan.

2. Flip over your 4-inch terra cotta pot and using your foil, cover up any holes at the bottom of the pot.

3. Place the small pot upside directly over the tea lights so that it is balanced on the bread pan.

4. Flip over the larger pot, but do not cover the hole with foil.

5. Place this pot over the other pot so that it too is balanced on the bread pan.

6. Give it about 20 minutes and the inner pot will heat up and radiate heat to the second larger pot. Heat is then released from the top of the pot and can help heat your room.

Suggestions

This is a small version of the heater, but we also tried it using larger pots and it worked out better for heating larger rooms. We actually even so our thermometer go up a degree or two while keeping the furnace set back a bit. Although you will have to have multiple ones to see a drastic difference in your heating, you can take the chill out of a small space with these heaters.

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