PREP Tea Light Candles

[hiwall]

Tea light candles could be a great prep item. They are really cheap, like 8 cents each. Each comes with its own aluminum container that you could reuse to make your own candles in the end times. They are available many places (I did a screen grab from Walmart).

To make them more useful you can make many different holders for them. I have pics of three different holders that I made. Wall mounts made from a spoon and from a fork, and one with some rod or heavy wire and a cut off beer bottle. The last one can be used outside as a make-shift lantern because the bottle makes it almost wind-proof. I’m sure if you use your imagination you could think of many other holders you could make at home.

Tea lights are an example of a useful but very cheap prep item. They provide heat and light and require no electric.

 

[SAR01]

agreed! I have about 1000 of them stashed

 

[desertvet2]

I keep mine in large metal cookie tins.

I have melted many to make dryer lint/egg carton fire starters for keeping in vehicles during winter.

Plus those little things work great when starting a fire in the big shop stove and trying to do other things while it gets going.

 

[Cardinal]

I just place them in small mason jars, very cheap and safe source of light.

 

[Teeja]

Good idea. Also consider the candles in glass tube from Dollar Tree. You can order online for $1.25 each and have free shipping for pickup at your local Dollar Tree or ship to home for extra shipping cost. Some say these will burn up to 80 hours. Pretty good for basic house lighting:

https://www.dollartree.com/glass-jar-candles-8/167532

 

[Milkweed Host]

On the Walmart Mainstays tealights, Walmart has in the past, run those 50 count
packages in their Clearance section for $.75 each. That's 1 1/2 cents each.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

On the Walmart Mainstays tealights, Walmart has in the past, run those 50 count
packages in their Clearance section for $.75 each. That's 1 1/2 cents each.

Yeah. That's when we bought 4 pks of the 50 count. I'm sure they might come in handy for something. I prefer jar candles, instead. I do have little decorative candle holders for them, but they don't really give off much light or last very long.

 

[WalknTrot]

Yep. I have a bunch of them. Burned in a canning jar (heat resistant glass) they make a decent night light if you need something going for orientation in the bathroom or kitchen after dark.

Back-up to backups.

 

[WalknTrot]

Good idea. Also consider the candles in glass tube from Dollar Tree. You can order online for $1.25 each and have free shipping for pickup at your local Dollar Tree or ship to home for extra shipping cost. Some say these will burn up to 80 hours. Pretty good for basic house lighting:

https://www.dollartree.com/glass-jar-candles-8/167532

My problem with these is they just burn a hole down the middle, and the light is hidden by all the "candle" left outside next to the glass. . Maybe my house is kept cooler than they are intended for or something (wick too small?), but I never got much use out of them.

 

[Milkweed Host]

Something along the lines of this lantern will not only supply some light
but also some radiant heat. Not much of course, just some.

I've picked up some similar lanterns at thrift stores for a few bucks.

The lantern in the photo if from Amazon for around $17.00.

 

[ainitfunny]

You can COOK over one small tea light candle if you just
change the WICK to a much heavier one!
Even a tightly rolled up 1/4 of a kleenex, as a wick,
will give you enough heat To perk a pot of coffee!
I did it, I know!! You just have to fashion cans or rocks T
To make a cooking platform over the tea candle to hold your cup, pot or pan over the fire. Put the candle on a ceramic plate with a layer of foil under the plate and you can cook in the house.

The heat the tea light puts out depends ENTIRELY on the number and size of the wicks, not any thing about the candle size! A wind stopper around the candle is neccessary if you have wind taking away the heat before it gets to you pot. AND do not have the flame more than an inch to 2 inches below your pot bottom, the closer the better( allowing for air, of course.

Make SURE you cover any pan, skillet, pot or cup you are trying to heat an uncovered pot will never boil with candles, but a covered one will.

 

[mecoastie]

You can COOK over one small tea light candle if you just
change the WICK to a much heavier one!
Even a tightly rolled up 1/4 of a kleenex, as a wick,
will give you enough heat To perk a pot of coffee!
I did it, I know!! You just have to fashion cans or rocks T
To make a cooking platform over the tea candle to hold your cup, pot or pan over the fire. Put the candle on a ceramic plate with a layer of foil under the plate and you can cook in the house.

The heat the tea light puts out depends ENTIRELY on the number and size of the wicks, not any thing about the candle size! A wind stopper around the candle is neccessary if you have wind taking away the heat before it gets to you pot. AND do not have the flame more than an inch to 2 inches below your pot bottom, the closer the better( allowing for air, of course.

What did you cook?

 

[school marm]

My problem with these is they just burn a hole down the middle, and the light is hidden by all the "candle" left outside next to the glass. . Maybe my house is kept cooler than they are intended for or something (wick too small?), but I never got much use out of them.

Prevent tunneling (where the candle burns down without melting the sides and thus wasting that wax). For the first burn of a new candle, keep it lit for 2-3 hours initially, or whatever time it takes for the top layer of wax to burn all the way across the diameter of the candle. Subsequent burns should last 3-4 hours. No candle should be allowed to burn longer than 4 hours at a time. (Candles that burn longer apparently increase the risk of fire as the wax and scent oils reach their flash point. Not sure I believe that, but that’s what most sources—all unscientific—say.)--Excerpted from article at Prep School Daily. There are a few more tips there for making your candles last longer.

Making Candles Last Longer

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Prevent tunneling (where the candle burns down without melting the sides and thus wasting that wax). For the first burn of a new candle, keep it lit for 2-3 hours initially, or whatever time it takes for the top layer of wax to burn all the way across the diameter of the candle. Subsequent burns should last 3-4 hours. No candle should be allowed to burn longer than 4 hours at a time. (Candles that burn longer apparently increase the risk of fire as the wax and scent oils reach their flash point. Not sure I believe that, but that’s what most sources—all unscientific—say.)--Excerpted from article at Prep School Daily. There are a few more tips there for making your candles last longer.

Making Candles Last Longer

That is what I do with all of my jar candles, and it works. It burns long enough to melt the wax all around the inside of the jar. No wax is wasted. The light stays bright all the way to the bottom.

 

[Macgyver]

Another one you should keep a case of on hand. Can be found in big cases much cheaper if you happen to have a restaurant supply store nearby. I've seen it on and off at Costco as well.

Heat, cook, whatever.

 

[WalknTrot]

That is what I do with all of my jar candles, and it works. It burns long enough to melt the wax all around the inside of the jar. No wax is wasted. The light stays bright all the way to the bottom.

I never have any problem with regular (Yankee-type) jar candles, but these cheap tall church candles don't do well for me.
It's weird wax and they use weird wicks.

 

[Millwright]

Seeing Paraffin for $4/lb, bulk purchase.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I never have any problem with regular (Yankee-type) jar candles, but these cheap tall church candles don't do well for me.
It's weird wax and they use weird wicks.

No, I don't like those tall church type candles, either. I don't have any of those. I thought you were talking about regular jar candles. I had rather have 5 jar candles than 5 of those tall church candles even for $1 a piece.

 

[nomifyle]

I think I only have about 400 tea lights and quite a few of the glass candles from DT. I've used those in the past and they work fine, no perfumed scent works best for me.

 

[hiwall]

Something along the lines of this lantern will not only supply some light
but also some radiant heat. Not much of course, just some.

I've picked up some similar lanterns at thrift stores for a few bucks.

The lantern in the photo if from Amazon for around $17.00.

You can get these for $1.25 at Dollar Tree to put on a mason jar. Pint jar with a tea light makes a fair lantern.

 

[Sandcastle76]

Melt Crisco or a cheap brand of shortening…pour in mason jar…insert used, broken or clearance sale ugly candle or a new candle wick, centered in middle while still “semi solid”…your new candle will burn for days and continue to give off light as it burns down… sorta wrong burning food grade oil for light but you could always use your out of date lard/shortening instead of high cost candles…would really surprise you what you can find on the clearance isle at Walmart, Ollie’s, Dirt Cheap, etc. found a bunch of skinny menorah candles, about the same height as a pint size mason jar at Dirt Cheap…had twelve in a box for around 40 cents. Yep bought all they had to use for this type of emergency light if all other options I have are being utilized too quickly. Shortening isn’t cheap but you now have a dual use product.
current Walmart prices…48oz can of shortening $5.18, 16oz tub of lard $3.48

edit… you may not even need to melt it down, just spoon into an jar, pack it down and insert candle or a candle wick..haven’t tried it that way yet so that’s a test for another day.

 

[summerthyme]

Seeing Paraffin for $4/lb, bulk purchase.

Wow! I bought 20# of organic beeswax for less than that per pound! Plus, I've got about 60# of "candle sand" (finely granulated paraffin), mostly white but also some colored, that I got for a buck a pound (along with enough wicking of various sizes and types to make several hundred candles!)

Our preps sure aren't depreciating...

Summerthyme

 

[summerthyme]

Melt Crisco or a cheap brand of shortening…pour in mason jar…insert used, broken or clearance sale ugly candle or a new candle wick, centered in middle while still “semi solid”…your new candle will burn for days and continue to give off light as it burns down… sorta wrong burning food grade oil for light but you could always use your out of date lard/shortening instead of high cost candles…would really surprise you what you can find on the clearance isle at Walmart, Ollie’s, Dirt Cheap, etc. found a bunch of skinny menorah candles, about the same height as a pint size mason jar at Dirt Cheap…had twelve in a box for around 40 cents. Yep bought all they had to use for this type of emergency light if all other options I have are being utilized too quickly. Shortening isn’t cheap but you now have a dual use product.
current Walmart prices…48oz can of shortening $5.18, 16oz tub of lard $3.48

edit… you may not even need to melt it down, just spoon into an jar, pack it down and insert candle or a candle wick..haven’t tried it that way yet so that’s a test for another day.

I had some hand-blown glass candles with floating wicks... they worked really well for using old vegetable oil for light. Similar to these, but the wicks were fiberglass, and didnt clog up with the heavier edible oils

Floating Candles and Accessories

pepperell.com

They can be used in multiples in a good sized bowl... it can be stable and safer than easy to tip individual candles.

Summerthyme

 

[Sandcastle76]

I had some hand-blown glass candles with floating wicks... they worked really well for using old vegetable oil for light. Similar to these, but the wicks were fiberglass, and didnt clog up with the heavier edible oils

Floating Candles and Accessories

pepperell.com

They can be used in multiples in a good sized bowl... it can be stable and safer than easy to tip individual candles.

Summerthyme

I had two really simple pretty floating candles…small but so beautiful… I think only 1 of them survived the flood and move…need to look for it/them…sometimes simple and pretty can really make a difference in a long work day. Thank you for the reminder..might start digging into the first layer this evening (or maybe not…lol)

 

[ainitfunny]

What did you cook?

I put beans in a can and heated them. I put 16 oz of water in a metal cup and heated it to boiling.
I even took the little bit of red wax around a regular little round cheese snack ( better 2 snacks) and rolled it up around a Piece of cotton string and made it it give light for a couple of hours.
I took the leftover Oil in a can of Sardines in oil and made a candle of it.
You can cook over a olive oil or crisco fire. You just need a need a thick wick or two! One or two pieces of wide lantern wicks wll do! Or rolled up kleenex. Or a kon- tiki torch wick (cut it short)!

 

[Squib]

agreed! I have about 1000 of them stashed

Yep…years ago I’d buy a couple dozen every week at Wally World…

I had a few lanterns that burned the tea candles…used them many times as the kids were growing up and when the power went out…

Then when the kids grew up and married, I supplied each kid with a couple of the lanterns and a few hundred tea candles in addition to 5 gal of K1 and a few kerosine lanterns…

 

[ainitfunny]

I think I only have about 400 tea lights and quite a few of the glass candles from DT. I've used those in the past and they work fine, no perfumed scent works best for me.

With a thick wick even half a SMALL SHORT tea light will boil a can of water!
I have a couple hundred stashed.
Votive candles are just as useful with a thick wick or two for cooking.

 

[ainitfunny]

Another one you should keep a case of on hand. Can be found in big cases much cheaper if you happen to have a restaurant supply store nearby. I've seen it on and off at Costco as well.

Heat, cook, whatever.

View attachment 431594

I have several boxes of them, too.

 

[ainitfunny]

No, I don't like those tall church type candles, either. I don't have any of those. I thought you were talking about regular jar candles. I had rather have 5 jar candles than 5 of those tall church candles even for $1 a piece.

You can melt the wax in them and pour it into shallow tea light tins and proceed from there.
Yard and Garage sales are the best places to get free or low price USED CANDLES.

 

[vessie]

You can COOK over one small tea light candle if you just
change the WICK to a much heavier one!
Even a tightly rolled up 1/4 of a kleenex, as a wick,
will give you enough heat To perk a pot of coffee!
I did it, I know!! You just have to fashion cans or rocks T
To make a cooking platform over the tea candle to hold your cup, pot or pan over the fire. Put the candle on a ceramic plate with a layer of foil under the plate and you can cook in the house.

The heat the tea light puts out depends ENTIRELY on the number and size of the wicks, not any thing about the candle size! A wind stopper around the candle is neccessary if you have wind taking away the heat before it gets to you pot. AND do not have the flame more than an inch to 2 inches below your pot bottom, the closer the better( allowing for air, of course.

I used a fondu pot set up with a tea light underneath to heat up cans of soup to a boil. when the power went out and it worked great!

Got the soup nice and hot.

I was really surprised how well it worked. V

 

[Loretta Van Riet]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VfQB9JHkK8

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pic0-8kX2No

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0gKvS0p5Ds

 

[nomifyle]

I just ordered a cup with a place for a tea light underneath from ebay. Large enough capacity to heat water for a cup of coffee (yuck, instant, but better than nothing. I also have a little lantern using a tea light.

ETA: anyone know how long a tea light will burn?

 

[ainitfunny]

I just ordered a cup with a place for a tea light underneath from ebay. Large enough capacity to heat water for a cup of coffee (yuck, instant, but better than nothing. I also have a little lantern using a tea light.

ETA: anyone know how long a tea light will burn?

It depends on the size of the wick you put in it.
The size of the wick, not the size of the fuel(wax candle) controls how much heat and light you get from it.
The size of the candle only controls how long it burns.
Any candle ADVERTISED to be long burning WIll have a very tiny wick putting out very little heat or light!

 

[WalknTrot]

There are all sorts of better off grid options for cooking and light than candles, and I'd suggest folks invest in a few of them now, while there is no demand and availability is good. Depending on cooking OR light from tea candles is going to leave you lacking. Cold, hungry, with a stubbed toe and stepped on dawg tails. Also open to safety issues. Just a brain dump here, to remind folks that candles are last ditch for off-grid. Not something any prepared person should rely on as a first option.

My everyday propane kitchen range is a pilot model, so it is 100% off grid stovetop and oven every day. Next best cooking backup is a camp stove - your choice. I like propane bottles for short-term being stupid simple, but there are multiple fuel options depending on your preference and storage capabilities. You can always cook on your outdoor BBQ, whether it be propane, wood or charcoal. If you want something cheap that will give you a combo of heat and light, a kerosene lantern with a cooktop attachment will heat up a cup of soup a hell of a lot better than a couple of candles. An even more effective combo is a kerosene heater. Lots of heat for the room, and a good cooking surface for a pot of something. These would be my suggestions for safety and actual effectiveness/practicality and economy.

Light? Frankly, most people are best off using battery or chargeable LED. Safe and give good, working light. LED headlamps first, then room and task lighting. I like oil lamps, but I always have fuel, and I burn them all the time on a normal day, so it's no skin off for me. Aladdin lamps are great, but persnickety and increasingly pricey. Round-wick center draft are nice light, but they take some tinkering too. Flat-wicks are easiest for the casual user, and duplex double-wick lamps or wide wicks (#3 burners) are both easy and give off more light. Then there are the mantle "camping" lanterns - propane, Coleman, kero, etc. Extremely brilliant light, but again (like Aladdin), dinking around being careful with fragile mantles.

Just one of these listed will stomp tea candles into the dirt. My biggest gripe with candles besides safety (and it's been the problem historically) is the danged flicker. Try lighting your house with only candles one evening - make supper, eat supper, clean up, sit and read, or just converse, play games or work on a puzzle. The flicker will drive you nuts.

Adding: keep in mind that these internet demos (poached egg, etc.) are being done in a room temp house, not in a cold house where the power has been off for an undetermined time. It makes a difference.

 

[hiwall]

There are all sorts of better off grid options for cooking and light than candles, and I'd suggest folks invest in a few of them now, while there is no demand and availability is good. Depending on cooking OR light from tea candles is going to leave you lacking. Cold, hungry, with a stubbed toe and stepped on dawg tails. Also open to safety issues. Just a brain dump here, to remind folks that candles are last ditch for off-grid. Not something any prepared person should rely on as a first option.

My everyday propane kitchen range is a pilot model, so it is 100% off grid stovetop and oven every day. Next best cooking backup is a camp stove - your choice. I like propane bottles for short-term being stupid simple, but there are multiple fuel options depending on your preference and storage capabilities. You can always cook on your outdoor BBQ, whether it be propane, wood or charcoal. If you want something cheap that will give you a combo of heat and light, a kerosene lantern with a cooktop attachment will heat up a cup of soup a hell of a lot better than a couple of candles. An even more effective combo is a kerosene heater. Lots of heat for the room, and a good cooking surface for a pot of something. These would be my suggestions for safety and actual effectiveness/practicality and economy.

Light? Frankly, most people are best off using battery or chargeable LED. Safe and give good, working light. LED headlamps first, then room and task lighting. I like oil lamps, but I always have fuel, and I burn them all the time on a normal day, so it's no skin off for me. Aladdin lamps are great, but persnickety and increasingly pricey. Round-wick center draft are nice light, but they take some tinkering too. Flat-wicks are easiest for the casual user, and duplex double-wick lamps or wide wicks (#3 burners) are both easy and give off more light. Then there are the mantle "camping" lanterns - propane, Coleman, kero, etc. Extremely brilliant light, but again (like Aladdin), dinking around being careful with fragile mantles.

Just one of these listed will stomp tea candles into the dirt. My biggest gripe with candles besides safety (and it's been the problem historically) is the danged flicker. Try lighting your house with only candles one evening - make supper, eat supper, clean up, sit and read, or just converse, play games or work on a puzzle. The flicker will drive you nuts.

Adding: keep in mind that these internet demos (poached egg, etc.) are being done in a room temp house, not in a cold house where the power has been off for an undetermined time. It makes a difference.

Everything thing you say is true.
But sometimes all you need is a candle for light. For current occasional power outages of a couple hours to possibly overnight, just about all of us have excellent battery-powered lighting options. There is no comparison between candle/oil lamp light to electrical powered lights. That is why everyone uses electrically-powered lights. And that is why we all have battery-powered options for temporary grid-down situations.
I would never suggest anyone using candles to heat food or heat a room. Yes, in some cases it could maybe be done but candles would always be a poor option (in my opinion).
In longer grid-down situations of a week or more, your battery-powered options would likely start to run out. If you have solar-powered chargers and you had sunny days then you could recharge your batteries. Some have that capability and some do not.
I do believe candles have a spot in everyone's prep supplies. During power outages I have used candles for their meager light many times. Often their dim flickering light is all you need. If you want to read a book then you need/want a electrical light (battery-powered).

 

[WalknTrot]

Everything thing you say is true.
But sometimes all you need is a candle for light. For current occasional power outages of a couple hours to possibly overnight, just about all of us have excellent battery-powered lighting options. There is no comparison between candle/oil lamp light to electrical powered lights. That is why everyone uses electrically-powered lights. And that is why we all have battery-powered options for temporary grid-down situations.
I would never suggest anyone using candles to heat food or heat a room. Yes, in some cases it could maybe be done but candles would always be a poor option (in my opinion).
In longer grid-down situations of a week or more, your battery-powered options would likely start to run out. If you have solar-powered chargers and you had sunny days then you could recharge your batteries. Some have that capability and some do not.
I do believe candles have a spot in everyone's prep supplies. During power outages I have used candles for their meager light many times. Often their dim flickering light is all you need. If you want to read a book then you need/want a electrical light (battery-powered).

Oh, you betcha. Any stormy evening, I keep a jar candle going in the kitchen & living room so I have an orientation light - if nothing else just to find the LEDs or the lighter for the oil lamps if/when the power goes off. In fact, I guess prep-wise, that's what I use candles for the most.

 

[ainitfunny]

Yet it is true, if you have nothing else, "better to light one candle than to curse the darkness".

 

[nomifyle]

candles are just another part of prepping.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

candles are just another part of prepping.

I agree, Judy. I have hundreds of different candles stored but will only be used as a last resort when everything else fails or runs out. Back ups for back ups.

 

[ainitfunny]

I had 365+ candles (dinner tapers ) for the most light
for at least one bright candle per night for a year. Then i had hundreds of tea lights and hundreds of yard sale candles bought when new dinner tapers were $1 a box and yard sale candles were free. I got about 30 $1 church candles in the tall, skinny glasses to melt the wax for wax fuel. I got countless votive candles free.