A tea candle is also known as a tea-light. It is a candle in a plastic cup or a thin metal. This metal or plastic cup in which the candle is put in allows the candle to liquefy completely when lit. Tea candles are relatively inexpensive. They can burn for up to 5 hours. Most tea candles are long lasting and short; they are mostly made unscented. They are often used for heating scented oils, for them to release their aroma. They are also used for accent lighting – mainly in home decors.
Tea-lights come in small sizes and they also produce low levels of light. For this reason, they are rarely burned singly. Multiple tea candles are often burned together to improve the quality of the light produced. One good thing about tea candles is that they produce a very minimal amount of smoke and they are also long lasting.
Tea candles are often used in teapot warmers like fondue pots. Apart from the regular flame-based tea lights, they also have electrical types. The electrical tea candles are made with LED bulbs or incandescent light, especially LED bulbs. They are safer than the regular flame-based tea candles.
MAKING TEA CANDLES
Flame-based tea candles are often made from paraffin wax or other types of wax, especially soy wax. Like other candles they are made with a wick and fragrant if desired. To make a tea candle from soy wax, you would need the wax, a specialized kind of wick known as the tea light wick, a pouring pot, colorants and fragrance, if so desired. Tea candles are also made from bee-wax.
USES OF TEA CANDLES
Most of the uses of tea candles are due to the aesthetic value they provide, that is why they are often used for home décor. They have so many uses which include the following:
- For home décor
Tea candles can be used in various ways to change the aesthetics of a place. They can be used on water (where they are kept to float) or placed strategically in a venue to highlight the centerpiece of an event. The candles can be placed in perforated ceramic pots to also provide aesthetic value.
- For aromatherapy
Tea light candles whether scented or not can be used for aromatherapy. When they are scented they can be burned directly to provide aromatherapeutic values. When not scented they may be used to release scent from essential oils put in porcelain tart warmers, or to release scent from tart warmers having small openings at their bases with a sauce pan roof at the top, connected to one fully closed side.
- For air purification
Scented tea candles can be used for purifying the air. They are great for keeping air clean, especially in houses where people have allergies.
- As emergency heat source
Tea candles can be used as emergency heat sources. The metal containers they come in makes them nice heat sources. They definitely wouldn’t heat up the room but they will chill off the air and could be good heat sources to warm hands.
- For warming and heating
Multiple tea candles can be used together to create heat that is enough to steer a warming effect. A tea light has an average power of 32 watts. A minimum of four tea candles can be used to create a warming effect sufficient to chill off the air in a room and may also be used as warmers for small liquids like tea and water.
Yes, a tea light can heat up water!
NOW, CAN A TEA CANDLE BOIL WATER?
Yes, a tea candle can also boil water. This has been proven practically and can also be proven in theory.
Water boils at 100oC. 5-10 tea candles when brought together can produce the amount of heat energy needed to get water boiling (i.e. to raise the temperature of the water to 100oc and cause boiling).
A couple of tea candles can be brought together to form what may be named as a tea stove. A tea stove, asides boiling water, can also be used to heat up or warm food items. This stove can take as long as 30 minutes or even far more to boil a small quantity of water, depending on how many candles are lit together to make the tea stove.
HOW DO I BOIL WATER WITH A TEA CANDLE?
Candles, tea candles inclusive can be used to heat water, if set up the right way. In cases of emergency you may need to boil water and the most feasible option is to use a tea candle. You may not necessarily have an emergency, but you may want to perform a fun experiment by boiling water with a tea candle. Whatever be the case, the following are what you would need to boil water with a tea candle:
- The tea candles; about 5 of them
- A Pot; the pot should be as thin and narrow as possible.
- A burner; a low burner that would keep the candle flame as close to the pot as possible
- Matches or any other available fire starter
- Additional source of fuel; like a bare metal can, nails etc.
Once you get the necessary materials for the set-up, it is very easy to operate. Firstly, the candles should be set up on the platform the cooking is to be done and then the burner placed over it with as little distance as possible between the candles and the burner. This is to allow for faster boiling, as the farther the candle is from the water holder (the pot) the longer it would take to get the water boiled and vice versa.
Secondly, the candles should be lit. Then the pot filled with water should be placed over the burner.
Thirdly, the lid of the pot should be put over it, because water boils faster when the pot it is boiling in is completely covered because of the pressure build up in the pot.
Leave to boil.
Boiling water with a tea candle is a tricky process for the following reasons:
- Wind disturbance
- Wax fires
- Cold temperature etc.
