5 D-I-Y Home Heater Ideas With Step By Step Guide

Not having heat in your homes presents a big problem. It’s not only uncomfortable, but it can also be dangerous if you don’t have the right heating system or are in an energy emergency with no solution.

While you can always layer up, sometimes piling on sweaters and blankets just won’t do, and you need a better answer. 

Of course, there is a great answer to your home heating issues. Why not make your own D-I-Y home heater!

If you are looking for some simple and cheap home heater ideas that will help you save money on your energy bills, then look no further!

5 D-I-Y Home Heater Ideas With Step By Step Guide

Here are five ideas for making your very own home heater, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to do it, and all the necessary parts you’ll need.  

D-I-Y Electric Heater 

First on our list is the D-I-Y electric heater! This heater is inexpensive and easy to make. Not to mention it is super safe because it is not exposed to open flames! 

This heater will heat small rooms perfectly, generating temperatures of up to 86 degrees F. You could also use it to heat up a small to medium-sized garage. 

The following materials are necessary to build this D-I-Y home heater, and you can find them at most general stores or online:

  • – A metal can
  • – A metal grill, around the same size as the metal can 
  • – A can opener
  • – Electric tape 
  • – Electric wire 
  • – An electric fan that will fit in the can 
  • – A rod of steel (thin)
  • – 30 ml syringe 
  • – Plaster of Paris 
  • – 24 inch Nichrome Wire 

How To Make The D-I-Y- Electric Heater 

The following steps will allow you to successfully create a D-I-Y electric heater: 

1. Roll the nichrome wire over the 30 ml syringe. This will make a coil. 

2. Remove the syringe from the coil. 

3. Put some of the plaster of Paris into a cup with water. Mix well, but ensure it retains its liquid form.  

4. Once you have made the mixture, fill the syringe. 

5. Separate the pumper and the syringe. 

6. Put the syringe in a stable, vertical position. 

7. Use the can opener to open the closed side of the can. 

8. Wait for the plaster of Paris mix to become solid. When this happens, use a hot welding machine to cut the syringe barrel.

9. Remove the solid plaster from the barrel. 

10. Insert the plaster into the coil. 

11. Take the thin steel rod and put it into the solid plaster. 

12. Use the electric wire to wire the coil at both ends. 

13. Cover it with the electric tape. 

14. Take the metal can and make two holes in the body. 

15. Take the wired coil and fix it into the can. Make sure you do this by the steel rod’s loose ends. 

16. Add some more holes to the body of the can. 

17. Take the switch and place it into one of the holes. Then, you can wire it with the chords connected to the wired coil. 

18. Take the lid of the can and cut a hole in the center. 

19. Use some screws to secure the fan to the metal can. 

20. Find the side of the can closest to the coil heater and stick the grill here. To ensure it is safe to use, ensure you seal it with the screws. 

21. Connect the switch and the fan’s power line. 

22. Take the power cord out with a hole and close the can (with the fan attached lid)

You should now have a fully operational D-I-Y- electric heater! 

How To Operate The D-I-Y Electric Heater 

Operating this D-I-Y electric heater is very simple! Simply take the power chord, plug it in, and switch it on! It will take around 5-10 minutes for the coil to heat up.

Once this has happened, the fan will push the cool air through the coil, and this will successfully transfer the heat around the room. 

D-I-Y Alcohol Heater

Alcohol Heater

D-I-Y alcohol heaters are excellent for emergencies because they can be made with various items usually already present in your home. Being able to make an alcohol heater is a huge tick in your ‘survival skills’ box. 

You will be able to cook and keep warm with this inexpensive heater.

However, you should take extra care when creating and using it, because it uses an open flame which does present a significant safety issue. 

To make this D-I-Y home heater, you will need: 

– Toilet paper 

– A metal can, such as an empty paint can or an empty can of soup)

– Rubbing alcohol, or 70% isopropyl alcohol 

– A matchstick or lighter. 

How To Make the D-I-Y Alcohol Heater 

Follow these simple steps to make a D-I-Y alcohol heater. 

1. Take the toilet paper and put it into your metal can of choice. 

2. Saturate the toilet paper in rubbing alcohol. 

3. Light it on fire. 

How To Operate The D-I-Y Alcohol Heater 

The rubbing alcohol acts as fuel, while the toilet paper acts like a candle wick.

This home heater can burn for over an hour because only alcohol exposed to air will get burned, meaning the alcohol at the bottom of the metal can will stay nice and cool. 

Provided you handle the fire in a responsible way, the D-I-Y alcohol heater is safe to use.

D-I-Y Ceramic Heater 

This D-I-Y- ceramic heater is excellent at heating medium-sized rooms. This is because ceramic has a significant thermal capability, but is designed as a fan heater.

With this D-I-Y home heater, you can expect temperatures of around 200 degrees F, but the temperatures from this heater have been recorded as high as 300 degrees F. 

To make this D-I-Y home heater, you will need: 

– A ceramic bowl (but you can alternatively use Stoneware) 

– A small fan 

– Candles

– A plate or tray for the candles 

– Bricks (around 4 or 5 should suffice)

How To Make The D-I-Y Ceramic Heater 

If you would like to make this effective D-I-Y home heater, then follow these steps:

1. Decide where to make your ceramic heater. We recommend a metal table in the corner of a room.

Note: This is important because the ceramic heater needs to be able to transfer heat around the room and to the center of the room successfully.

We also recommend assembling and keeping your D-I-Y ceramic heater on the side of the room that is used the least, to reduce the risk of an accident.

You should also take care to keep the heater away from anything flammable. 

2. Place the candles onto the plate or tray.

3. Put two bricks down beside the plate or tray. 

4. Light the candles. 

5. Take the stoneware or ceramic bowl and place it on top of the plate. The edges of the ceramic bowl should be touching the bricks. 

6. Take two or three of the bricks and place them behind the ceramic bowl. 

7. Take the small fan and put it on top of the bricks you just placed down. 

And there you have it! Your very own D-I-Y ceramic heater. 

How To Operate The D-I-Y Ceramic Heater 

By lighting the candles and turning on the fan, you are already operating the ceramic heater, so feel free to relax and curl up in a well-heated room. 

This D-I-Y home heater does not take long to heat up, while the fan pushes the heat into the correct direction so you never have to worry about being cold for long.

This D-I-Y home heater is one of the most effective on this list, and it can also be used to heat your garage. 

D-I-Y- Flower Pot Heater 

If there’s a power shortage or other heating emergency then this D-I-Y flower pot heater is your go-to solution! If you don’t have any flower pots at hand, then you can use terracotta pot heaters which will work just as well.

Please note that most flower pots and terracotta pots are designed for short-term use. 

To make your very own D-I-Y- flower pot heater, you will need: 

– Two flower pots. One 5 inches, and one 6 inches with a base

–  Four tealights or candle lights

– Eleven pieces of half an inch flat washers

– Fourteen pieces of half an inch nuts

– Metal chain 

– Half an inch of threaded rod, around 11-14 inches. 

How To Make The D-I-Y Flower Pot Heater

Making this D-I-Y home heater is very simple. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Take two nuts and place them on one side of the rod. This ensures nothing will fall out after you make the D-I-Y flower pot heater. 

2. Place two ends of the metal chain into the rod to make a loop. 

3. Close the chain off with a new nut to secure it tightly to the rod. 

4. Take a washer and place it on the rod, on the opposite side of the chain. 

5. Take the six-inch flower pot and put the rod into the hole. 

6. Close this off with some nuts and one washer. 

7. Take one washer and the five-inch flower or terracotta pot and close it off with a further two nuts. This secures the two pots to their respective positions. 

8. Take one washer and the remaining nuts (but leave one nut behind) and put them in the rods. They will help the D-I-Y home heater radiate heat, as well as retain it. 

9. Take the flower or terracotta pot base and make a hole in the center. 

10. Taking the remaining nut and washer, stick the pot with the rod. 

11. Now that your flower or terracotta pot heater has been made, feel free to hang it on any shelf, stable stand, etc. 

How To Operate The D-I-Y Flower Pot Heater 

It couldn’t be easier to power up a D-I-Y home heater. All you need to do is light the four candle lights or tea lights. However, you must ensure that there is a gap between the base and the flower pot so there is an opening of oxygen.

However, this gap should remain small, as a big gap will ensure the heat from the candles is lost. 

Just one of these D-I-Y flower pot heaters takes 15-20 minutes to begin radiating heat. Additionally, it would only take one 30 minutes to properly heat up a small-sized room.

If you want to heat up a big room, we recommend using two or even three of these low-maintenance, D-I-Y home heaters. 

D-I-Y- Solar Power Heater 

If you’re looking for a green energy, natural heating solution then look no further! This D-I-Y solar heater is perfect for you.

This is such an efficient and cost-effective way to heat your home, especially because this D-I-Y heating solution is long-term. 

If you want to create your own D-I-Y Solar power heater, you will need: 

– A drilling machine, including wide drill parts

– 240 aluminum cans

– 4 ft by 8 ft Plexiglass

– 4 ft by 8 ft by half an inch plywood sheet 

– Black spray paint (heat-resistant)

– Plastic tube

– Wood for a 4 ft by 8 ft by 3.5 inch frame 

– High-temp silicone 

– Air blower (make sure that it works on solar power)

How To Make A D-I-Y Solar Power Heater 

It takes a lot of effort to make a D-I-Y solar power heater, but once you see the results you know it’ll be worth it!

If you want to try your hand at making this D-I-Y home heater, then follow these steps: 

1. Build the wooden frame with the sheet of wood

2. Nail the plywood sheet to the back of the frame 

3. Use the drill to make two holes, one at the top of the frame and another at the bottom 

4. Take the drill and make large holes in both sides of 224 of the 240 cans. The remaining sixteen cans should be drilled at the top. Please be cautious as you follow this step, because aluminum can be extremely sharp

5. Place the cans on top of each other, making sixteen columns of cans, with every column containing fifteen cans. The sixteen cans that were drilled at the top should be the bottom can in every column

6. Seal the joint area of the cans with the silicon 

7. Wait for the silicon to cure

8. Once the silicon has cured, spray paint the cans and the frame 

9. Next, stick the columns in the frame

10. Cover all of the columns up with Plexiglass

11. Decide where the D-I-Y solar panel will go, and then cut two holes into that room – one at the top of the wall, and one at the bottom of the wall (just above the floor.) Ensure that the exterior of this wall has decent exposure to the sun.

12. Mount the frame to the wall’s exterior.

13. Line up the holes in the frame with the holes in the wall and connect them with a plastic tube. These will also need to be insulated well. 

14. Take the blower and install it to either the top or bottom pipe. This will increase the efficiency of the air flow. 

If done successfully, you will have just made a fantastic D-I-Y solar power heater!

How Does The D-I-Y Solar Power Heater Operate? 

Because they are exposed to the sun, the aluminum cans heat up quickly.

This D-I-Y home heater then works by sucking cool air from the tube at the bottom of the heater. It draws the air to the heat resistant panel and heats it up. The hot air then goes back through the tube at the top of the heater and heats the room. 

While this heater will not provide homes with temperatures as warm as some other heaters on this list, it provides heat without any external energy, which is an important factor to keep in mind. 

Final Thoughts 

Having heating and energy emergencies can feel like a big problem, but we hope with these five different D-I-Y heaters and a step-by-step guide on making them, they do not feel like problems you cannot solve.

Just remember to keep these key items handy, and you should have heat in your home in no time!