Personal Heater for the Winter

In this instructable I will be showing you how to make your very own personal heater for when you're outside and it's freezing cold! All you need to do is add batteries and you have over 100 F in the palm of your hands, or pocket, etc. BUT REMEMBER TO WEAR GLOVES OR MAKE SURE THAT YOUR POCKETS WON'T BURN!!!

** I AM NOT ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS WHETHER YOU BURN/HARM/HURT YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE, THIS WILL BE YOUR FAULT, NOT MINE **

Ok, now we can continue;

This heater is easy to do and cheap to buy the materials. BTW: all the materials can be found at Radio Shack. This is where I went to get the materials and they had everything I needed. However, there may not be a Radio Shack near you so just try a hardware store or hobby shop.

Also, the entire instructable will be shown through a video to make it more understandle, except the video does cut out some things, but you should be able to understand it anyways. It will also be available in steps except with different pictures; so you can decide which way best fits your needs. :)

* A special thanks to Kipkay and MAKE Magazine

Step 1: Materials

What you will need for this project are the following:

- 28-30 Gauge Wrapping Wire (at least 30 feet)
- Twin AA - Battery Holder
- 2 AA Batteries
- Hot Glue Gun
- Soldering Iron
- A Small Piece of Balsa Wood the size of the Twin AA - Battery Holder

Comments

[lilchumy]

this is pretty cool im gonna trie it but can i replace the balsa wood with something else like cardboard???

[blackcat2]

That's a tough one, cardboard is sort of flimsy but it should work. The only problem is if the unit overheats, because the cardboard would have a much higher chance of burning compared to the balsa wood. However, if you have a high-duty cardboard like the ones that come with packaging "fragile" items, then I think it should be fine.
Good Luck! :D

[evilsci]

Good, but wrapping the wire around balsa wood is a pretty bad idea. Have you ever seen balsa wood burn?

[blackcat2]

It doesn't burn enough to light the balsa wood, just enough to heat your hands though.

[lime3D]

If you were to wrap the wire around a piece of iron, you would make an electromagnet!

[blackcat2]

Will try! :D Thanks!

[jeff012]

this actually isn't short circuiting anything. technically speaking a short circuit occurs when a powered wire comes loose and touches grounded metal. for example, in a home behind the receptacles are metal device boxes, if the powered wire were to come loose and contact the grounded metal this would be considered a short. this method of looping wire is actually a very common practice and is completely safe if there is only enough amperage applied to heat the wires to a comfortable level. the electricity dissipates as it creates heat through the wires, effectively making the wire a "load." most things that create heat operate on the same principle. ie hair dryer, electric stoves. hell, even speakers operate with a continuous wire coil.

[blackcat2]

Yea, what i meant to say earlier was that the voltage from the batteries was to be going through the wires but to no where that voltage is needed (if that makes sense?!). In other words, the voltage would be going through the wires but only the wires, enough so that the wires would eventually heat up from an overload of voltage.

[stone3408]

Are you sure that this isn't the batteries just heating up?

[d3monhax0r]

Won't this short circuit? or is the wire too long for it to?

[blackcat2]

The idea is to short circuit; the wire IS too long for it to overheat but it "should" short circuit so the wire gets warmer. However, don't worry; i've been using for about a month now on that same pair of batteries and it has gotten just hot enough for me to escape the cold but not hot enough to burn me!

[jimmyf]

Nice job. How many hours of continuous use do you get out of a pair of AA's?

[batman96]

If you have a way of measuring it I would love to know how many Ohms that coil is.
How long do the batteries run for?