New TikTok heater trend may be cheap but is NOT safe

TikTok users are always sharing cheap DIY ideas to make things easy but a heater ‘hack’ doing the rounds is not as safe as one would think.

Although South Africans said goodbye to the winter season, many areas of the country are still being impacted by dropping temperatures but staying away from this trick is the best thing you could do.

The terracotta heater ‘hack’ is trending on social media

The ‘cost saving’ hack involves using clay pots and candles to create a heating system.

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The ‘terracotta heater’  – as TikTokers are calling it – does work but definitely has its downfalls.

It’s quite a simple thing to make. All the user does is place a few lit candles in the centre of a saucer and pop a clay pot on top of it.

Some TikTokers use other items to raise the clay pot a bit higher over the saucer.

@workandcomms You Terra-GOTTA try this heating hack 🔥 #WACHacks #TerracottaPotHeater #TerracottaPot #Heating #HeatingHacks #MoneySavingTips #Candles ♬ Stories – Lux-Inspira

The DIY home heater is a fire hazard – among other things

According to The Citizen, indoor candles are often made of kerosene and their combustion releases volatile organic compounds.

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These include benzene and formaldehyde. Although these are not dangerous in themselves, their impact is raised for those who have respiratory diseases (such as asthma).

Those who have children and or pets as they run the risk of touching the pot or candles and facing serious burns.

The terracotta heater is also a significant fire risk. Germany’s Fire Service Association’s Carsten-Michael Pix explained that it is still an open flame that can be knocked over.

“They’re still an open flame that can easily be knocked over or quickly turn into a larger flame. At the end of the day, they won’t heat your room. You’d need hundreds of tealights for that,” said Pix.

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WATCH: Machete-wielding man smiles while trying to hijack car

In other TikTok-related news, it was previously reported that a video of a smiling man armed with a machete attempting to hijack a vehicle has gone viral online.

Ash Massacre shared the video on TikTok earlier this week. Massacre was seated in the passenger seat of a car that was stuck in traffic in Queensland, Australia.

Taking to the video-sharing app, Massacre said the man ‘politely’ requested to be let inside the vehicle. Read the full story here.