Lighted Bottle Giving Off Heat

Does this bottle get too hot?

In this DIY Show Off we will address one of the concerns many bottle crafters have when using regular strings of Christmas lights.

Take a look at the email and pictures we received yesterday and then scroll down to read our answer to this very common questions.

Hi Nick and Silke,

Thanks for your mail and enjoyed reading eBook that you made with great care. Thank you very much for the wonderful book.

I have made holes in the bottle following the procedure suggested by you and inserted Christmas lights. I have attached couple of pictures for you to assess!

My only concern is that the bottle gets hot within 10 to 15 minutes, even though the cap is not closed. In my opinion it might need more holes on the rear side, so that there will be proper air circulation and ventilation.

Please let me know your opinion,
Regards, vijayram

Black Dog bottle with lights

Drilled Hole in Glass Bottle

DIY glass bottle craft
Interesting label, don’t you think?

 

First of all, we would like to thank Vijayram for sending us his question and finished bottle craft pictures.

Your lighted Black Dog bottle turned out fantastic!

Now, here is our experience with using Christmas lights inside glass bottles:

Yes, the bottle will get warm to the touch within a few minutes of turning on the light string. We were concerned about that as well, but a few years back we did an experiment.

We had three different regular sized glass wine bottles and added a regular string of 35 lights to each of them. One of the bottles even had the acrylic crystal filler inside. After plugging in the light strings, we sat the bottle on a window sill, and didn’t unplug them for a whole week. Nothing bad happened with either one of the bottles. The bottles get warm, but not warm enough to melt the plastic wire.

Of course, if you want to add any type of flammable filler (paper, cardboard, etc.) you should use cool to the touch LED light strings. They are a bit more expensive (around $10) but they don’t give off any heat whatsoever.

Vijayram, we don’t think it’s necessary to drill additional holes into the back of your bottle but if it makes you feel better, by all means do so. It’s your bottle project and safety first is always a good policy.

What is your experience working with Christmas lights? Please leave your comments below. 


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address, we will link back to you.

8 thoughts on “Lighted Bottle Giving Off Heat

  1. FYI – Black Dog is a brand of Scotch Whisky that is distilled, aged and blended in Scotland, and bottled and marketed in India by United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group.
    – Wikipedia

  2. Nice job, Vijayram!
    I’ve only used LED’s, because I didn’t want to take any risks, especially with those that I made for gifts. We have one bottle that we never unplug, and I know I don’t have to worry about it.

    1. Thank you Patty! :) Here is the reply we received from Vijayram last night.

      “Thank you for your immediate reply, and suggestion you have given. I did not think about the number of lights and also about LEDs. I will use LED lights and let you know the result as soon as possible. Thanks once again. Regards, Vijayaram”

    2. Thank you Patty , for your appreciation, :-), I have used LED string and looks good. My wife wanted to have multi coloured LEDs. Hence I have used a LED strip with blue, red greeen coloured lights.!, I will mail the poto soon.

  3. I have 50 clear bulb regular lights not the LEDs. It gets almost too warm to the touch. I am giving it as a gift and wonder about the safety of it. More lights enhance the bottle but could there be a fire with these?

    1. Jeanie,
      You might want to let the receiving party know that the lights shouldn’t be left unattended or kept on for any extended length of time. I’ve never had a fire but when I put a light string in with the filler once, they literally melted to the crystal fill before it blew a bulb and killed the whole line. This was left on continuously for over a 24 hour period.

  4. Thanks for this article!! I found it hard to put away the Christmas lights this year, and put them in glass vases, but was also concerned about the heat that they’re producing…. but now I’ll just enjoy them, and not leave them on when I go out :~))

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