A1_8 O Christmas Tree, How Warm Are You?

Abstract

In this paper we examine the warmth of a Christmas tree through the thermal energy radiatedby a string of electrical light bulbs and candles. We model the candles as a black body to infer their temperature as 700 K and their total radiative power (for 25 candles) as 1700 W. On the other hand, due to the heat lost in the filament of the incandescent bulbs, 150 of these radiate at 15 000 W. The black body temperature of the tree is 110°C for the electric lights and −50°C for the candles, meaning that even though candles have open flames, the electrically lit tree is warmer and more likely to catch on fire.