Jars of white powder for making house heat?

[fiddle1]

mayonnaise type glass jars with a white powder in them-------
was told the house was heated by mixing it with water?



not sure what this stuff is.

???

can anybody help me identify

what white powders do this?

[TimRB]

Carbide for making acetylene? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbide_lamp

Tim

[Ianab]

Maybe Lye / Caustic soda / Sodium hydroxide?

It's a white powder that gets gets hot as it dissolves in water.

Not exactly safe though.... 

There may be other safer chemicals that react in a similar way, but I'm thinking that anything that has a exothermic reaction with water is going to be pretty reactive to other things as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hydroxide

Ian

[timerover51]

mayonnaise type glass jars with a white powder in them-------
was told the house was heated by mixing it with water?

not sure what this stuff is.

???

can anybody help me identify

what white powders do this?

Fiddle, the most commonly available white powder that is going to react with water and produce heat is Sodium Hydroxide, also known as Lye and Caustic Soda.

When mixed with water it is going to produce a lot of heat, very quickly, part of which is going to produce some very hot steam.  It is a very fast reaction, and is not going to appreciably heat your house at all.  It is extremely toxic, and will cause chemical burns on contact with your skin, as it reacts with the moisture in your skin.  The solution remaining after the reaction is also extremely toxic and represents a Hazardous Materials disposal problem.  This is not something that you want to fool with whatsoever, and as you are near me, I really do not want to see you featured in the Tribune or Suntimes, or on the TV news or WBBM Radio being severely injured or one of your family severely injured by trying this.

You probably should contact the City of Chicago Consumer Protection Department and notify them that someone is selling what is likely to be an extremely hazardous product.

[Brucer]

Calcium reacts with water to generate a lot of heat and hydrogen gas. There's enough heat produced to ignite the hydrogen.

The only way I can see it heating a house is to set fire to it .

[fiddle1]

its not a sold product----

but a curiosity----i found this product in a workshop-----1920's-30's

turns out what i had was
soduim hydroxide---i called and recieved help removing it.

glad its gone as it was in a flooded building.

thanks for all the forum help------that could
have really ended the shop quick. 

thanks much for you help!!

8)

[laffs]

sodium hydroxide is used in paper mills, its what they call black liquor, white liqour and green liqour.  they used in the fuel and isnt to bad, the white would take your fingernails off and eat leather gloves right off your hand,the green would suck the moisture out of leather and shrink your gloves right onto your hand. its all nasty stuff.