Question about kero lamps

[FarmboyBill]

One sort or another.
How many people use them as their only source of lighting??

[vicker]

I don't use them much at this time, but did use them as my light source for a good while. Why? I ended up going 12v on the farm, and went a couple of years with propane in the cabin.
I would have eventually gone 12v in the cabin as well. It doesn't take much to provide 12v lighting.

[1shotwade]

I haven't done this yet but want to.If I ever get there I want to go back to carbide.Lamps can still be had and a 2 lb. can of carbide will last a long,long time.


Wade

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

I used only Aladdins for about 2 years when I was off grid. They supply an amazing amount of light but do put off a lot of heat. It was kind of fun. They would be expensive to run with the price of kerosene now.

[DW]

Only when the elec is off...but I do like some of the new battery lanterns, too.

[frogmammy]

I have used them as an only source of light, when trying to save money . No problem, really. Also used them with oil lamps. Just means you sit nearer the light to read. Pretty relaxing, really.

Mon

[maddy]

Hope I'm not derailing this thread by asking a related question:

To put out an oil lamp, do you blow it our like a candle, retract the wick, or both?

Another question: What difference does the quality of the lamp make? What makes an expensive Aladdin lamp better than the one on sale at Walmart for $6.99?

[MichaelK!]

Originally Posted by maddy

To put out an oil lamp, do you blow it our like a candle, retract the wick, or both?

Typically both. After turning the flame all the way down, I cup my hand vertically around the rim of the lantern's glass and give a strong puff. That combination reduces the fumes as much as possible.

Originally Posted by maddy

Another question: What difference does the quality of the lamp make? What makes an expensive Aladdin lamp better than the one on sale at Walmart for $6.99?

Aladdin's have a fiber mantle much like that of a Coleman gas lantern. They are far brighter because it is the mantle illuminating the area, not the flame itself. Though they are significantly brighter, they also require significant more attention. Leave an Alladdin burning too high and you'll end up with a oily carbonized mantle that you need a torch to clean up. Plus, the mantles are expensive, and there have been shortages where there weren't any available at all for a year or more.

To answer the OP I used a combination of flashlights and kerosene lanterns for several years till I got my solar panels up. I am just so glad to get rid of the routine use of kerosene. I don't like the fumes, and I don't like the constant sense of an accident waiting to happen.

I'm not going to throw out my lanterns, but will be happy when they are fully replaced by electricity.

[FarmboyBill]

THEN, up to NOW, nobody currently uses lamps for their main source of lighting.

Turn the Aladinlamp too high and the mantle turns white and will turn to ash if a puff of wind hits it. You have to watch them constantly while lit, as, just because youfinally got them at the right setting, They can rise or lower on their own, and if they rise, read above.
OF COURSE, regular kero lamps can do the same, but they don't have a mantle to burn up and replace. They just smoke up the chimney

[hotzcatz]

I use a few in the wintertime to add a bit of heat to the house. We don't have a house heater and it could use a bit of heat in mid-winter. We also keep kerosene lamps around in case the power goes out. I used to use them for lighting back in the 80's when I lived on a boat. Also used them on my first house on land since that was off grid, too. Now we're still off grid, but the PV system is huge and the house is just like the rest of the grid houses. Actually, with a grid tied PV, I suppose we are on the grid. Woot! But, there's still kerosene lamps around, I like 'em.

[FarmboyBill]

Still nobody using them for there sole source of light. I worked at a glass plant that made the fonts and chimneys. They would buy the wicks and brass parts put them together, package them and sell them. Rural France didn't get REA till the end of the 70s, so they had a mkt for them when I worked there in 81.
I got around a doz here.

[Danaus29]

We used kero lamps as our only source of light when we stayed at our vacation cabin. Batteries were way too expensive and the lamps were a much better source of light. We had some that had been passed down from dh's parents and some we bought at yard sales. When we sold the cabin we brought the lamps home. A couple years back our electric was off for a week and we used the kero lamps as our only light source.

To put them out you turn the wick way down then blow it out.

My grandparents used kerosene lamps as their only light source in the days before electricity came to their neighborhood. As soon as they got electric lights Grandma tossed the lamps.

Quality, the ease of turning the wick, ease of replacing the wick, durability of the wick holder. That's what makes the difference. The wick turner on a cheap lamp may not operate as smoothly and easily as one in a good quality lamp.

[FarmboyBill]

We didn't get electric till I was 2. folks kept their lamps, but I think they only had 3 by my time. Maybe that's all they had. They did have a lantern that ive got now. Its supposed to leak kero. Our elect service is so good here, that I havnt used kero lamps in a decade. When I finally had to use them during a ice storm the kero was so old it wouldn't light. I bought 2 bottles of kero at WM that I havnt opened yet,. AT THIS moment, I don't know where they are, so, if I had an outage, ide be without light other than candles.

[katlupe]

We used them for a number of years, from 1999 to about 2005 as our only source of light. As we increased our power system, we were able to put in electric lights. The price of kerosene going up made us work harder on getting that accomplished. At one time we had about 14 of them and my husband used a lantern for barn chores at night.

[FireMaker]

We are working on our off grid place. Currently use kero and candles for lighting in the shed/ bunkhouse. We do not plan on electric in the House when it is done. We will stick with the kero and AA battery lamps. The AAs can be charged in the car charger in 15 minutes. We will have a generator, but only used for tools.

[Danaus29]

I will warn you about the new kero jugs. The plastic is fragile and gets brittle over the course of a few years. We lost a whole gallon when the jug cracked and leaked in the basement. It's fine if you're going through the jugs pretty quick but for long term storage one of the larger k1 jugs would be a much better choice.

[COWS]

This thread got me curious. Electricity came here a year before i was born. I jus called my older sister and asked how may lamps the family had. She said they had 2 and a lantern to take to the barn. She didn't remember studying by lamplight. They always went to bed when it got dark and didn't have much if any company at night. I have tried to read by lamplight when the power was out and it is poor lighting. The family never had Alladin lamps which do put out more light.

COWS

[FarmboyBill]

I think that was the way it was more so in the country than in the city.
In the city, in the OLDEN DAYS, they had a central table centered in the room kinda like sofas are on TV sit coms. They would have a large kero lamp, like a Rayo, or a few other brands that put out much light, or an Aladdin. Kids did their studies there, Grandma knitted by it, mom might be doing sewing, Grandpa might be reading the paper, dad might be figuring his bank drafts.
In the country tho, Like was said, Most people just had regular lamp lights, and they were usually shut down around 8 00