Alsmost impossible to find oil for lamps......

The 500CP PetroMax puts out light equivalent to a 400 watt bulb. And since I have one, I know that's true. It lights up every corner of our 16 x 24 one-room cabin as bright as daytime.

An Aladdin lamp puts out light equivlent to a 60 watt light bulb...making it very easy to read by.

I believe I read that "oil lamps" put out light equivalent to a 9 watt Christmas tree bulb.

Plug your laptop and radio into a current bush.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

My wally world quit selling it about a year ago. One week they had it the next it was gone.

I agree.

Add this to the list of things to watch for at yard sales next year. I often see full bottles of the scented or unscented oil for 25-50 cents each.

For third time how much fuel does the 500cp Petromax use in real life? Or is this an inconvenient question? In ad they are claiming 8 hour to the quart and dont specify the fuel. I would assume thats for diesel or some other heavier fuel?

Two 40 watt fluorescent bulbs put out just somewhat under 500 candle power. The 400 watt I assume is for an INCANDESCENT bulb and I guess it just sounds impressive in the sales literature . Not nearly as impressive sounding to compare it to an 80 watt fluorescent. Yep INCANDESCENT bulbs arent very efficient for light output unless you also need the heat generated.

I have used propane double mantle lanterns. they can put out lot light, but went through propane rather fast and they hissed and generated lot heat. Better for outdoor use, great for doing chores outside on a dark night. I would assume Petromax is just high end version of the old coleman white gas and kerosene mantle lanterns where you have to pump it up to get fuel vaporized. I suspect the Petromax lantern also puts out lot heat since they were selling a stove kit for it.

As to the current bushes, do I need both a black and white current bush. Black is the hot and white is the neutral?

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

I do not know, we usually burn ours for 3 or 4 hours at a time. I refill it when it sloshes like it is nearing empty. But I have not kept track of fuel consumption. I would guess that I put about a pint in it each night that we use it.

It has a blow-torch feature, which does consume fuel quickly. I learned to not use the blow-torch. You see for heating the generator you have to burn something. It has a blow-torch feature and it also has an alcohol basin. I fill the alcohol basin and light that which will heat the generator enough to light the mantle. I use about a tablespoon of alcohol in the basin each time that I light it.

I have no idea if it operates longer on veggie oil, or kerosene, or lard/kerosene in a 9:1 ratio.

What I do not like about the Petromax, is that it needs to be cleaned routinely. On their forum, guys say that they can burn theirs every night for six months without cleaning. But I find that I end up dismantling it and cleaning it after every dozen uses. Which requires a new mantle each time.

Not an inconvient question at all...just a question that I have no data for. I don't keep track of how much kerosene I use in my Petromax. I'd say that the quart per 8 hours is a pretty good estimate for kerosene.

I don't get your point. Doesn't make any difference to me whether one compares a kerosene lantern to incadenscent light or fluorescent light output....when you have no electricity neither one of those lights are gonna work for ya!

I've also have propane and Coleman lanterns. Neither compare to a PetroMAx for light output. And "yes" you are right, the PetroMax does put out some heat....it feels great on a cold spring, fall or winter night.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

I've never "cleaned" my PetroMax. Maybe it's the fuel you use? I've only used kerosene and Coleman. I have to add a bit of Coleman to the keosene for winter use.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Petromax does market parts to turn the lantern into a cookstove.

And at our local military surplus store they have a chest with an off-name German Petromax set. 2 lanterns, cookstove parts and a bunch of stuff for $200.

Our ACE Hardware carries it. I can also order it at their online site by the case and they will deliver it to the store free. Our Dollar General had it this past summer. Our wallyworld no longer sells it.

You are the one saying its equivalent to a 400 watt light. If it doesnt make any diffenence then why did you mention it? I am pointing out that its not equivalent to 400 watts of FLUORESCENT lighting. Yep devil is in the details.

I bring up the point because you can run a car alternator via small engine. Burns like 3/4 gallon gasoline in 5hr. Trick is to run at lower rpm, all small engines are noisy and burn lot fuel running full governed speed like cheap AC generators do. But at slower rpm, they burn less fuel and last whole lot longer and lot quieter. With a small inverter, not that hard to power fluorescent light plus few other things. Dont believe me, look for old article by homepower magazine people. I had no problem finding pdf file of it via google. http://www.homepower.com/files/webextras/mark8.pdf Matter of fact if you did run it full out, should produce between 700 to 800 watt. The article is more for using it to equalize/charge battery bank, but you could use it with one battery like your cars system and while running use it to provide power, just like turning on headlights or radio in your car.

I had electric off last winter for like 2 weeks. My eyes are old and the emergency oil lamp didnt cut it and seemed to use lot fuel for light it gave off. Well I needed to charge my laptop and cell phone so rigged up alternator. Didnt have proper pulley for 5hp so had to use smokey old 11hp engine which wasnt fuel efficient for what I was using it for. Anyway did experiment and no problem running fluorescent lights using small cheap inverter. I was kinda surprised since I'd always thought fluorescents didnt work well off inverter. But it was just like plugging them in power company supplied power. Believe me 80 watt fluorescent far superior to old kerosene lamp. Plus power for few other things too. When doing this 80 watt light is lot easier to power than 400 watt light. And when it produces equivalent light.....

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

Alrighty then....

I wonder how much 400 watts of CFL lighting is equivalent to...actually I'm really not interested in that answer. I don't like old kerosene lamps either. So, you run your inverter for emergency lighting and I'll run my PetroMax and Aladdin lamps. Two ways of accomplishing the same results.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

We burn Kerosene in all of our lamps. Smell? Yes if not adjusted right. Price? $4.00 a gallon at the local gas station. Still on my first gallon with over two months of use now. Light quality is poor but better than nothing as the saying goes and economical when compared to the 3.63 Ace is charging for a pint of lamp oil.

We are in a high populated Amish area so there is a ready supply of Kerosene at a reasonable price. Funny though is that one of our Amish neighbors told us that they are using a lot of Carbide and propane lamps to light their houses.

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I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

Ace hardware stores carry oil.

I used to have a carbide lamp. I really liked it. But I lost the nozzle and was not able to find a replacement.

Carbide lamps are cool

Cabinfever,....question....

I am only familiar with oil lamps. What others are there? I have a coleman lamp that uses the coleman fuel. However, I did not think that the coleman lamps could be used indoors.

While K-1 kerosene is the equivalent of the fuel originaly used in most of the oil lamps including the Aladdins, it is a mixture of several differnent hydrocarbons present in petroleum. It works fine, but it has the disadvantage that it "goes bad" in about 3 -6 months of warm temperatures (similiar to the "varnish" problem with gasoline). Lamp oil, while overly expensive, primarily because it is minimumly used, is a specific hydrocarbon with out adulterating chemicals being present. It will last in storage till it all evaporates. Diesel has additives that are not safe to burn in an oil lamp, not because of the volatility, but because of the potentially poisoness nature of the fumes. Stabilizers, such as Stabil, would probably stabilize K-1, kerosene, but I have no idea if they might cause poisoness fumes when being burned.

The lamp oil selling for $20 a gallon has its utility, in being cheaper than buying it in quart bottles.

The bottom line here, is that it is most economical to buy K-1 kerosene, if one knows they are going to use it through the winter. And "lamp oil" if one is buying it for an emergency that may be a couple of years out. A traditional #2 flatwick lamp puts out about the equavilent light of a standard 7 watt night light. An Aladdin lamp in average trim puts out about the equivalent of a 60 watt (indcandescent) light bulb, but if finely tuned and attended can put out up to 75 watt equivalent. An Aladdin will burn through a quart of kerosene or lamp oil a whole lot quicker than a flatwick will.

Fresh K-1 kerosene is white (clear). As it ages it gets a yellowish cast, and when old can be as dark as used vegatable oil. It will work in a flatwick lamp in all three conditions, the odor and the smudging (sooty smoke) will increase with its age. If it is more than slight yellow, it should not be used in an Aladdin lamp. I hear Petromax lamps will burn almost anything, but I know little of them.

Just a little terminology first. A "lamp" is gnerally considered a light source with out a bail (ie, wire handle for carrying), whereas a "lantern" generally has a bail.

I've used Coleman lanterns...both the liquid fuel type and propane type indoors. I've used them in tents, too. A person has to be careful about their placement so they do not get knocked over. My PetroMax lantern hangs from the ceiling so it;s impossible to knock over (see below)


My Aladdin lamps are attached to the walls also making them more difficult to run into and knock over (see below)

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

So what you are saying is that one could use a coleman lantern, that requires the white gas fuel, to be used indoors in the event of a power outage. Correct? ....assuming you are VERY safe......

AND thanks....

You are breathing too much of those unvented combustion fumes. 80 watt of fluorescent is equivalent to 400 watt incandescent. Therefore 400 watt of fluorescent would be equivalent to 2000 watt of incandecent light. Dont forget to wear your sunglasses when reading that novel.....

That is also another factor in unvented combustion in a living space. You are producing indoor pollution and reducing amount oxygen available. Probably not big factor unless you have a very tight house and/or use the lamps for long periods of time.

Oh and anybody using fluorescent tubes, I can highly recommend the "daylight" tubes. So much better than any other artificial light I've run across. Worth the extra cost.

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman