Oil Lamp Question??????

I am not sure if I should call you fat, or charlie. Anyway, fat charles, good tip, thank you.

We use them during power outages but not much else. I figure if things get bad and I have to use them all the time I will do like we did when I was a little girl and we used them a lot. We went to bed pretty early and did what needed to be done during daylight hours. I have a couple Dietz laterns for outside use if needed.

Having lived with lamps for 13 years, I can testify that grid lights are cheaper and a heckuva lot simpler than any oil based lamp.

With off grid lighting, you have to stock expensive fuel, refuel regularly, trim wicks or 'manage' your mantles, be careful not to burn the house down (do not knock one over...). With off grid solar based lighting, unless your rich and can afford a "cadillac system", you're going to be monitoring your battery banks (did the sun shine today, or yesterday?) daily (or even hourly), maintaining batteries, hoping you don't lose a controller or inverter, etc. Very complicated.

Of course, with much of the self sufficient simpler life.... it ain't simpler, by a long shot, and it definitely costs more than mass produced whatever. Just the 'price' we pay for freedom, I reckon...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Tex, good points, thank you. I was thinking that if I mixed and matched I could come up with a method for myself that doesnt cost too much and take too much time to maintain. If I used skylights in the day and then at night ran some rv lights and some oil lamps at the same time it might be less of a financial burden. My electrical needs are pretty low. I dont own a tv or a microwave.

What am trying to figure out is if the anual cost to live off the grid are the same as or less then living on the grid. Off the grid seems to cost more in the begining but cost less over the life time, living on the grid usually increases in cost over the life time and can be pretty hard on the budget when one becomes a senior.

If I were 'starting over' with solar, I'd go strictly with LED lights... not cheap by any means, but use a miserly amount of electricity. A single window sized solar panel, on the south side of the house/apartment, charging a 12v deep cycle battery, (make sure you study up on hydrogen venting if you ever think of doing such a system.... hydrogen will explode), and having a handful of 12v LED lights......... would provide all your needs, light wise. Good thing is, if used properly (not overtaxing your battery) the system would work for years, with minimal maintenance.... and no worry about storing flammables, or nasty fumes...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Tex, that is the direction I am heading in. i have a 60 watt solar set up already that I am setting up to learn from. Once i get the hang of the solar system I can add a few more panels and batteries and spend about $1000 doing so and that should cover all my needs, i would think.
I plan to use a 12 volt system with led lights and a few small 12 volt rv appliances. Led lights are a little expensive but they are worth the investment. I bought the CFL bulbs when they came out and they were expensive, but I still have the same CFL bulbs burning in my home for almost three years now. I have never changed a lightbulb since or bought new ones. I am happy with them.

you can buy small panels at harbor freight. would one of those be sufficient to charge some batteries for LED's for house light?

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Lonely, I think it would.
I have the sunforce 60 watt set that is sold on amazon, it is similar to some of the kits that harbor frieght sells. I recently got some help on this site with a techical problem that was delaying me from setting them up and putting them into use. I will have to see how the system performs. I have one battery and i plan to start out with a set of christmas lights and a 12v led table lamp on the system and see how that goes. Christmas lights are great for lighting up a room and I think they may be cheap to run.
I think I might be able to get by with just two batteries for now.

what kind of batteries can you use? DH is a mechanic. We have batteries all over.

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Lonely, you can use regular car batteries, but some people recomend golf cart batteries for the long term. I am starting off with regualr old fasioned 12 v car batteries.

I tried fat charly's suggestion about using tin foil as a relfector and it works.

Home made oil lamp with reflector.


In the room aimed towards the wall:

When we are at our camping trailer in the desert, I use an oil lamp to read by at night. I cut an X through the center of a aluminum pie tin and put that down over the top of the chimney to help direct the light downward. I have it at a good height on a table beside me. I also keep the chimneys very clean.

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I've done so much with so little for so long that I'm now qualified to do almost anything with practically nothing.

emp, good tip. thank you.

Reading by the light of one of my Aladdins during the early dawn.

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Cabin, thanks for sharing the pic. I like your cabin, it looks cozy. Do you live there year round?

Our cabin is next door to our home. I get sent to the cabin when my wife is fed up with my antics.

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

That is exactly what I use at my cabin. 12 volt appliances and LED lights. Later I found a little water baby generator at a junk store, it was 24 volt and runs off the water from my spring. It runs the 24 volt refrigerator. I have 2 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries, the extra power generated is used to run a 12 volt heater and a fan to return attic heat to the living area of the cabin...James

I love the picture too. I spend a lot of time reading and pondering life by my Grandmothers kerosene lamp. I built a holder from a barn board from my Granparents old barn in Kansas. I built in a small drawer with an old green knob from my Grandmothers desk that burned when I lost my cabin. I was 14 and lost everything I owned except the knob and the base to the lamp. I found them after the fire. I was sitting in the rain right after the fire, the sun came out and I saw a glint of green through the ashes and it was the knob. I knew my Grandmother was watching over me. I knew then I was going to build a lamp holder, I cut a piece out of Grandads old shaving mirror and put it in an oval cutout in the back as a reflector. The lamp and holder hang on the wall next to the clock that was given to my Grandfathers parents the night he was born in 1897. Every Saturday night I light the lamp, wind the clock and sit in my Grandpa's rocker and remember them, they shaped me into who I am and are where I came from....James

james, touching story. I always wanted grandparents but never had them. You were lucky to have their warm love.

james, your set up at the cabin sounds good. what do you have one of those small rv fridges? I want to see if I can live without a fridge, if I can. I barely use the one I have now. If I do get a fridge for the little cabin i want to make, I will buy one of those under the counter rv fridges. That is all I need. I would like to learn how to build and use a root cellar and use that for most my food needs.

Good score on the hyrogenerator find.

Cabin fever, I can only imagine what you must do to get kicked out to the cabin. i wont even ask. :-)