Hurricane lamps

[sonjab314]

I love my hurricane lamps but my husband thinks they stink (literally). My kids think they are neat because they get to "live in the old days". We use them during blackouts and ice storms.

 

[TigerLilly]

I am a big fan of huricane lamps. I did not know, however, that they burn better with curved wicks. Thanks for the info!

 

[Niele da Kine]

You could always trim one side of the wick and leave the other side square and then see how the flame shape looks afterward. Sometimes I'll just nip the corners off, other times leave them square, sometimes make them round. It's interesting to see the way the different flame shapes make light.

When using an oil lamp, start the flame on low for a minute so the chimney has a moment to warm up. If you put a flame on a cold glass object, it will break. If it is an Aladdin type lamp, it's even more important to "pre-heat" the glass chimney since their chimneys are much more expensive.

 

[THEFAN]

I have a number of these lanterns. Some are older and some are brand new. Two of them have a small wire rack so you can cook on top of them. The kerosene is brutally expensive out here...around $5.50/gallon. Needless to say, in a serious power problem, the kerosene will become even more expensive or unavailable. So.....I have changed to a solar emergency kit.

The solar panel ($160) came off of a electric fence and I took the electric fence charger out of the box. I got a deep cycle battery ($74) and a charge controller ($75). So now I am into this for just over $300, but then I got some 12 volt LED light bulbs which draw next to nothing and have a system that provides light to my entire 1st level of the farm house without any appreciable drain on the battery. This will allow you to be off the grid for quite some time...should you need to be off. There is essentially no fire hazard such as is with the kerosene lamps and it is self-sustaining for quite some time. Kerosene goes pretty fast and carries with it some serious odor issues and fire hazards so while it is handy to have them, *(and yes, curve the wicks) a small solar rig will afford you a lot of light for a long time without the fire risks...


I like it I like it a lot. I think I just found what to trade my eo-tech for. Thank you for the post.
My next chore is to rig up 16 solar panels (170 watts each) and power my entire farm!!!

 

[THEFAN]

I have a number of these lanterns. Some are older and some are brand new. Two of them have a small wire rack so you can cook on top of them. The kerosene is brutally expensive out here...around $5.50/gallon. Needless to say, in a serious power problem, the kerosene will become even more expensive or unavailable. So.....I have changed to a solar emergency kit.

The solar panel ($160) came off of a electric fence and I took the electric fence charger out of the box. I got a deep cycle battery ($74) and a charge controller ($75). So now I am into this for just over $300, but then I got some 12 volt LED light bulbs which draw next to nothing and have a system that provides light to my entire 1st level of the farm house without any appreciable drain on the battery. This will allow you to be off the grid for quite some time...should you need to be off. There is essentially no fire hazard such as is with the kerosene lamps and it is self-sustaining for quite some time. Kerosene goes pretty fast and carries with it some serious odor issues and fire hazards so while it is handy to have them, *(and yes, curve the wicks) a small solar rig will afford you a lot of light for a long time without the fire risks...

My next chore is to rig up 16 solar panels (170 watts each) and power my entire farm!!!

How long do your lights last on a full battery???
Could I get a better description on how you set this up or a materials list???
I really like this idea
So you only used the solar panel on the electric fence charger??
LMK please. Don

 

[Beekissed]

I think globe glass breakage also has something to do with how cheaply they make these now. Now days these seem to be a novelty item that few people actually use, so the interest in having good quality globes is likely minimal.

Used kerosene lamps for over nine years exclusively and the only time we had a globe break was when someone accidently splashed water on a hot globe. Never had one break due to being cold and lighting a flame under it.

Curved wicks are better, as stated previously. Keeps your globe from getting blackened. It always amuses me to watch a movie where the globes for these lamps are black and smokey....no self respecting homestead wife would ever have globes that looked like that!

 

[justusnak]

no self respecting homestead wife would ever have globes that looked like that!

My globes are ALWAYS clean..

 

[THEFAN]

Came up with a great idea and now we have lights when the power goes out.

deep cycle battery ( last ten yrs)
2 clips wired to car light 12 amp

trickle charge the battery with solar trickle charger.

Done. My friend has this set up and it works awsome.

150.00 covers everything.

Yes we have a generator but I am always planning for the worse. The army blood in me.

 

[KevsFarm]

I scored about six , old heavy glass hurricane lanterns last summer yardsaling.

They were dirty filthy with dried out gunk in them.I soaked them in gas, got them nic and clean.Put new replacement wicks in them from Lehmans and filled with the clean burning pariffin lamp oil. Burns a long time and no fumes at all.I love my lamps for power outages.I'm always looking for the older globes at yardsales, the new one are utter junk and break easily.I never burn kerosene, its stinky stuff and makes me sick.The pariffin lamp oil isn't cheap, but burns real clean and odorless.Now solar, thats another story...

 

[edjanuary39]

I have a number of these lanterns. Some are older and some are brand new. Two of them have a small wire rack so you can cook on top of them. The kerosene is brutally expensive out here...around $5.50/gallon. Needless to say, in a serious power problem, the kerosene will become even more expensive or unavailable. So.....I have changed to a solar emergency kit.

The solar panel ($160) came off of a electric fence and I took the electric fence charger out of the box. I got a deep cycle battery ($74) and a charge controller ($75). So now I am into this for just over $300, but then I got some 12 volt LED light bulbs which draw next to nothing and have a system that provides light to my entire 1st level of the farm house without any appreciable drain on the battery. This will allow you to be off the grid for quite some time...should you need to be off. There is essentially no fire hazard such as is with the kerosene lamps and it is self-sustaining for quite some time. Kerosene goes pretty fast and carries with it some serious odor issues and fire hazards so while it is handy to have them, *(and yes, curve the wicks) a small solar rig will afford you a lot of light for a long time without the fire risks...

My next chore is to rig up 16 solar panels (170 watts each) and power my entire farm!!!

Wow! That's so awesome! We live in the outskirts of a lake town in between here and there, so when power goes out we are the last to get it back! So I want more info on what you've done! My husband is an electrician so dont be afraid of getting technical- im just giving this to him to read! Have you used the solar panels to run any appliances or for heat- winter is coming, we just moved here and have no money just yet for a generator, he wants to wire up a super generator so we dont loose anything when others are cold and dark. But its going to have to wait. But this sounds pretty do-able. So any and all info would be great! Do you just have lights? That makes such a difference! And do you have it set up to use outlets for space heaters? Or small appliances? How much do you get from each panel? And how many would you think for whole house electric? We live in a small singlewide- 2 bedroom/1 bath.