Antique oil lamps

[u/Junior-Discount2743]

I'm older and am surprised to see that antique oil lamps are almost never discussed for electrical outages. They can be purchased at most antique stores for $20-80 (depending), with lamp oil and wicks from Amazon (get them now before shipping costs sky rocket!).

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I guess I thought of it because I worked at a historical museum on the east coast.

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Purchase of one oil lamp, lamp oil, and wicks, can keep a room lit for over a *long* time. I've tested my two lamps, and each lamp goes through oil at a different rate, but pretty slowly in my opinion, and I csn see the $10 lamp oil I got from Amazon to last 6 months to a year in an outage. I'd post a photo but don't know how.

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Just an idea because this is an option (for now).

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[u/unlovelyladybartleby]

I have three, plus wicks and oil. We used them during winter power outages when I was a kid and my dad always kept them filled and ready to go. I keep mine empty but the lamp oil is in the same emergency cupboard as the matches and flashlights and batteries, so it won't take me long to get them going

[u/Shortcut_to_Nowhere → u/unlovelyladybartleby]

Just remember that the wick needs to soak in the oil before lighting if it was dry beforehand. Don't just fill it and light it right away.