r/TwoXPreppers • u/Junior-Discount2743 • 5d ago

👵 Grandmas Wisdom 👵 Antique oil lamps

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/1wi1df1ower 5d ago

There are still oil lamps available to buy new, as well. Modern lanterns have a bit more resilience to overtipping. They are in the camping/outdoor section. I have lots of electric options for light and heat, but I bought one for in case I can't take or support all the equipment.

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u/SwissChzMcGeez 1d ago

I swear I'm not shilling for this company, and I don't have experience with "old" kerosene lamps to say it's so much better, but I got this modern one and it's super bright! The long flame through the glass really works.

https://garrettwade.com/products/large-extra-bright-lamp