The Lamps, Lanterns and lighting thread

[jerrymrc]

So now that we are off and running let's talk about seeing in the dark. At the very bottom of the list are candles. The only good thing I can say about them is that they will store forever and need no maintenance at all. I make my own.

Next up the list are wick type lanterns. They come in all shapes and sizes and are cheap. I have a few indoor ones and some of the Detz outdoor ones. They also give off some heat but are not very bright. First pic is a 14" double cut wick lantern.

Now we get to the two-way street. Up until a couple of years ago LED technology was lacking so the way to go was the Aladdin Lamp. Aladdins are the brightest non pressurized lamp out there. They are not cheap but they work. They also give off 2500 btu's of heat and are very efficient. Second pic is the Aladdin. Same exposure settings as the first pic. Here in Colorado Aladdin's will need a light booster that fits on the chimney.

Back to the LED's. Last year I embarked on a project to outfit my camper with them. I found a supplier of 1/2 watt LED's and went to work. I also built a small desk lamp that worked great. Because of the nature of what I needed I built my own bulbs (third pic). The end result was I went from using 40 watts to 8 or so in the camper per fixture.

I am now leaning to using the Aladdin's in the winter and the LED's in the summer. I have the ability to power the LED's and the run time from just a small 10Ah battery was very good.

I will touch on pressurized lanterns. The Petromax is very bright and very loud. Colemans are great for outside lighting and I do have a couple.

Just some thoughts.