Aren't candles still best for power outage?

[argleargle]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

I see a lot of discussion in this thread on CO/CO2 displacement of oxygen in a room. Sit back and read my little story about that. Don't worry, it has a happy ending. I'm still here.

To those who say it's impossible, I nearly died one time about 20 years ago when I was brewing 13 gallons of wine in a small unused office, maybe 15'x8'. The ceiling wasn't so high. I walked in to check the brew and closed the door behind me. My vision started dimming and my knees buckled. Fortunately, a rolling chair behind me caught me perfectly. I barely managed to roll in the chair over to the door and get it open. I was struggling. I almost didn't make it. A wave of fear and desperation flowed through me. With my hands barely functioning, I clawed at the doorknob. Flexing my legs, I managed to pull it open... gasping... gasping for breath. Outside air flowed into the room and I was powerless to stand. I'd used everything I had left to just get the door open. For several minutes, all I could do was sit in the chair. WOW. Before that, I had never thought brewing wine could take me out. After that, I started opening the door and waiting a few minutes before going in to check the wine.

Summary: CO/CO2 displacement of oxygen can be deadly. I learned my lesson the hard way with my ...experience.
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As far as candles? Yeah, I've got them and love using them when it's cold outside. Get a candle enclosure and don't worry. Most houses are so drafty, they barely retain HVAC. Anyway, I have a metal bowl that I'll melt the candles to for safety. I like the "sparkling birthday" candles for firelighting in my BOB because wind won't put them out and they make a neat sizzling noise. Don't forget the tea candle's hotter cousin, Sterno, if we're talking about prep for power outages. A case of it is cheap and it's fun to play with.

1 candle = 1 candlepower, right?

Last time there was a power outage, my neighbors were driving around in the dark "looking for batteries." I apparently have to worry about them during an extended outage. These batteries were feeding ancient incans. They couldn't buy gasoline as there was no electricity to operate the pumps. Burning gas they couldn't refill to find batteries they should have already had to feed obsolete flashlights barely pushing any lumens.

Hey Jimson, thanks for mentioning that mason jar lid mod to make a candle enclosure. That's pretty cool. I've decided that I'm going to go make one.

 

[SherlockOhms]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

Again, I've been making my own. Buy one of those solar LED sidewalk lights. Take out the cheap AAA or AA or 3/4 AA nicad and throw it away. Replace the AAA or AA with alkalines, and you've got a really cheap emergency light. My test run of one of them had over 100 non-stop hours of decent light from a single AAA battery.

I have a couple of those solar LED lights. I put them aside when they stopped working correctly, I think the solar panels don't work right anymore. I put them aside in the garage to tinker with someday. Anyway, your post prompted me to pop some good AAA batteries, and they're about as bright a keychain coincell LED light, typical bright white 5mm LED. Current draw in these cheapies is about 11 ma. A triple A should last a long time in them, although they flicker badly once the voltage drops below 1.1V or so.

I also have some tealight candles stashed away. So, just for fun, I decided to compare a tealight candle in a glass votive holder to the $2 solar sidewalk LED light. I took them into a dark room one at a time. No contest, the LED is more useful. Even though it's not much brighter than the candle, it's possible to AIM the light where I need it. Try holding a candle sideways to direct the light where it's needed? Uh, doesn't work too well, does it?

Tealights are going back in the drawer to be reserved for "atmosphere" burning, in an enclosed candle lantern. The LED sidewalk lights (minus the stake and clear plastic bit) will get stashed somewhere else for power failure duty.

Pre-LED days, I had a couple of kerosene Dietz lanterns that I burned lamp oil in, lamp oil being less stinky than kerosene. I feel like the enclosed flame is safer than an exposed candle flame. Even so, I wouldn't want to leave them burning unattended. Since I got my first LED flashlights, the Kerosene lanterns only get used out in the yard for "atmosphere" lighting on summer evenings.

 

[TEEJ]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

If you are amusing yourself during a power outage by reading, reading by dim light, such as from candles, is bad for your eyes. So, if your cat or dog or iguana bumps the table its on and it falls over, and burns the house down, or not, the light is only good enough to not bump into things and enjoy conversations, etc...not reading or doing fine tasks that really require more light than that.

It WOULD take a few candles to use up enough oxygen/release enough CO to be of concern, but some candles produce a lot of soot...which a a PITA to clean off of things later, can trigger allergic/asthmatic symptoms to those sensitive to that sort of thing, etc...



If the candle is in a sturdy/stable holder, and you don't HAVE an iguana or cat, etc...or worry about earthquakes or wind from an open window knocking them over, they're probably fine for most stationary nightlight type uses...if you have a certain risk tolerance.

Lithium ion cells also pose a level of risk, and we take appropriate precautions. I think if you apply that to any scenario, you'll probably be fine.

I have some large tritium tubes...which give off about that much light, except they don't have a flame, need cells or make smoke. So, for a long-term candlelight level solution, the tritium tubes are quite handy....~ 20 years of glowing all by themselves.

I put them into a lantern, and I can add foil to one side if I want to magnify the effect to one side, etc.

 

[argleargle]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

I have some large tritium tubes...which give off about that much light, except they don't have a flame, need cells or make smoke. So, for a long-term candlelight level solution, the tritium tubes are quite handy....~ 20 years of glowing all by themselves.
I put them into a lantern, and I can add foil to one side if I want to magnify the effect to one side, etc

Ahh, but what if your pet bear crunches down on the tubes and they CRACK! All that tritium gas! It must be instasickness there.

Perhaps an enraged significant other smashes them with a hammer in a fit of significant-other-rage? It's tritium all over the place!

Why, back in the 40s they shut down all kinds of places because of some unaccounted-for tritium. Think of the children!

(yeah, I'm screwing around. It's been over 100 posts. It's time )

 

[silver_bacon]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

I still prefer the light of a candle to that of a flashlight. I have a considerable amount of beeswax candles on hand. I rarely ever use candles anymore, but I have plenty of them for those times when an LED just won't suffice.

 

[argleargle]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

I still prefer the light of a candle to that of a flashlight. I have a considerable amount of beeswax candles on hand. I rarely ever use candles anymore, but I have plenty of them for those times when an LED just won't suffice.

Oooh! The holy grail of beeswax candles! Now you're talking some high-end custom stuff, there! Got any pics of your custom candles and some beamshots? I *LOVE* those things.

(Seriously, beeswax candles with the same profile and wick outperform most other materials... say paraffin for example. Beeswax even smells nice when it burns. It's near perfect and natural. You can even EAT them and they taste nice! Really!)

Don't make me dig out my beeswax medallion candles and tease people! They are nearing 20 years old. I don't want to burn them just for some beamshots.

I guess I should explain... I've entered beeswax candles into competitions before. Really. My medallion candles took first place at a competition in 1992. (...or WAS it 92... hmm.)

 

[Jimson]

Re: Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....

I also have some tealight candles stashed away. So, just for fun, I decided to compare a tealight candle in a glass votive holder to the $2 solar sidewalk LED light. I took them into a dark room one at a time. No contest, the LED is more useful. Even though it's not much brighter than the candle, it's possible to AIM the light where I need it. Try holding a candle sideways to direct the light where it's needed? Uh, doesn't work too well, does it?

Tealights are going back in the drawer to be reserved for "atmosphere" burning, in an enclosed candle lantern. The LED sidewalk lights (minus the stake and clear plastic bit) will get stashed somewhere else for power failure duty.

Pre-LED days, I had a couple of kerosene Dietz lanterns that I burned lamp oil in, lamp oil being less stinky than kerosene. I feel like the enclosed flame is safer than an exposed candle flame. Even so, I wouldn't want to leave them burning unattended. Since I got my first LED flashlights, the Kerosene lanterns only get used out in the yard for "atmosphere" lighting on summer evenings.

Whenever I get a batch of those tea lights at a garage sale or second-hand store I throw them in a pile for the next wax melt. For every application I've ever tried they're just too small. Ditto for the "column" models exceeding 2 inch diameter. They're too large, and the flame digs itself a hole in the wax. IMO only standard smaller sizes are worth saving for lighting purposes.

I make an exception for the monster chunks with 3-6 wicks. In a power-out situation they'd put off a lot of heat without most of the dangers of liquid fuels like kerosene. In fact, with a properly situated pan holder I'd imagine a person could boil some water for coffee or heat a can of soup over one of these. Crack a window in a small room to avoid asphyxiation and you're good to go.

Several years ago I made myself a bet I could make a usable reading light from a single candle. It took some real finagling, but I finally did manage. Imagine a couple of blocks 8 or more inches high spanned by a large glass from a cheap picture frame. Sit a small candle on the glass directly above where the book/paper will be and light it. Finally, put a large foil-lined metal funnel over the candle with the small end directly above the wick. Since this was an experiment I didn't drill a bunch of holes in the wide rim of the funnel, but instead set it on some small match-sized wood sticks for air to enter.

A very even light is reflected straight down to the reading material under the glass, and I won my bet with myself.

My next challenge is to make a really good battery-powered reading lamp from an LED flashlight. THAT one I haven't managed quite yet, though I've got some ideas.