Does anyone know the best place to get lamp oil?

-- Reporter (foo@foo.bar), January 09, 1999

Answers

Dollar General. One buck a bottle.

-- ME (me@thecrossroads.com), January 09, 1999.

Well, for those of us who don't live close to a place like this you could settle for Walmart at $2.99 per bottle. Been looking for quite some time and don't believe there is a bulk purchase option on this. Lamp oil cannot be replaced with anything else. Ultra fine kerosene is what you are buying.

-- Bumble Bee (bumble@icanect.net), January 09, 1999.

Lamplight Farms...Menomenee Falls WI 53051

414-781-9590

I talked to them today but I can order only during the week. I want to buy a couple of cases.

By the way, there are a couple of kinds of this stuff. This product burns without that black smoke and is my favorite.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), January 09, 1999.

I buy the Ulta Pure oil at Wal Mart for $1.79 a bottle. It's the cheapest around, burns pure and is smokeless. I don't waste my money on the other stuff. Be sure to buy extra wicks. I found Ace Hardware to be cheaper than Wal Mart.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 09, 1999.

You can make a lamp and use other oils. Basically, you fill a jar 1/2 way, and use a floatable wick in it. Use small blocks of wood to keep it afloat. The book "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Kresson Kearny has a good picture of it, and if you email me, I'll send you a copy.

-- Bill (billclo@hotmail.com), January 10, 1999.

Since I don't have a scanner, you'll have to send me your address, and I'll snailmail you a copy.

-- Bill (billclo@hotmail.com), January 10, 1999.

Ultrapure by far the best. May cost a few cents more but worth it. Buy a small bottle and test it....You'll throw out the other kind really fast!

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), January 10, 1999.

My lamps use can use kerosene (K-1) or the lamp oil you can buy at the store in bottles. I have bought several steel 5 gallon kerosene cans (blue in color, gasoline cans are always red). K-1 at the gas station appears to be half as expensive as the lamp oil in a bottle at the stores. Just a thought, if your lamps can use K-1.

-- Jeff DeVore (jdevore@prodigy.net), January 11, 1999.

But you are missing the point. Kerosene stinks and is smokey. Hard to use in a house over long period of time. Ultrapure is pure has no odor and does not smoke. It is like having a lamp on in the house! That's worth a few extra bucks to me!

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), January 11, 1999.

Well, I wasn't going to chime in on this thread, but... Lamp oil is kind of expensive used over the long term IMHO. It also might be hard to find soon, and post-y2K.

Kerosene works best IMHO. It's relatively easy to store and relatively stable over the long term. It's also not too expensive generally.

We lived off the grid for three years and used nothing but kerosene lamps most of that time (until we installed Humphrey propane lights during about the last 6 months of that time period).

Maybe we didn't notice because we got used to it. Maybe it's because we both smoke cigarettes. The odor is distinct. I didn't find it really unpleasant though. But then I don't find cigarette smoke unpleasant either!

As for the lamp smoking...if you light the lamp correctly, trim your wicks correctly, and position the wick correctly (not too high) you shouldn't have *any* smoke at all.

Using kerosene lamps takes some practice but really they are a good light source. The light is softer and less intense. A bit hard to read by, but then again, the round wick/mantle types put out a good bit of light (actually equivalent to a good reading lamp). Just depends upon which type of lamp you have.

Of course nothing (again IMHO) beats a humphrey gas lamp! I actually like those better than electric lights. I miss them. The light is *soft* and not so jarring. Can't explain exactly what I mean; it just is.

Kerosene lamps just take some getting used to.

Of course when you visit your friends, they will probably smell kerosene on you. But, if you heat with wood, they will also smell woodsmoke on you. :-) Besides, post-Y2k - probably mostly everybody still *standing* at that time will smell of something! LOL

It's all a matter of how much you can store, how much you can spend, how "perfumy" you like your ambient air, and personal preference I guess.

By the way, I had a friend who also lived off the grid who used to leave her kerosene lamps burning and come up to the local watering hole for hours on end! This used to make me *so* nervous. Luckily she never had a house fire. I used to bite my nails every time I'd drive her home, and see that lonely little cabin with three or four kerosene lamps burning merrily away on the window sills of that empty cabin. She had three cats too! Yikes. But I digress (ah, the memories....I sure do miss it).

Just my 2 cents.

Bobbi http://www.buzzbyte.com/

-- Bobbi (bobbia@slic.com), January 11, 1999.

Myself, I prefer olive oil.

Found this thread in the "Food" section. :-)

-- D B Spence (dbspence@usa.net), January 15, 1999.