We've all most likely hear of the term "waste heat". You will have most likely have heard about it concerning incandescent light bulbs. We all have heard that LED's "efficiency" comes because it delivers mostly light and not heat. The problem with this though is we need to temper our idea of "waste heat".
What truly is "waste heat"?
We really need to take a look at what we consider as waste heat. We need to rethink the whole concept and put it into perspective. What waste heat really is, is heat that is brought into a space we are trying to cool, or dumped out of a space we are trying to warm. With this in mind, is an incandescent light bulb really as inefficient as advertised?
Now this isn't really about incandescent light bulbs versus LED's. I use this as the example that is most likely known to the most diverse audience. If it is the middle of winter, and you are heating a space, the electricity that is being "lost" to heat, is going as heat into the space we are heating. This somewhat reduces the load on our other heat sources. In essence, the light bulb is working in conjunction with our main heater to warm our space. In essence, that bulb is working not only as a light source, but also as a restive heating element (like an electric space heater).
Now likewise, in the summer when we are trying to cool our space, that light bulb is like having a space heater running. Under those circumstances our cooling system has to work harder to get rid of that unwelcome heat. It is under these circumstances where incandescent bulbs are inefficient and LED's "win the day".
One "tool" two purposes
With winter upon us, we have a much larger need for two things. These would be light and heat. Most people of the younger generation are likely to think that this would require two separate "tools". Incandescent bulbs are not going to significantly contribute to heating our space. Additionally, if you are "off grid" you understand that electric heating would be very expensive indeed because of the extra capacity in generation and storage of electricity necessary.
There is a solution though that provides both heat AND light. This solution hearkens back to the days of camping (before you took your whole house with you to "camp"). This would be the mantle lamp. Despite there being different types and manufacturers, most would refer to these as "Coleman Lamps". When you use this term though, most will picture the old green lantern that you had to constantly pump up.
Not only does this lamp provide (maybe harsh) light, but best of all it provides light AND heat. The problem is though that people think this (or its propane canister version) is the only option.
Fortunately this is not the case. There are not only other options than the old green Coleman lantern, but there is at least one other option from pressure lamps altogether.
Front and center is the liquid fuel Coleman table lamp. Most people (including myself at one point) had no idea that Coleman made "table lamps" for use in the house. It seems these were particularly popular in Canada (Im assuming for the same reason I am featuring them here). They operate in the same way as the camping lantern. If you can use a Coleman camping lantern you can use these.
CAUTION!
Keep in mind that most of the coleman table lamps will be from the 50's or earlier and may need some repair or at least maintenance. The one pictured above is a 1948 model. One thing to note, some come with a built in pump but the really old ones use a separate hand pump. Try to stick with the ones with the built in pump. Also keep in mind that these were built long before government had to protect us from everything. They are dangerous if mishandled. For this reason dont ever light one inside or on a flammable surface.
The "other" option.
Note the lamp behind and to the left of the Coleman. This is an Aladdin brand kerosene wick type lamp. These are not quite as bright as the Colemans. On the positive side however there is no "pumping" required. They are basically just a standard kerosene lamp with an efficient burner and a mantle. One other very positive note is that they dont stink like a cheap kerosene oil lamp (at least until you blow them out for a short time as it cools).
Other items of note concerning the Aladdins. The wick must be kept in good order or it will burn and light unevenly. There is a special wick cleaning tool that I HIGHLY recommend you have on hand. Also NEVER burn one unattended. They tend to be a bit sensitive to wick position. The will also change and need to be turned down as they heat up. The reason for this is that as soon as you start getting a little bit of carbon buildup on the mantle, they will begin to "smoke" and need to be turned down. I learned this the hard way and had a big black soot spot on the ceiling of my living room as a result of being careless and not keeping a close eye on my lamp.
One last note concerning the Aladdins. THEY ARE NOT CHEAP! A new basic model will set you back $125.00+. You can get lucky however and find them second hand. I just picked one up in the south for $100.00 complete with shade. I saw the same one in the store new for $299.00. With that in mind, keep an eye open in antique and second hand stores. Many times these people dont realize what they have.
One last word on the Aladdins, these get so hot that you can light a cigarette by holding it at the top of the chimney. Because of this, leave plenty of room between the top of the chimney and anything that can burn.
The other candidates
These are variations on the Coleman burner. I have so far found two types of these.
The first (white tank) has a bunson burner type of mantle holder. This unit runs on propane. You will note that it mounts directly on and uses the tank as a base. This one is by far my favorite. It is simple to use and other than changing the tank or a broken mantle it is maintenance free. It also has two advantages over the other models. First is there is VERY little odor when it is in operation. Secondly, it puts out plenty of light AND heat. In fact this lamp alone is enough to heat and light the box with no other heater running!
The second, brown tank, is a (reproduction) Coleman type burner and uses Coleman Fuel (white gas) as its source. Operation is the same as a Coleman lamp except you need a separate pump to pressurize the tank (I run 15-20 psi).
One note on these two. They are hard to come by as they are essentially "home made". Prior to LED's solar panels and batteries, these were the mainstay of Amish household lighting. The first generation was the brown white gas model. Second generation was the propane version. Because of this these two are essentially "cottage industry" made lamps. With this in mind, I found this particular Coleman fuel lamp to be on the very dangerous side when lighting it. There is no small diameter pickup tube inside the pipe between tank and burner. Because of this, a LOT of fuel comes out when first started. Its actually a quite spectacular sight to light this one with all the burning fuel not only in the burner but also dripping on the tank.
Final thoughts
With the Coleman lamps and burners I seem to get the best of both worlds, heat AND light. The best of these is the propane tank mounted unit. The downside of this is I dont know a reliable source for these. I found mine by word of mouth through Amish country at an Amish store. It was of course used as it had been replaced by LED's in someones home. It did however sell me on propane as the best all around fuel source.
I found this tank mount propane distribution tree on Amazon however. Note that it is also direct tank mount and has an outlet at the top for a propane lantern. You could also buy a refill adapter and some propane mantle lamps if you dont want the bulk of the tank to carry around.
WARNING!
I keep a carbon monoxide detector in the "box" just in case. It has not gone off until yesterday. What I found is that if you turn down the propane lamp too far, it WILL produce carbon monoxide. In all this time I have had this only once. That one time was when I was throttled too far back. USE CAUTION with these lamps indoors!
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