Lamp Oil vs Kerosene

[sparty]

There is lamp oil and then there is "lamp oil". The highly refined, liquid parafin, is the way to go. It is a bit more expensive than the typical lamp oil found in gift shops, etc. but the difference in odor is significant. Go for the good stuff!

[Celestialsailor]

I found kerosene tended to soot up the over-head. Lamp oil is more expensive but I would occasionally find it discounted at bargain stores which feature dented cans or other stores item who had gone out of business. When I found such a sale, I would but gallons.

[Bash]

...my main source of heat/light year-round is Lamplight Farms Ultra-Pure 99% Pure Liquid Paraffin. No odor, no smoke, no soot. It's twice the price of kerosene, but worth every penny, especially when you burn two lamps at once, which is what I do. (Two lamps cuts down flickers and shadows, and gives me plenty of light to read by.)

[roverhi]

Paint thinner and mineral spirits are pretty much the same thing and quite similar to Kerosene/paraffin. Mineral spirits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aloha
Peter O.
Pearson 35 #108

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Paint thinner and mineral spirits are pretty much the same thing and quite similar to Kerosene/paraffin. Mineral spirits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aloha
Peter O.
Pearson 35 #108

I switched out to mineral spirits in my lamps. Seems to burn brighter, it's cheaper, and I already need mineral spirits for certain jobs so I don't need to lug around an additional fuel. It does give off a bit of a chemical smell, unlike the lamp oil, but not enough to bother me.

[Captain Jaz]

You can also get an organic version of it in the UK now, I don't know about the rest of the world though...

[Cowboy Sailer]

A little bit of after shave added to parafine (kerosine) makes a good lamp oil. It is of course, mainly organic spirits and it really will not make your oil lamp blow up! It seems cheaper than buying lamp oil at the grocery store. Do not use your wife's perfume! And no, don't ask me how I know.

[Cowboy Sailer]

GreatKetch, great job, good popular explanation.

[s/v Jedi]

Although mentioned in the thread sometimes, I think most readers missed this: what is called kerosine in one part of the world, is called parafine elsewhere. It is the same thing. If you buy lamp-oil and read the label, it will probably state that it is 100% pure kerosine or parafine. Some have additives though...

If you use kerosine and it is sooting, smelling etc., you are using a quality that isn't refined enough for your tastes.

We use parafine/kerosine/lamp oil for cleaning the gears/bearings etc. of the winches. Pour enough in a bucket so that the parts can soak in it. After use, put it back in the bottle except for the sediment in the bucket and use next time... but don't burn your lamps with it anymore ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[perchance]

I think mineral spirits refers to "Varsol" commonly used as a paint thinner.

[Spammy]

I agree that using various volatile hydrocarbons in a lamp not designed for them is dangerous. In my years of practicing medicine, I have actually had many occasions to see the results in the form of severe burns from explosions.
I vote for lamp oil: less soot and smell than kerosene, worth the extra cost. Some of my cruising friends use these lamps at home, no odor or smoke.

[Pathfinder]

Both kerosene and "lamp oil" are alkanes. Alkanes are straight chain or linear compounds with carbon atoms joined to each other by single bonds.

The first four alkanes are methane, ethane, propane and butane - all gasses. Methane has 1 carbon, ethane, 2, propane 3 and butane 4.

Kerosene is a mixture of hydrocarbons of the alkane series, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons with 11 or 12 carbon atoms.

Paraffin (Weems & Plath lamp fuel, for example, is a highly-refined paraffin) consists of saturated hydrocarbons with 13 - 16 carbon atoms.

After 16 carbon atoms, alkanes are usually solid - wax.

[s/v Jedi]

Pathfinder,

You are absolute right but also wrong if you state that in some parts of the world... I get confused myself ;-)

I think in the USA an oil lamp is commonly referred to as "kerosene lamp" while the same thing is commonly named "paraffin lamp" in England. In Holland, paraffin means the solid form, paraffin wax, not a liquid fuel.

It would be quite an exercise to determine what is meant by which word in each part of the world or might the fuel have the same name and is it just the lamps that are called different? Lamp oil is (where I come from) a more refined form of kerosene. It was sold labeled as kerosene for lamps first, as lamp oil later.

A search on Wikipedia for paraffin shows up with this:

In chemistry, paraffin is the common name for the alkane hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to the solids with n=20–40.
The simplest paraffin molecule is that of methane, CH4, a gas at room temperature. Heavier members of the series, such as that of octane C8H18, appear as liquids at room temperature. The solid forms of paraffin, called paraffin wax, are from the heaviest molecules from C20H42 to C40H82. Paraffin wax was identified by Carl Reichenbach in 1830.[1]
Paraffin, or paraffin hydrocarbon, is also the technical name for an alkane in general, but in most cases it refers specifically to a linear, or normal alkane — whereas branched, or isoalkanes are also called isoparaffins. It is distinct from the fuel known in Britain and South Africa as paraffin oil or just paraffin, which is called kerosene in most of the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Pure paraffin oil is supposed to be the cleanest burning and this is the same as "mineral oil" (which has additives though... don't use it for lamps) as sold in drugstores. Generic lamp oil comes 2nd, and 1K-kerosene 3rd. Red kerosene is better and will actually work in diesel engines. Then there's Kleen Heat, Biodiesel, Citronella oil and motor kerosene which can all be used in the lamp.

For emergency use the following will work: mineral spirits, diesel, home heating fuel, jet A (apparently as good or better than lamp oil). More extreme and only for use outside: motor oil, wd40 or similar (also runs your diesel engine), olive oil, canola oil, vodka, listerine mouthwash, charcoal lighter fluid.

Not to be used (regarded dangerous): jet K, gasoline (also called petrol elsewhere or benzine), naphtha, rubbing alcohol, mineral oil and castor oil.

(I got all of that from Wikipedia, I'm not a chemist fortunately).

Mineral spirits, turpentine, thinner, lacquer thinner is a similar minefield but I think turpentine is the same as mineral spirits?

A mixture of 85% ethanol, 10% water, 3% methanol, 1% aceton and 1% pyridine is called "spiritus" in Holland and used for cleaning (windows) and fuel. The burner is like a bowl covered with a metal screen. It's mainly used for fondue. Wikipedia shows that this is called "Denatured alcohol" in English. I think this is what causes most burns during accidents when it is used for lighting BBQ's or in oil-lamps.

White spirit is derived from paraffin... my head spins, time to stop ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[Pathfinder]

Lamp Fuel - Price/oz

Kerosene + isopropol alcohol (add 1 oz/gallon, max 5%) $ 0.03
Crown Gallon Paint Thinner - Lowes $ 0.07
Crown Gallon Low Odor Mineral Spirits - Lowe's $ 0.10
LAMPLIGHT FARMS 18 Oz Clear Ultra-Pure® Paraffin Lamp Oil $ 0.33
LAMP OIL HOLLOWICK QT. 119023 - HamiltonMarine $ 0.44

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

... It would be quite an exercise to determine what is meant by which word in each part of the world or might the fuel have the same name ...

See Mike Buckler's:
“International Fuel Names”

This document contains:
Translations for the names of fuels commonly used in backpacking stoves and lanterns.
Information about the availability of fuels in various countries.

Goto:
International Fuel Names

And:
International Fuel Names