Review on a Den Haan Gimbaled
Oil Lamp.
I had a Weems and Plath on my last
boat and enjoyed it, I liked the scented oils that could be used in it, I liked the warm glow and I liked having light with out electricity.
Current boat didn't have one, so my wife did her
research and based on online
reviews got me the Den Haan for
Christmas.
Yesterday I installed the lamp. Very easy of course, I drilled 6 pilot holes, in the
teak bulkhead and mounted the gimbal and heat shield using 3/4" brass number 8 screws. The mount feels very solid.
Operation is also very simple. Put the whick in, fill the lamp with
oil I used a generic lamp
oil from Canadian Tire, nothing fancy. Use the dial on the side of the lamp to set the whick height and light with a lighter. Keep the lamp setting on low, attach the globe, and keep the lamp on low, while the globe warms. Once the globe is warm, adjust the
lighting level to your preference.
The quality of the lamp seems to be excellent, as is the light. The lamp throws significant heat. My
cabin thermometer read -5 when I started and after about 40 minutes of burn, the
cabin had warmed up to -3. As can be seen in the
photo, the lamp throws excellent light. That was a dark boat (you can kind of see my porthole on the port side, is under about a foot and a half of snow). The flash for the
camera was on, but the lamp is bright enough that it still throw it's own shadows, note the shadow above the heat shield.
Compared to the Weems and Plath on my last boat, this lamp throws more light, throws substantially more heat and is generally of more robust construction.
I would recommend this product for anybody who wanted the capability of having light, without electricity and for somebody who wants to take a little chill out of the air and have a warm fire place like glow for ambiance.
Please, excuse the clutter and cob webs, the boat is currently in the yard, getting some
refit work done by- me. I have no idea why the
photo is on it's side and can't seem to do anything about it.