Kerosene lamp

A kerosene lamp produces its light by burning kerosene gases.

With the discovery of kerosene in 1856 came the first kerosene lamps.
After a short time, they replaced the oil lamps that had been used until then.
Due to its much lower viscosity compared to oil, petroleum can rise much higher in a wick (over 1000 mm). It was also much cheaper than oil for a long time.

A kerosene lamp usually consists of a glass cylinder, burner, wick and tank. Thanks to capillary action, the petroleum rises in the wick, evaporates at the top of the wick and can be ignited there. The height of the wick, and thus the height of the flame, can usually be regulated by a gear mechanism.

Kerosene lamps offer greater brightness compared to candles, for example, and shine for about 20 hours with one filling.

There are several types of kerosene lamps:
The most common are the wick lamps or draft lamps described above.

Another very common form are the high-power lamps. These high-intensity lamps vaporize heated kerosene in a special carburetor. The best-known representative of this design is probably the "Petromax lamp"

Kerosene incandescent lamps are a combination of wick lamps and high-power lamps. They suck the kerosene up using the wick and burn it with a blue flame to supply the incandescent body with heat and gas.