Use Candles SAFELY

[Silent Earth]

Sick to the back teeth of reading about COMPLETELY unnecessary deaths caused by people using unshielded candles, for gods sake if you have candles in your preps then get LANTERNS to use them in, you can get candle lanterns for very little money. Every power Cut and Every Christmas we get tragic tails like this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-38418858

 

[jimLE]

and thats why i either use the needed candle holder set-ups i have for candle safety.or i simply do without it..i have one candle holder,with a solid base on it,to keep it from tipping over.and a hurricane shade that sits around the candle.never used it..but then again.never needed it..

 

[Silent Earth]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...two-years-sales-Britain-increase-17-2016.html

 

[SheilaT.]

Nope, have seen first hand the destruction a candle, or rather an idiot and a candle can cause, so I won't have them in the house, especially as I have a Cat. Even in a candle lantern it's a risk I'm not willing to take.
In this technological age it is not necessary, LED lights in all their variances are far more efficient and safer.

 

[Brent S]

I did know a young couple many years ago that burned down the house they were renting. They set a candle on the bath vanity and went to sleep. At least they made it out ok, but their stuff and some guys rental house were toast, literally. It's easy to get careless in life, and tragic when it costs a life.

 

[user 6493]

I prefer oil lamps,,so I don't even keep a candle in the house

 

[jontte]

if those candles weren't dangerous for idiots to use,guess what some people do here if they have a sauna in their flat??
yup,put up clotheslines above the stove and dry stuff there....anything falling down on those hot stones will be like tinder,3 weeks ago was the latest where a mom and 3 kids got toasted doing that...

 

[Silent Earth]

FYI folks you can get SAFETY lanterns for both oil lanterns and candle lanterns that if knocked over close off the air vents to the lantern extinguishing the flame

 

[SheilaT.]

FYI folks you can get SAFETY lanterns for both oil lanterns and candle lanterns that if knocked over close off the air vents to the lantern extinguishing the flame

My own set up is thusly.
I have a 20W homebrew solar generator, several power banks of varying Amphours and a few USB LED bulbs of about 60W equivalent.

 

[Silent Earth]

Very neat set up and not taking up much space, Whats the connection tween the panel and the battery pack?

 

[Brent S]

My own set up is thusly.
I have a 20W homebrew solar generator, several power banks of varying Amphours and a few USB LED bulbs of about 60W equivalent.



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Awesome! My daughter gave me a similar charger with a solar panel on one side and an LED light panel on the other. My son couldn't stop shining the bright little buggar in my eyes yesterday! I've thought about these before for prepping,but I figure if you can't get power for your phone then likely the cell towers won't have power either. This is my first solar flashlight though, and I won't have to worry about the phone battery dying during the day now so I'm pretty happy. Do you know if it will charge more than one phone before needing to be recharged?

 

[Brent S]

FYI folks you can get SAFETY lanterns for both oil lanterns and candle lanterns that if knocked over close off the air vents to the lantern extinguishing the flame

I've never seen a safety lantern here but it's a cool idea. I kind of figure though that if you can't safely use a candle then you have about a 24 hr life expectancy after shtf anyways.

 

[Brent S]

I prefer oil lamps,,so I don't even keep a candle in the house

I think a light source is a good thing to have, so with that in mind I have multiple options. Candles are among them. I've also got battery operated, hand crank, oil lamps, and now solar thanks to my daughter.
One thing I've been thinking of is standardizing things like lights to 12volts. In a true emergency there will be plenty of 12v car batteries to scavenge as a power source. That and a couple solar panels could get you some power for a couple more years at least.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I have a number of little candle lanterns that I keep stashed around the place and in my grab and go bag. Last Spring when I moved on to the ranch I used them for light in the cabin. It is true that some people are not capable of using a candle safely, but that's their problem. Candles are a good backup to have on hand. Candles just sit around waiting to be used. They don't need to be charged or rotated, they don't go bad like batteries can and ruin your flaslight (if you forget to remove them) and they're as safe as the person using them.

 

[SheilaT.]

Very neat set up and not taking up much space, Whats the connection tween the panel and the battery pack?

It's a 20W mono soar panel connected to a 20A charge controller with a 20A deep cycle golf buggy battery.

 

[Mountain trapper]

It's a 20W mono soar panel connected to a 20A charge controller with a 20A deep cycle golf buggy battery.

Nice set up Sally. I'm using an 85 watt panel to keep the battery charged on my well pump generator. It does a good job as long as I keep the snow brushed of the panel. It came with a 200 watt inverter too.

 

[Silent Earth]

Hmm food for thought, I have a 100watt Mono panel and charge controller sat around doing nothing, but i dont fancy having a hulking great lead acid battery in the house so I need to explore other battery types.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Hmm food for thought, I have a 100watt Mono panel and charge controller sat around doing nothing, but i dont fancy having a hulking great lead acid battery in the house so I need to explore other battery types.

Check out the AGM batteries. They can be safely stored inside. My well pump generator battery is a lead acid type and it's kept outside. We haven't had any cold temps yet, only -10, and it's holding up fine. My plans were to move the battery inside the pump house but haven't got around to it yet.

 

[Billy Roper]

Winter skills that kept the pioneers alive: http://www.offthegridnews.com/extreme-survival/winter-survival-skills-that-kept-the-pioneers-alive/

 

[Maverick]

Today's carelessness regarding candles or even open face fire places points to one thing, complacency! back in the day they had the 'fire tender/fire watch' in many shops, businesses and homes, perhaps a practice that should be practiced.

Though no mention of smoke detectors in the article?

 

[Silent Earth]

To me light an candle unshielded in a lamp is like lighting a log fire in the middle of your living room floor. Some silly old duffer up here have just burnt down their and their neighbours home on Christmas day by lighting candles in their Xmas tree !!!. two cats and a dog killed.

 

[jontte]

Haven't used live candles in x-mas trees for decades,back when I was a kid we had that,but I remember my parents never left that tree unwatched...and nothing ever happened as I'm writing about it here

 

[lonewolf]

its not the candles that are the problem, its the idiots using them, but then that goes for any naked flame. some people don't have the brain cells they were born with and it gets worse, people can program a computer but don't know how to behave around flames.

 

[Dani]

I love my candles, especially the scented one that the kids give me for Christmas. In a power outage, that is what I use. . .BUT if I leave the room, it either comes with or gets blown out. Never put by a combustible item or too close to something that will catch fire, especially a curtain that will fly in an open window when the wind blows. Always make certain that the batteries in the smoke detectors are in working order. . . I would think it was common sense, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be. I have dipped my own and even have a 4" mold, especially now that I have tallow, so I will keep the practice going.