Comment by Syonyk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Syonyk | Hacker News Reader

(Author of the post here)

Part 1 is a bit more general detail on my lanterns: https://www.sevarg.net/2022/10/09/keropunk-part-1-kerosene-l...

And the part getting published this weekend, if all goes well later today, is on kerosene wick type heaters (catalytic, radiant). They work well for kicking heat around, and aren't half bad outside either - although in windy conditions, the propane ones (Mr. Buddy and similar) work better. They aren't as prone to kicking the flame out as the kerosene ones are in gusty winds.

I've been going down some weird rabbit holes with lighting lately, and part of it (which I intend to cover in the future, still doing some research and data gathering) is drilling down just how horrible blue light is for humans, and how much blue our white LED lighting kicks out (even the "warm" color temperature ones have a huge spike in blue compared to incandescent light sources). Experimentally, I've found I sleep far better on nights when I spend the time after sundown with purely incandescent light sources, avoiding screens and such entirely. Even redshift and such doesn't make as big a difference as one might hope.

But the kerosene lanterns are beautiful, functional, and a nice backup source of heat as well for times when the power grid is having a fit of some variety or another.

>how horrible blue light is for humans, and how much blue our white LED lighting kicks out

I hope your research will touch upon the trend of "blue blocking" (aka yellow) eyewear.

The genuine blocker products appear as a deep intense yellow, but I believe a 'lite' version is sold under the generic name Nighttime Driving Glasses. While I haven't tried the former, I find that the latter does subjectively increase eye comfort.

It seems like a fully-optimized product could include not only a broad-band filter, but also a "notch filter" at the specific wavelengths of blue light LEDs preferentially emit.

---

This reminds me of early research on chickens: it was discovered that if chickens vision was filtered to only see red light, they wouldn't attack other chickens at the sight of blood. Researchers fitted hilarious red goggles on the chickens[1][2]. One day some enterprising person recalled that optics is path-reversible, so you can locate a filter on the light bulb instead. Nowadays these red-tinted "chicken bulbs" (typically doubling as heat lamps) are still sold at major ag stores. LED options are emerging too.

Chicken eyeglasses are less common, but they're still available online. The advantage is this solution still works outside and in coops lit by natural light.

I look forward to your upcoming post!

[1] https://cosmicearth.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/chicken-glasses...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xQD5G10W4U

Thanks for the posts! I agree that part one provides useful background. One thing I note, I think it would be interesting to see a comparison of brightness (reading distance) and fuel consumption with a pressurized kerosene lamp - even if you don't like the hiss! I assume they throw more light with the mantle. I don't have a "cold blast" lantern so I'm not able to do the comparison myself.

I'm sure the mantle lanterns are far brighter, especially the pressurized kerosene types. I don't have one to compare either (yet). But it's something I've considered.

I'm more likely to pick up one of the Aladdin type table lamps, though. They're a wicked kerosene lantern with a mantle - so far brighter light, but also the silence and lack of pressurized fuel of the wicked lanterns. They're not cheap, but they seem to be the peak of "silent kerosene lantern technology."

The reality, though, is that with how I use lanterns in the evening, I'm not sure "more light," especially light of a high color temperature, really gains me much. But there's a good chance I'll pick one up at some point and do some comparisons there too.

I happen to have a dietz blizzard--someone gave it to me, or maybe it was left on the property I bought. I don't share your opinion of the aesthetics of the thing, but I dusted it off after reading your first article recently.

I share a similar love for lanterns and their light quality, although I've mainly just used gas lanterns with mantles.

Have you gotten it cleaned out and lit up? The gas mantle lanterns are just so harsh compared to the silent, warm light off the cold blast sort.

I haven't yet. I will in a few days here. I wanted to get some fresh fuel, and I made a trip to town today.

We've got temps in the 20s coming so it'll be a nice test on what to expect for heat levels.

Cleaned up the globe and lit it up today!

It's basically brand new, so it didn't take much.

It smelled strange so I've had it burning outside for a while with no issues. Thanks for poking me with your series, I always forget how much I love lanterns.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com