# lamp oil
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 25, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060 "2004-05-25T21:36:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/1 "2004-05-25T21:36:40Z")
I’m wondering if vegetable oil can be used for kerosene in oil lamps.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/2 "2004-05-26T00:13:45Z")
Yep. It’s what was used before kerosene and paraffin oil started being distilled in useful and cheap enough quantities.
It may not be quite as bright, and may be a bit smoky, though, as it burns at a lower temperature than kerosene.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/3 "2004-05-26T00:16:33Z")
Half an ohnosecond after clicking Submit, it hits me:
Mixing kerosene and vegetable oil in the same lamp could be a mess - not having either handy, I don’t really know if vegetable oil and kerosene are mixable.
Use a new lamp, or at least a new wick, and you’ll be OK.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/4 "2004-05-26T02:04:34Z")
These are _very_ different fuels. _Very_ different. An old fashioned wick/knob/glass pipe lamp might work a little bit and not be a lot of trouble to clean up after you realize your mistake. But a modern efficient kerosene lamp just won’t like it a bit.
Use kerosene only for kerosene burning devices. Use vegetable oil only for vegetable oil burning devices.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/5 "2004-05-26T02:55:42Z")
Olive oil lamps are quite nice. Hardly any smoke at all.
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### Author:  [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/6 "2004-05-26T06:29:32Z")
I wouldn’t try it. The viscosity of kerosene and vegetable oils are very different, which means that a kerosene wick might not work well with vegetable oil in a wick lamp, and I doubt you’d even get a pressurised mantle lamp to start.
There are people who substitute vegetable oil for diesel in diesel engines. The vegetable oil has to be pre-warmed to reduce its viscosity, and there are issues with epoxy deposits building up in the engine, which is _bad_. I guess the same thing could be an issue in a lamp.
[http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel\_svo.html](http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html)
Incidentally, I’ve tried using diesel in a pressurised mantle lamp. It burns clean, but the lamp was dim. This was a kind of reverse logic, since kerosene in the UK is stained bright yellow so they can catch you putting it in your diesel car and avoiding the vehicle fuel tax. Superficially, diesel appears much more similar in viscosity to kerosene than any vegetable oil.
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### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/7 "2004-05-26T07:40:00Z")
**Kerosine** is the lease viscous.
It is made up of C[sub]12[/sub] - C[sub]16[/sub].
Boils at 140-275 [sup]o[/sup]C
**Diesel** is a bit heavier, being made up of C10 - C26 with up to 30% aromatics (benzene ring containing).
Boils at 180-380 [sup]o[/sup]C
The flash point of both are about the same (~70C). That is essentially the temperature that they have to be when you want to light them with a match.
Diesel is safer (as far as flammability goes, not toxicity), because it has a much higher autoignition temperature.
**Olive oil** is trglycerides of, mostly, oleic acid C18. It is much more viscous.
Flash point is 225[sup]o[/sup]C
So, as **ftg** said you need to have the equipment designed to do the job. To burn olive oil you need a wick that will draw it up at a quick enough rate. A kero lamp would be no good. You can mix olive oil with other fuels to get a good blend suited to the combustion device.
Bio-oils used in engines are often hydrolysed and esterified to make them more volatile and thus avoiding the need for engine modification.
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### Author:  [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/8 "2004-05-26T10:04:15Z")
I have (HAD) a set of table lamps which burn vegetable oil, and the instructions say DO NOT USE ANY THING ELSE. Well I am smarter then they are, so I put in lamp oil. It started out OK but in about three or four minutes the flame went about three feet high. Nearly burned the place down before I could put it out. Broke both lamps, burned my hand (and the curtain). I won’t ever try that again.
* * *
Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/9 "2004-05-27T02:15:07Z")
> [@Kegg](#):
>
> I have (HAD) a set of table lamps which burn vegetable oil, and the instructions say DO NOT USE ANY THING ELSE. Well I am smarter then they are, so I put in lamp oil. It started out OK but in about three or four minutes the flame went about three feet high. Nearly burned the place down before I could put it out. Broke both lamps, burned my hand (and the curtain). I won’t ever try that again.
>
> * * *
>
> Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice.
Kegg, PLEASE see my E-mail link and send me some information about those table lamps. I’ve been looking for vegetable-oil burners for years.
As noted previously, vegetable oil is much more viscous than kerosene. The biggest difference this makes is that vegetable oil won’t go much more than half an inch up a wick (or at least at a useable rate). Most kerosene lanterns have the burner a considerably greater distance than that. In antiquity, oil lamps were fairly shallow so that wasn’t a problem. When the first Argand (glass chimney type) lamps were invented, they used a gravity feed system similar to what you see in those water-dispenser things for pets: an airtight reservior feeds into a bowl, and only enough liquid to keep the bowl full can trickle out.
An Argand lamp would definitely be on my list of things to stock my post-apocalypse bunker with.
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### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/10 "2004-05-27T02:39:29Z")
Lumpy, there are heaps of oil lamps for sale on [ebay](http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&query=Oil+Lamp&search_option=1&ebaytag1=ebayavail&ebaytag1code=15&ebaycurr=999&SortProperty=MetaLowestPriceSort&newu=1%0D%0D).
I know a greek lady who burns olive oil in a oil lamp - a little Greek Orthodox shrine thingy. It looks pretty cool, but puts out bugger all light. Smells nice - well better than kero. You could pick on of these up from a greek religious parephenalia shop.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/11 "2004-05-27T04:00:00Z")
The Lehman’s folks in Ohio have lamps of many kinds. I bought my Dietz lanterns from them.
They sell olive oil lamps as well.
> **[Lehman's Hardware Store | Order Online](https://www.lehmans.com/)**
>
> Live simply with the Lehman's online store. We sell oil lamps, wood cook stoves & more. Non-electric tools & homesteading supplies since 1955.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lamp-oil/247060/12 "2004-05-27T07:17:43Z")
I can’t recall if [these](http://www.poundiron.com/page13.html) (bottom left of page) are made for commecial lamp oil or veggie oil, but drop 'em an email and find out. (They’re at various Ren Faires on almost every weekend, so expect a couple days delay in a response.)