How safe are fuel lanterns for indoors use? Up until electric lighting took over all indoor lighting was from candles and various forms of lanterns so how many people did it kill and how? You can still buy gas mantle light fixtures intended for indoor lighting use with natural gas and in some areas of the world the kerosene or gasoline fueled mantle lantern is still common lighting. It certainly was in the Philippines in rural areas when I lived there in the 1950s and 1960s. There was no national electric grid at the time and most towns used diesel generators but outside towns electricity was not available. Even in town electric supplies were variable enough in voltage and frequency that kerosene stoves and refrigerators were the common items for the few who could afford them. I note that the claimed largest mantle manufacturer in the world is a company in India and that does not surprise me. I would expect mantle lanterns to still be common in much of rural India.
I know Coleman recommends against indoor use for their propane, dual fuel and kerosene lanterns but I suspect that it is pretty much due to their lawyer’s recommendations. Yes there is a fire risk but my concern would be more with the actual danger from CO and CO2 build-up. Any doctors, safety experts or indoor users care to comment on this?
Moderator please move if this is not the best forum for this. None seems ideal!
Unless you have a 100% sealed room that is practically never opened, odds of depleting oxygen inside of your average home with a gas lantern is extremely low. The CO2 buildup is pretty much also a non-issue. As you know, the real issue is CO.
Rate of CO production is going to determine on the fuel used, amount used, and efficiency of the burn. CO is deadly in small doses because of the blood's high affinity for it, which displaces oxygen carrying capacity. For this reason, it only takes a few hundred PPM to cause death over an extended period of time, because the CO builds up and hangs in your system for a while.
I've used the Coleman style dual-fuel lanterns all my life when camping, but I've read of several people dying from them--usually when used in small sealed tents overnight. This is obviously a bad idea. If it was a true emergency, I wouldn't hesitate to use one indoors, being cautious of ventilation and extended time of use. You also probably want to start the lantern outside, because they burn the dirtiest until they are heated up and tuned in (CO is the result of incomplete combustion).
These days long-lasting battery powered CO monitors are cheap enough that everyone ought to have a few, to help keep an eye on things.
It comes down to the air changes per hour your house experiences, most houses are not nearly as airtight as we think, though new houses should be much more so by law to reduce heating and cooling fuel consumption. You can get an energy audit done which includes an door air blower test that determines the air changes per hour. I had one done a few months ago and my 100+ year house has 17.68ACH at 50 Pa, meaning if the air was blowing at 56km/h at the house in every direction the air in my house would change 17.68 times each hour. Of course wind does not blow in 6 directions at the same time, and its speed varies constantly. If you own a house that meets Passivhaus standards it would be less then 0.6ACH. “Airtight” houses need mechanical ventilation which is provided by a device called a Heat recovery Ventilator which uses exhaust air to preheat fresh air.
The danger is especially high in newer houses, if the air changes (through gaps in the walls. foundations and attics etc.) are slow and the rate of oxygen consumption by the fuel burning appliance exceeds the rate of new oxygen coming in (and CO2 being vented out). If the oxygen level gets too low to support standard combustion, fuel burning appliances start producing monoxide instead and that can kill you because the blood has a higher affinity for monoxide then oxygen. Its a double whammy at that point, the oxygen level in the house is low which can kill you, and monoxide is now formed which will also kill you. Monoxide is so deadly at high concentrations that even if you were in a building that purposely had an elaborate system that maintained plenty of oxygen and pumped in high levels of monoxide, you will still die.
I used aladdin lamps inside my cabin for years until they started using china made chimneys and had a few break in use, had a supply of jet-a at the time. these really put out a nice light , bright and quiet, burned clean etc. I’d still be using them but the chimneys are expensive and junk, unless things have changed
Having a working CO detector seems like it takes care of the main problem. There are also fuel handling issues. I once tried to change the cylinder of a butane stove indoors and got it so wrong I spilled the contents into our motel room. Fortunately there were no ignition sources.