I'm Bathing My Girls by the Light of an Oil Lamp...LOL!

QM · 09-07-2011, 07:21 PM

Seriously. I'm trying to cut costs, so I'm using the one oil lamp we own and am trying to keep all lights/electricity to a minimum. I pre-warned my daughters that we'll be using an oil lamp this evening and they are to play together with one light on (electric) in the room. I haven't yet turned on a light since it's started to get dark, so I'm bathing my girls by the light of an oil lamp. (Note: DH is on a business trip, so he isn't here to witness my fanatical ways.)

I wonder how many other people in this city are doing that.

Ummmmmm....Probably none!

Maybe I need to leave Frugal Village for a while so I can become "normal" again.

**Sophiasmama** · 09-07-2011, 08:34 PM

Thats awesome...what a great idea

**NikoSan999** · 09-07-2011, 09:06 PM

Several years ago we had some friends who used them. They used as little electric as possible. He was disabled so I think most of it was due to economics. However they seemed to be ok with all of it. He also hated the electric company worse than I do.

But they did everything by lamplight. Said it was peaceful. No kids tho. I would be scared with kids. That's just me.

We used them once here during the hurricanes. One didn't put out much light....two did ok. Remember something about having to keep the wicks trimmed.

**imagine** · 09-07-2011, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by NikoSan999

Several years ago we had some friends who used them. They used as little electric as possible. He was disabled so I think most of it was due to economics. However they seemed to be ok with all of it. He also hated the electric company worse than I do.

But they did everything by lamplight. Said it was peaceful. No kids tho. I would be scared with kids. That's just me.

We used them once here during the hurricanes. One didn't put out much light....two did ok. Remember something about having to keep the wicks trimmed.

If you place them in front of a mirror they brighten things up better.

**Trishagirl** · 09-07-2011, 10:11 PM

You can also use that time as a history teaching lesson that in the old times before electricity they used oil lamp for light etc Have fun w/ it!

**dancemommy** · 09-08-2011, 07:03 AM

That's kind of cool and I applaud your efforts. Let us know if you really see much of a difference in your utility bills. Our efforts to save electricity end at at turning off a light if we aren't in the room. But, honestly, when we have conserved I haven't seen much difference in our bill- our A/C was out for a couple of weeks and our dryer didn't work for a couple of months. I figured I'd notice at least a slight difference when that happened- nope- nothing.

**2ndGenGranola** · 09-08-2011, 07:09 AM

Is the oil for that lamp really cheaper than the electricity for an equivalent output from a lamp?

**Libby** · 09-08-2011, 07:35 AM

at your self admission of 'fanatical ways'

When its just DH & I at his old place, we did everything by candlelight - tea lights are much brighter then you'd expect

(I know, open flames aren't safe with kids)

**krbshappy71** · 09-08-2011, 10:52 AM

I just gave away my oil lamps. I had received them free from freecycle but had them for awhile didn't buy oil, they were empty when I got them. Finally made myself let go of them as I wasn't going to move them.

If you are really serious about switching to oil lamps, you can take the bulbs out of the light fixtures so people don't forget and use the switch. You can also tape the switch to the Off position as a reminder, instead of removing the bulbs.

I did this when the girls and I switched to candles for a few weeks. They really enjoyed it except in their bedrooms I left the light switches un-taped because I didn't want them to read by candlelight, was afraid it was too dim and didn't want them lighting a ton of candles trying to make it brighter.

Now that I have CFL's everywhere, I'm not sure how big of a drop in electricity I would see if I switched back to candles but I do still use them when I'm the only one home. Oh and I don't use CFL's in every socket, just because it has a socket. My bathroom offers 4 bulbs but I only have 2 in it.

**oh and I just wanted to mention, don't underestimate the value of a memory, my girls still talk fondly about "remember when we did candles? It was so pretty! We should do that again some time..." It really does put another memory in their mind and another option in their frugality-skill-set if they run into hard times in the future. Hugs to you, I bet it was so sweet to see them by lamp-light.

**dinah** · 09-08-2011, 11:04 AM

cool!

i wish they would make interior solar lights. you could leave them outside all day and bring them in at night to light your space! i tried it with the exterior lights (you know the ones to have in the garden or driveway) and it didn't work at all, they were way too dim.

**Russ** · 09-08-2011, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by dinah

cool!

i wish they would make interior solar lights. you could leave them outside all day and bring them in at night to light your space! i tried it with the exterior lights (you know the ones to have in the garden or driveway) and it didn't work at all, they were way too dim.

Maybe the LED solar lights would work better, I think they put out more light.

**lparker** · 09-09-2011, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by 2ndGenGranola

Is the oil for that lamp really cheaper than the electricity for an equivalent output from a lamp?

Like I wrote in QM's other thread -

If you had 4-25 watt compact fluorescent bulbs and left them on 24 hours a day and your electric costs you .12/Kwh, it would cost you .28 a day. 4 equivalent oil lamps would burn at least a quart of kero a day at a cost of close to a dollar. They probably burn more than that...been a long time since I tried it.

Lee

**freebs** · 09-09-2011, 08:58 AM

i used the kill-a-watt meter and at our electric rate the cfl lamps use .16¢ a day.

**Josephhgoins** · 09-09-2011, 09:44 AM

I was going to say that I don't think it would be cheaper, but it sure would be fun!!

I have a couple of really old lamps that I keep just in case the power goes off.

Just a note, well more of a reminder. When oil lamps were in constant use houses were made differently. There was no insulation, they were no where near as tight as houses are now. You may want to get a carbon Monoxide detector just to be sure you arn't making the air dangerous.

**imagine** · 09-09-2011, 11:45 AM

I think mixing up how you do things like using the oil lamps for everyday things is fun and it helps children and adults too get use to doing something differently. That way if that it how you have to do it one day then no one sees it as strange or a burden or a self pity thing.

They just seeing it as just different and maybe fun.

Same can go for mac and cheese if they only have it only one way and you have to do it a different way- say instead of homemade you have to do the box then it would feel odd and maybe a seen as a bad thing.

But if you had always had many different ways of having mac and cheese homemade made different ways and box kind all rotated in then it doesn't make it odd when a box mac has to come out of pantry/stockpile.

Way to Go QM!