Beeswax for tealight lantern?

[Nomad]

Been looking at this...

http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/uco-micro-lantern---works-on-tealight-candles-4827-p.asp

I gather these little lanterns aren't very good for reading by, but if beeswax burns a bit brighter, would it be enough to make the difference? (I know beeswax tealights are expensive, but the ally holders can be bought empty with beeswax-impregnated wicks, and the wax is pretty reasonable in larger quantities).

 

[Teepee]

It does burn a little brighter, but also lasts longer. Beeswax has more energy contained within than paraffin wax-its equal to petrol.

I got 15 hours burn out of the last Uco beeswax candle I burnt.

Is it worth it making your own? barely IMO, but good fun.

 

[Nomad]

I got 15 hours burn out of the last Uco beeswax candle I burnt.

I take it that's in the lantern for the 9-hour candles? Enough light to read by, or more a case of imparting a glow to the surroundings? Enough to navigate to the latrine in the dark?

Is it worth it making your own? barely IMO, but good fun.

Having looked a bit more, I tend to agree that making isn't worth it - all I had seen was £3.60 for three, but have since looked again, and found plenty at much better prices (about the same as buying the holders and beeswax separately). 6 hours is the claimed time, which seems really good.

 

[Teepee]

I take it that's in the lantern for the 9-hour candles? Enough light to read by, or more a case of imparting a glow to the surroundings? Enough to navigate to the latrine in the dark?




Having looked a bit more, I tend to agree that making isn't worth it - all I had seen was £3.60 for three, but have since looked again, and found plenty at much better prices (about the same as buying the holders and beeswax separately). 6 hours is the claimed time, which seems really good.

The 15 hours wasn't in the lantern,it was nestled in the snow Defo bright enough to get to the Khazi though and noticably brighter than paraffin wax IMO. Not a comfortable reading light level for me though.

 

[ateallthepies]

Is is worth putting in more wicks if your making up the candles? 3 wicks in a triangle, 3 times the light?

Steve.

 

[Nomad]

Okay, sounds like it's worth a bash.

On wicks, I'd imagine that 3 would reduce burn time, and may also produce too much heat for the little micro lantern. In any case, I've found ready-made beeswax tealights that cost about the same as making them, so the candle making is out. (And, the tealight shell-thingies I found had single beeswax-impregnated wicks already fitted, so fitting three would mean additional farting about that I'm not keen on.)

 

[Nomad]

Just did a little test with a rather precise photographic spot meter (Minolta Spotmeter F, if anyone cares), and it does indeed appear that the beeswax flame is brighter than the parrafin wax. Measuring at the brightest part of each flame, I get nearly a stop of difference, which means nearly twice as bright. Also tried measuring the light reflected off of my pale tan desktop (with a baffle between the two tealights, and observed a similar difference.

 

[freenarative]

I have the uco tea light lantern and I use home made bees wax tealights. I have some good news and some bad.
Lantern:
Good:Small, holds 2 tea lights, collapses.
Bad: you need to wait a while after use to colapse it because it gets VERY hot! If you crack the glass it gets hard to replace
Tealight (PURE bees wax)
Good: It's bright enough to read by, in fact it lights my whole living room. It burns longer and hotter; 1 tea light burns from dusk 'til dawn and 1 tea light in a micro stove about 2 inches from your pot can actually bring it to the boil!
Bad: It burns hotter. If you put your hand closer than a foot over it you'll burn. if you put this in a tent you can't hang it near the roof.
I hope this helps in some way.

 

[lavrentyuk]

At very low temperatures I find the the beeswax in my Uco don't really get going - it doesn't put out enough heat to melt the surrounding wax to feed the wick and eventually goes out. Don't have that problem with the paraffin wax ones. At normal temperatures - down to say -10C - its not a problem.

I should say that this is the candle lantern and not the tealight version.