I am concerned about the shelf life of the lamp oils!
Some of this oil sits on the store shelves for years.

Does lamp oil loose its equivalent of "cetane"?

Would we be just as well served if we use a fresh
high-grade kerosene?

Here in the Mid-Atlantic region, the kerosene is the
higher grade "White" refined to meet the demands
of indoor/unvented kerosene heaters.
This is nothing like the heavy/smelly and oily
amber kerosene I remember as a child.

Because so much of this sold, it is fresh.
The cost is about $1.90 per gallon here in Maryland
I use it my my "Trawler" lamp and do not notice any
odor.

Brian

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian J. Hall" bhall@bcpl.net

Hi Brian,

Different people have different tolerances for things like kerosene smell.

If the product is inoffensive to you and your crew, by all means, use it!
OTOH: Some folks, like my wife, are extremely sensitive and would be driven
off a boat by fumes that you and I might not ever notice.

As to shelf life; I doubt that there would be a problem. Lamp oils are
typically stored in non-reactive containers and are not exposed to bright
light. Added to that is the comparatively high level of purity. Taken
together those things describe a product that will degrade VERY slowly.

Further, it seems unlikely that this stuff sits on the shelves for years.
Good retail practice would be to unload anything that threatens to sit
around like that and then to not reorder. If I knew that a store was paying
that little attention to its stock I would probably avoid shopping there.

This is on the verge of turning into an ugly marketing screed so I'd better
quit now.

Stinkally yours,

Alex

writes:

Brian,
Kerosene and Paraffin are two completely different substances.
We're comparing apples and oranges, stink or no stink. I prefer to
pay the extra dollar per liter for Paraffin Oil and have comfortable,
non-irritating air inside my  boat- exactly as if I'd be burning
candles. On top of that: Paraffin produces a little more light and
warmth from the same lamp with the same amount of fuel. (subjective)
On your concern about shelf storage, I noted the opposite. It's
the Kerosene that collects dust. The stores I go to frequently run
out of Paraffin Oil. Seems those of us who have tried Paraffin never
go back to Kerosene.

"Non-stinkingly" yours, George of Scaramouche, wintering in Lake
Ontario, Canada

P.s: My oil lamps are lit almost every evening for their ambience
enhancement. Scaramouche is comfortably equipped with electricity -
both A/C and D/C - for reading, working etc.