I just bought a candle-powered electric light, on Amazon. The Luminiser, for $20.
What attracted me to this device, aside from the low price, is that it seems like such an irredeemably stupid concept. Perfect for the headlights on your horse-drawn EV. Or perhaps to replace the light bulb inside your ice-powered electric fridge.
It’s almost as if some nerds took steampunk literally, glommed up a bunch of money via Kickstarter, and created this pseudo-retro-techno-thing. Which is, in fact, how this was developed.
But all that aside, a) it works like a charm, b) the underlying tech is pretty interesting and mostly, c) it’s a vastly more efficient light source than the candle that drives it. And d), I’ve been wanting to own a device of this type for quite some time.
In fact, in terms of in-the-home, fossil-fuel-fired lighting — oil lamps, candles, Coleman lanterns, Aladdin lamps, gas-mantle lamps, and all of that — this is by far the most efficient one you can buy.
So chalk one up for steampunk, as I sit here typing by the light of that lantern, warmed ever-so-slightly by the candle flame in its heart.
In any case, I’m going to use this new toy as my excuse for running the numbers on the entire range of lighting — from candles to LED lights — that I have in my home.
But I’m leaving the deeper moral question for another day. Would the Amish accept this? At root, this two-step light generation process is no different from a mantle-type oil lamp, which is a technology generally acceptable to the Amish.
Continue reading Post #1929: The caveman wants his fire, or, better to light one candle.