tealight candle lanterns no good for warmth (and a caution about carbon monoxide)

Thanks for that post ThriftyJoe. I agree tea lights are really too shallow and just spill and splatter wax when in any sort of hanging lantern.

However, for those who camp in snow shelters, they are very useful. Just put them in a jar of baby food or the like and put it right down on the hard packed snow floor of your quinzhee or igloo. The photo below is one I took inside an igloo on a recent igloo camping trip. The wire wrapped around mouth of the jar is just so you can lift and carry the jar as needed.



They illuminate reasonably well (snow reflects light nicely), they burn for quite a while, they will warm the igloo or quinzhee up significantly, and because they're on the floor, they won't swing around or spill. In fact, as the jar warms it melts slowly into the floor, so you either need to move the jar & candle periodically or else put a small tin foil pie plate beneath it to keep it from melting too far done. In any case, they work great in a snow shelter.

Hope this helps,
- Martin
 
When using the UCO candle lantern in a tent, I noticed right off that when it was hung high, the heat all went up and didn't heat the tent well. So I set it on a flat rock on the tent floor when I didn't have my metal drybox to set it on. And for safety reasons, I always extinguish it before I go to sleep. I depend on my sleeping gear to keep me warm at night, not external heat. And it generally does not take long for the just-lit lantern to heat up the tent in the morning so that it is tolerable to get dressed.

As for the carbon monoxide issue, every tent that I have had was sufficiently ventilated to keep that from happening with a single, low-emission candle. Most stoves and heaters state on them and in the instructions not to use them in an enclosed area because of carbon monoxide and oxygen depletion.

Yes, tea candles (fondue candles) are intended to fully melt and become like oil lamps when heated up. The UCO candles and the "pink lady" camping candles are designed to burn slowly with little melting and puddling of wax.

As for the weight, I just weighed my standard UCO with full, new candle and it came in at 6 ounces. Not exactly a brick. Only slightly more than one Mountain House freeze dried lasagna meal. But one can carry just a pink lady (or UCO) candle by itself at one ounce.
 
Heh! I started out with the aluminum when they first came out years ago, and when it got lost/confiscated I bought another aluminum. I've never broken the globe in one though. I do store and transport it in a small vinyl bag that gives it some impact protection, and of course it is further protected when in the collapsed/closed position. Back in the early seventies, I first learned about the pink lady candles when preparing to do the AT and have found them in one form or another ever since. I've also seen a citronella version for the UCOs as well, but have no idea of their melt speed.
 
I use the beeswax one's in both candle and tealight form for their multi-purpose qualities.
 
Pure beeswax has a much higher melting point than paraffin. It has a sweet honey smell that most people like.
 
I really like the UCO Camping Candle Lantern Mini
It is simple to use and simple to resupply with tea lights (any supermarket)
I have been using mine for years
I use it a camp light hanging from branches
And stable enough inside my tent
Pick it up carefully and the melted wax in the tea light does not spill
(I use one as my power outage light)

I have the old aluminum French candle lanterns (still have it), but resupplint the fat candles is a hassle, and regulart cut down candles do not work very well
Also it must be hung, and cannot be set down
I must say it has heated snow caves very succesfully
Where a single candle lantern raised the temp of snow caves by 30 degrees
A stove caused melting and icing of the cave, but the candle just warmed the air
 
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