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Oil lamp for a power cut

Updated: 22 October 2026

The lights have gone, and the first thing in the drawer is a lamp you have never lit. An oil lamp for a power cut is a second light, after a torch you can find without looking. Scottish Fire and Rescue, and Suffolk's lighting factsheet, both put battery light first. A paraffin flame is in their guidance only when it already works, the room has air, and the lamp stays off curtains and fabric. This page is that one evening, not a ranking. The whole set is the [kerosene lamp comparison](/hub/garden-decor/kerosene-lamp). A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The lights have gone, and the first thing in the drawer is a lamp you have never lit. An oil lamp for a power cut is a second light, after a torch you can find without looking.

Our top picks

Feuerhand Feuerhand 276 hurricane lantern, matte black

Best overall

Feuerhand Feuerhand 276 hurricane lantern, matte black
8.9/10about £44.95
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Thous Winds Thous Winds Luminara mini oil lamp

Alternative

Thous Winds Thous Winds Luminara mini oil lamp
6.9/10about £28.99
View offer
Redwood Redwood HL200 paraffin hurricane lantern

Best value

Redwood Redwood HL200 paraffin hurricane lantern
7.4/10about £8.40
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What to do in the first minute
  2. 2.If you still want a flame
  3. 3.Which lamp in this set is even a backup
  4. 4.What not to improvise

What to do in the first minute

Find the torch before you find the matches. Scottish Fire and Rescue says keep torches and batteries where you can reach them in a dark hall. A lamp that still needs a soak is not that first minute. Report the cut on 105 in Scotland, England and Wales. That number is for the outage. If there is fire, or the flame has left the lamp, get out, stay out, and call 999. Do not carry a candle from room to room looking for the consumer unit. A hurricane is still a flame you can knock. A low-wattage bulb mentioned on a power-cut page belongs to electric light. Do not copy it onto a wick. If the torch is flat, you still call 105, and you still do not light a lamp you have not tested.

If you still want a flame

Use it only in a room you can ventilate, with you there, and with the lamp clear of curtains and bedding. Cleveland Fire Brigade's line is ventilation and clear of fabric. Do not cover the lantern to dim it. Feuerhand says the 276 stays outdoors, supervised, uncovered, and you do not refill it while it is alight or carry it full. Darkness does not relax that. How the wick is lit, once you have practised, is how to light a paraffin lamp. Put the flame out before bed. A glow in the wick is still a flame. Spare oil stays in its bottle, ideally marked BS 2869 Class C1, away from children. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, or someone is dizzy, sick or short of breath, get out and call 999.
Feuerhand Feuerhand 276 hurricane lantern, matte black

Testsieger

Feuerhand Feuerhand 276 hurricane lantern, matte black
8.9/10about £44.95
View offer

Which lamp in this set is even a backup

The lamp in the kit is one you have filled and lit on a normal afternoon. UK reviews of the Feuerhand 276, 4.4 from a shared 4,334, mention power cuts. The outdoor rule still stands. A closed kitchen is a weak plan. A porch or a hallway you can air is plausible if the cap does not weep. Three colours are one lantern. The Redwood HL200 at about £8.40 is the cheap standby in the UK texts, 3.6 from 410, and the filler cap is the fault they repeat. If it leaks on a Saturday it will leak at 11pm. A chamber lamp is a poorer backup: PureBliss wicks burn away in seconds, and the Fire-Maple has four UK texts and a learning curve. The Thous Winds mini is still a wick, not a torch. Named candidates are on best kerosene lamp UK.

What not to improvise

Do not pour petrol, white spirit or methylated spirits because the paraffin bottle is empty. Do not cover the chimney, do not cook on the lantern, and do not treat it as a heater. Do not carry the lit lamp through the house as a searchlight. Fill it cold, before the evening, or leave it empty. Topping up a warm tank is one of Feuerhand's bans. If a daytime wick test already failed, buy batteries. When the power returns, put the flame out and check the cap and the glass in daylight.

Common questions

How do I report a power cut?
In Scotland, England and Wales the power-cut number given by Scottish Fire and Rescue is 105. That call is for the outage. If the lamp, a candle, or a heater has started a fire, get out, stay out, and call 999. Do not wait on 105 while a curtain is burning.
Can I light a Feuerhand in the kitchen?
Feuerhand’s own page for the 276 says outdoors, never unsupervised, and do not cover it. A kitchen with the door shut is the opposite of that line. UK reviews do mention the lantern in power cuts, which shows that owners reach for it. The maker’s limit still applies.
What if I only have a chamber lamp?
Treat it as unproven until you have lit it in daylight. UK reviews of the PureBliss pair describe wicks that die in seconds and do not draw oil. A HUAXITRA owner kept a pair as backup, and other reviewers had broken glass and bent flanges.
Should I fill it on the night, or before?
Before, and only when the lamp is cold. Learn the cap, the soak, and how you put the flame out on an ordinary day. Feuerhand says not to add fuel while the lantern is burning or warm, and not to transport it full. Filling by torchlight, on a lamp you have never opened, is how the cap stays loose.
What else belongs in the kit?
A torch, spare batteries, the lamp only if the daytime test worked, and lamp oil still in its own bottle. A phone with enough charge to call 105 or 999 matters more than a second lantern. Keep the bottle away from children.

Related pages

Kerosene lamp buying guide

Kerosene lamp

Best kerosene lamp UK: garden flame or cheap standby

How to light a paraffin lamp: soak, then a short flame

Hurricane lantern or chamber oil lamp: the real split

Sources

Public UK sources for EN 14059, lamp oil, ventilation and poisoning. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts were taken from the listings on 19 October 2026.

  1. legislation.gov.uk, EN 14059 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. London Borough of Bromley, BS EN 14059 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. Cleveland Fire Brigade, lighting safety (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. Suffolk Fire and Rescue, lighting factsheet (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK, carbon monoxide (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. NHS, poisoning (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Feuerhand 276 storm lantern (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Langlow lamp oil, Warrior Warehouses (retrieved 21 October 2026)