On Saturday, August 23, 2014 7:27:24 PM UTC-7, Doug Miller wrote:
Tony Hwang wrote in :



micky wrote:

Once in a while in cowboy movie, someone wakes up in the morning and

turns up the kerosene lantern, without lighting it.



Is it actually possible to keep a small flame burning all night, small

enough that it doesn't waste substantial money by burning all night, at

cowboy-era prices?



Hi,

Even smallest flame gives out some heat. In dead winter that can make

quite a difference. Read the story about Napoleon's men dying from

freezing sleeping in tent but ones who had a candle burning did not die..



A single candle puts out enough heat to make the difference, in a Russian winter, between

life and death?

Yeah, riiiiiight.

Depending how well insulated the tent was, between the candle and the men's body heat, it's possible.

The Inuit -- before the whites destroyed their 10,000-year-old culture - could build an igloo expertly very quickly. Once inside & sealed up, they lit a stone lamp burning seal oil. It would make the igloo so warm that the Inuit slept naked between fur blankets.

HB