Gas lighting

This article is about the production of artificial light. For the human behaviour, see Gaslighting.
"Gaslight" redirects here. For other uses, see Gaslight (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Fart lighting.
Gas lighting in the historical center of Wrocław, Poland, is manually turned off and on daily.

Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by the flame, generally by using special mixes (typically propane or butane) of illuminating gas to increase brightness, or indirectly with other components such as the gas mantle or the limelight, with the gas primarily functioning to heat the mantle or the lime to incandescence .[1]

Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas lighting was prevalent for outdoor and indoor use in cities and suburbs where the infrastructure for distribution of gas was practical.[1] At that time, the most common fuels for gas lighting were wood gas, coal gas and, in limited cases, water gas.[2] Early gas lights were ignited manually by lamplighters, although many later designs are self-igniting.[3]

Gas lighting now is frequently used for camping, for which the high energy density of the hydrocarbon fuel, and the modular canisters on which camping lights are built, brings bright and long lasting light without complex equipment.[1] In addition, some urban historical districts retain gas street lighting, and gas lighting is used indoors or outdoors to create or preserve a nostalgic effect.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Sweeney, Morgan. "Before Electricity, Streets Were Filled with Gas Lights". McGill.ca. McGill University Office for Science and Society. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ Binder, Frederick Moore (October 1955). "Gas Light". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 22 (4): 359–373. JSTOR 27769625. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  3. ^ Arsiya, Iklim (29 April 2017). "Jobs of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations". DailySabah.com. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. ^ Patowary, Kaushik. "The Last Gas Streetlights". AmusingPlanet.com. Amusing Planet. Retrieved 19 February 2022.