Understanding Types Of Lamp Oil
Lamp Oils are generally classified to 2 types; Paraffin Lamp Oil (Crystal Oil) & Normal Lamp Oil. Many of us may have used either type of oil for prayer offering before. Some of us may have even tried both but do you know what are the difference?
In the past, people only use normal lamp oil or edible vegetable oil for prayers. Paraffin lamp oil came into the market about 20 years ago; imported from Taiwan by a local supplier. From then on, the market slowly accept this new product which has become popular nowadays. The main reason for the high rate of acceptance level is because customers perceived Paraffin lamp oil to be better quality, cleaner and more pleasant looking as compared to the normal lamp oil.
Besides these perceptions which customers have, are there any other significant differences that made customers willing to spend more on Paraffin lamp oil instead of normal lamp oil? Let us list out the various characteristics for the 2 types of lamp oil for your better understanding and comparison!
Quality:
Pure Paraffin oil is safe for lighting indoor. It does not produce toxic, smoke and soot. On contrast, normal lamp oil which is the product of non-fully purified palm oil produce black smoke and soot when burns. The temperature from the burning flame is also lower using Paraffin lamp oil as compared to normal lamp oil. This makes Paraffin lamp oil a safer option. Because of this characteristic for Pure Paraffin lamp oil, we can even use crystal glass lamp to hold Pure Paraffin lamp oil. This is impossible for normal lamp oil as it will crack the crystal glass lamp with its high burning temperature.
Cleanliness and maintenance:
Pure Paraffin oil do not form any dirty substances in the lamp after burning. This makes maintenance easy as we do not need to wash the lamp. You will only need to use wet tissue to do basic cleaning on the exterior of the lamp. Normal lamp oil will produce a layer of thickened oily substance as it burns. If we do not frequently wash the lamp, the lamp will look dirty. Pure Paraffin lamp oil can also be stored under any environment and can be stored for long period. Normal lamp oil on the other hand cannot be stored in low temperature environment and it should not be store for more than 3 months. It will start forming white impurities/ residues in the oil.
Cost efficiency:
Pure Paraffin lamp oil is definitely much costly compared to Normal lamp oil. Let’s use the example of a bottle of 2L lamp oil, a good quality Paraffin oil will cost around $6 to $8 in the market while the normal lamp oil only cost about $3.50 to $4. However, Pure Paraffin lamp oil is more lasting compared to normal lamp oil. Using a lamp with same capacity, Pure Paraffin lamp oil can last at least 30% to 50% longer in term of burning duration. Hence, although Pure Paraffin lamp oil is more costly, it is more worthwhile to use Pure Paraffin lamp oil due to its efficiency.
Note:
1. Above paraffin lamp oil information is only applicable to high quality paraffin lamp oil products selling in the market. Certain paraffin lamp oil may not be pure enough. Those lower purity paraffin oil will also result in high flame temperature, smoke soots and may even crack the lamp as time goes by.
2. Paraffin lamp oil cannot be mixed with normal lamp oil or water as it may cause fire hazard.
3. Smell and color do not present any difference in quality for both Paraffin lamp oil and Normal lamp oil. It is up to individual preference only.
If you are having concerns on the quality of the Paraffin oil which you are using at the moment, do try this Zhi Shan brand which is on sale on our website. Quality is guaranteed to be good!