I have a gas lantern in front of my home that I had installed 20+ years ago. When I first had it installed, the lantern company estimated the cost to run it would be around $12-14 per month–and it was. Definitely worth it for the ambiance it adds to the front of my home.
Years later, when gas prices went up drastically, I turned it off for much of the year. I was also having an issue with it where the flame would sometimes go out on super windy days. It was annoying to have to keep relighting it whenever we had a really windy day. Over the past few years I’ve been lighting it a few days before Halloween to enjoy through Halloween and the holiday season, usually turning it back off in January.
I really miss seeing it lit throughout the the year. As we’re moving into autumn and the fall/winter holidays, I decided to go ahead and relight it. I did a search online for any suggestions on how to stop a lantern from blowing out during high winds and guess what I discovered? The wind guard on my lantern has been on upside down all this time! Argggh!
Turns out, if you can see the tip of the burner poking up above the top of the wind guard, that means the wind guard is on upside down. I didn’t think to take a photo when it was on upside down, but if you’re interested, you can see how that looks in THIS 2-minute video. That video includes several other helpful tips, like how to clean the burner tip.
I flipped the wind guard over and now the burner tip is no longer visible. I think it may have even enhanced/emphasized the shape of the “Oak-Leaf” flame, as well. I haven’t had any blowouts since I flipped the wind guard over, so I hope it’s fixed for good. We’ll see how it performs on a super windy day–we’ve only had a few mildly windy days since I flipped the wind guard over, but it did great on those days.
Just wanted to share this in case there are others out there with gas lanterns who have run into this issue. Really looking forward to the holiday season this year!
Susan, I love the look of those gas lights! Now, well, I guess they have been around for a few years, there are light bulbs that mimic a gas flame. People use them up here at Halloween time. So cute!
Thanks, Rosie! I was tempted to change this one out to electric and use one of those bulbs that looks a lot like a flame. I hope this works and maybe I will be able to keep it going.
XXX
There were two other tips–adjust the valve and check the bevel glass. Did you check those also? Hope this works; it would be aggravating to have such a beautiful light and not able to use it much.
Thanks, Mia! I know, I would love to keep it on all year. Yup, I don’t have beveled glass, mine is flat. I think the height of my flame is okay but if it goes out during a windy day again, I will definitely look at that. It’s pretty low right now, though.
Susan, Thank you for this post. We recently had a wall gas lantern installed and have not had a problem, probably since it is in a more protected area from the wind. It is great information to have should we develop a problem. There is such a nice ambience from the gas lantern and glad you can now enjoy yours full time. Sherry B
There really is–I just love them so much! I bet you won’t have any issues with your lantern since it’s in a more protected area. They are beautiful! Enjoy your lantern! ♥
XXX
Susan, thanks for the great tip. We have two gas lanterns and I will go and check the wind guard now. Who knew? I, too, love how they look and keep them going all the time. I have no idea how much it costs me per month, but gas is supposed to be low here. We do turn off our gas fireplace in the summer months because even the small pilot gives off heat, which we don’t need in Phoenix, AZ!
Yeah, you def don’t need heat in the summer in AZ. lol I’ll have to see how much my bill goes up now that I have it lit again. I hope it won’t be too, too much.
I hate to be the odd woman out but I don’t see any difference in the lantern photo.
I didn’t take a photo before–didn’t think about it until I had corrected it and lit the lantern. Marge, if you want to see how it looked before I turned it over, you can see that in the video that I linked. Mine looked just like that one in the video.
Check with your gas company before turning your lovely gas lamp off to save money. My local gas company charges all customers a monthly fee just to have an account with them. They confirmed that the cost to run the gas lamp on my front stoop 24/7 is less than their minimum monthly fee. I have to have a gas account to be able to heat my house anyway, so I’ve always considered my beautiful gas lamp on my historic house as free!