Illumination

Gas Mantle

Historic romance for your home or community

American Gas Lamp Works has been manufacturing the world’s finest natural gas and propane gas mantle lighting for generations.  Invented by Carl Auer von Welsbach in the 1880s, gas mantle illumination filled the streets and homes of North America and Europe for much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

As opposed to open flame gas lighting, mantle gas lighting uses an incandescent gas mantle, or Welsbach mantle, to generate bright white light. Gas mantles are roughly pear-shaped and glow with a bright white light when heated by a gas flame, yielding a soft, romantic light that stays on even when your electric power goes out.

American Gas Lamp Works Gas Mantle Illumination uses the highest quality components to deliver safe, reliable, energy-efficient lighting.

Advantages of Gas Mantle Illumination Technology

• Delivers the historic, romantic look of Welsbach gas mantle lighting
• Bright illumination – gas mantle lamps deliver a steady, bright white light
• Safety – gas mantle technology has been perfected over one-hundred years of use
• Energy efficiency – a single gas mantle generates the same light output as a 50-watt electric bulb but uses the same energy as a pilot light
• Reliability and security – gas mantle lighting stays on when the power goes out, keeping your home well lit at all times
• Environmental – using natural gas directly for illumination eliminates electric energy conversion and transmission inefficiencies, dramatically reducing carbon output

Gas Mantle Lamp Maintenance

Gas mantle lamps are rugged, durable fixtures that can last for generations. However, they require minor maintenance on an annual basis that is best performed by a professional service person. In general, we recommend the following:

• Replace your gas mantles at least once per year, and at any time they are no longer fully intact.
• Clean glass and remove debris twice per year. Removing debris will enhance the air flow around your mantles and improve their performance.
• Use only authentic, hard, pre-formed mantles in your lamp. Hard mantles will produce more light, last longer, and retain their shape much longer than “soft” mantles at a very small additional cost.
• Blow out the gas lines annually to ensure proper natural gas supply to your lamp.