BriteLyt, Inc.
9516 Lake Dr.
New Port Richey, FL. 34654
USA
Ph: 727-856-9245
Fax: 727-856-7715

The BriteLyt (then) Petromax (left)
Aladdin Lamp (center) & Butterfly (right)
Even though the BriteLyt ,Petromax and Butterfly lanterns look almost exactly the same there are huge differences between the three.

Introduction: I bought a Petromax lantern because I wanted a bright light that I could use in the house. White gas lanterns put out way too much carbon monoxide for enclosed areas but the Petromax burning kerosene is acceptable. They advertised it as giving off an equivalent light of a 400 watt bulb. When I fired it up I was expecting it to be brighter and I was a little disappointed. But you have to compare these things. A few weeks later, I set it beside a white gas lantern on a camping trip and the Petromax was so bright that the white gas lantern appeared very dim sitting next to it. I felt a lot better about my Petromax after that. BriteLyt with Upgrades is approx: 550 watt bulb very bright next to all the lanterns.

Sometime later I thought it might be nice to have two bright lights around the house during power failures. As the Petromax is kind of expensive, I bought a Butterfly lantern. The Butterfly is a copy-cat product made in Asia which only costs half as much, looks exactly like a Petromax or BriteLyt to the untrained eye, and has advertised itself as just as good a lantern. Well, after comparing how the three perform, they might look alike but that's as far as it goes. These are three very different lanterns. BriteLyt was an Upgrade over all the lanterns See BriteLyt upgrades

I did a comparison burn determining fuel rate because someone told me the Petromax would burn 30% longer on the same amount of fuel (it won't). Pumping both lanterns up I learned that the Butterfly takes much less pressure to get it's gauge up than the Petromax and is therefore much quicker to pump up. It takes 2 or 3 minutes to pump up the Petromax using the little pump built into the lantern. However, it's not about the same as pumping up a Coleman white gas lantern.

BriteLyt has just started selling a tire schrader valve(EZ Pump)that can attach to the lantern to make pumping it up a snap using a bicycle pump, or Co2 system. BriteLyt also has a new O-ring pump system see New pump system after this was made this makes it much easer then the Butterfly or Petromax. BriteLyt burns now longer then all the other lamps with the new upgrades. See why BriteLyt is the only true MULTI-FUEL lamp in the world today.

BriteLyt has used the combination of the old & new designs to create the next generation of MULTI-FUEL lantern.  Only BriteLyt has gone to great efforts to provide you with the most versatile lantern on the market today.(Heat, cook, and light).

Lighting the lantern.The alcohol preheat is demonstrated on the left and the internal kerosene torch is shown on the right. see preheater work

Starting The Lanterns: A white gas lantern uses the fumes on the top of the tank to get the lantern started. As kerosene doesn't have flammable fumes like gasoline, it's not quite so easy to get the Petromax or Butterfly started. Before you can turn the lantern on you must heat the expansion tube hot enough to vaporize the kerosene before it gets to the mantle. There are two different ways of doing this. The preferred method uses a little blow torch that's part of the lantern. In the two pictures to the right you can see the valve on the lower side of each picture. The left photo shows this valve in the up or closed position and the right photo shows it in the down or open position. To start this little torch, flip the valve open and stick the match inside the tube. You need to let it run for 90 seconds before turning on the main valve starting the lamp. If you get in a hurry and try to do this too quickly, raw fuel might get to the mantle which will create clouds of black smoke, the reason you start it outside. BriteLyt has a new Upgrade stainless steel nozzle and new HP 33-B mixing tube this makes for a faster start then the Petromax or Butterfly lamps approx: 30 to 90 sec.

The other way to get the lantern started uses alcohol. At the bottom of the expansion tube is a little cup you can fill with alcohol. Lighting this also heats up the expansion tube. I've found the cup is a little small and in order for the tube to get heated adequately, it's necessary to fill the bowl twice.

What's easier? The torch is certainly quicker and you don't need to keep a bottle of alcohol around to fill the bowl with. But the drawback to the torch is it requires a bunch more pumping. This would stop being such a big deal if you had BriteLyt's schrader valve(EZ-Pump) and a bicycle pump, or Co2 system no pumping needed. Also BriteLyt's new O-ring system helps See Howto Pump

Lantern Positive and Negative Qualities: After I got the lanterns running, I tried to pump up the Butterfly a bit more. After the first stroke, the mantle broke completely off at the top. Mantles are fragile being only ash after the first use. However, the lamp was on a cement floor and I was holding it very tightly. It didn't wiggle hardly at all as I pumped it. I thought it was a faulty mantle, so I put one of my extra Petromax mantles on it, relit it, and tried pumping it again. Darned if the mantle didn't pop off again! My conclusion, the Butterfly burner assembly the mantle attaches to is not anchored correctly and actually amplifies vibrations, breaking the mantles. Well, I replaced the mantle a second time and was careful to pump it before I started it this time instead of after I lit it. By comparison, my Petromax lantern has taken some serious bumping abuse over several uses (including pumping) and the initial mantle is still in use and looks just like new. I make a big deal about this mantle breaking issue because in a long term crisis the last thing you want is a lantern that breaks a mantle or two every night. A week of that and you won't have a functioning lantern. BriteLyt has a excellent mantel over all the other's can last up to a year.

After I got the two lanterns started and their two pressure gauges reading the same, I stepped back about 100 feet and looked at the two lanterns. The Petromax was noticeably brighter then the Butterfly but the BriteLyt was much brighter the all the lamps. BriteLyt is the only lantern of its kind,,,, backed by FOUR (4) U.S. Patents!! See more here

Next, I set the Butterfly in my small, enclosed entryway. This is a little room about 4 feet wide by 12 feet by 7 feet high. About 3 minutes later I went in to check on fumes. There was a strong kerosene odor - in my opinion, too strong to burn the Butterfly inside the house without the windows open. I feel the Butterfly is an outside lantern only because of the fumes. By comparison, my lit Petromax sat in this same small room for over 1/2 hour with no real noticeable odors. The Aladdin Lamp also burns odor-free and is a great indoor light. BriteLyt with new upgrades is odor-free.

Both the Petromax and Butterfly lanterns have a small needle valve at the top of the lantern that shuts the lantern off.(BriteLyt use a part 193 for shut off see this page)The Petromax lantern valve works very well BriteLyt works better. I can leave pressure in it for weeks and there is no leakage of kerosene from the top of the valve. The Butterfly, even though it requires much less pressure, has a faulty valve. After turning the lantern off and after the expansion tube had cooled, I was dismayed to find that the Butterfly was leaking fuel out the top of the fully closed needle valve! To get it to stop, I had to release the pressure in the tank.

The Petromax is a brass lantern with a nickel coating. It's made in China. The Butterfly is a steel lantern with a stainless steel coating made in Asia. When I was emptying the kerosene out of the Butterfly to measure unburned fuel during my burn rate test, the kerosene was dirty with rust particles and dust. The kerosene from the Petromax was clean. The BriteLyt lamp was a very clean lantern made of brass with nickel plating and very durable, made to last a lifetime and now used by the US Military.

The Butterfly does have a couple of advantages over the Petromax - it's ease of pumping, and it's metal tipped alcohol bottle which I like, but it's disadvantages are so negative that I won't be using the Butterfly even though I own the thing. I find it unacceptable how badly it breaks mantles and the stink it puts off in an enclosed area, making it unsuitable for my needs.

The Aladdin lamp has a couple of advantages over the Petromax. It requires no pumping as it isn't a pressure system such as the Petromax or Butterfly. Because there's no pressure involved in it's operation, it also operates silently. The Petromax and Butterfly make a hissing sound very much like a Coleman gas lantern. The Aladdin is also very easy to light and can be lit just as quickly as a candle or hurricane lantern. Getting a BriteLyt easy see here and not the same as a Petromax or Butterfly going is at its fastest at least a 2 minute operation performed outside. The Aladdin has one other advantage. The amount of light it gives off can be controlled from dim through bright. The Petromax or Butterfly is either on or it's off but the BriteLyt See this page. The disadvantage to the Aladdin is it doesn't give off very much light. The manufacturer claims it gives off the same amount of light as a 60 watt bulb. My experience, which includes several of these lamps, is the light radiated actually is more like a 40 watt bulb. This is 'blinding bright' compared to a candle or a hurricane lamp, but is dim compared to a Petromax that gives much more light, and the BriteLyt gives off many times more light.

I think there is a place for both the BriteLyt and Aladdin lanterns. During power outages it would be wonderful to have a bright light in the main living area of the house. The BriteLyt should serve here very well. The Aladdin lamps will be used in the other rooms of the house where not so much light is needed. A perfect example are my bathrooms, none of which have any outside windows. Bedrooms are another example. Note that different lamp manufacturers recommend you don't leave any of these lamps burning unattended. They each put off a bunch of heat.

The Bottom Line: The BriteLyt operates as advertised and is a great lantern. The Aladdin lamp is also a good product. The Petromax and Butterfly leaves much to be desired. In my opinion, even at half the cost it's just not worth it. See all HOW TO VIDEO'S on BriteLyt lamps.

All BriteLyt Lanterns include: 500CP Lantern equipped w/part 126-Heat Shield part P126s
Lantern equipped with Stainless Steel Nozzle part 3-ss
Lantern equipped with NEW High-performance Mixing Tube part 33-B
Lantern equipped w/part O-ring pump system part 6-O-ring

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