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Comment by dorfsmay | Hacker News Reader

Do you still do this? Have you looked at low wattage lamps? There are serious risks of starting apartment/house fires with candles, please do not underestimate them.

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After I tried the same thing for a couple weeks and really enjoyed it, I looked for the closest thing to a pair of candles in a holder that I could think of: a small, hand-portable, battery powered (ideally something standard and replaceable) lightly shaded lantern/lamp that gave off pretty close to the same light as the pairs of beeswax candles I'd been using, which were just about the perfect amount of light. Hard to read by one candle, easy by two, three would be OK but heading toward too bright.

I found nothing in that sort of form factor that wasn't far too bright, and all of them were LED (incandescent would be much nicer). I just want a little battery-powered lamp that takes a weak nightlight bulb. Seems like it should exist.

[EDIT] after writing this I tried "portable nightlight" on a whim and that search does return things kinda like what I want, though they're all LED and in form factors that wouldn't be too pleasant to carry around. So close, but not quite.

I started doing this a while ago. Then lapsed back to the usual. I bought a rechargeable portable lamp that's dimmable. It has a great impact on my sleep when I use it properly. I want one that's more diffuse like a candle though.

I really hope this is the start of a backlash against the backlight and pay to play.

How about this? https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Light-Works-Amazon-Alexa/dp/B...

$70, and $60 of that is buying Hue/Alexa functionality that would require other Hue and Alexa stuff to use it (so more money), which I don't have and don't want. Plus it's LED, and it's not easy to carry around.

I just want a 4 watt incandescent nightlight light bulb (or similar) on a small mount with a handle or grip of some kind, the ability to stand up on its own, and battery power. Should cost $10 or less, if it exists.

I realize this sounds silly, but I like the fake-candle LED lights that are about 2.5 inches in diameter. I don't know what brand we have, but these [0] look similar. One is (barely) enough to read with at bedtime, but two or three might work great. At two AA batteries, my kids can leave them on all night, and the tiny LED hasn't drained much. (I think I change batteries maybe every couple months.)

- Can read OK with one, probably fine with two or three - 2x AA batteries; rechargeable ones work fine. - Easy for kids or parent to hold/transport - LED circuit flickers, seeming more like candle light. Probably not as good as the pattern you saw linked on HN last year. ;)

The real wax texture is both weird and cool, but the down side is they scratch easily. I wish I had them in plastic, honestly, but now that the kids have wrecked the surface I no longer care as much. ;)

https://www.amazon.com/Flameless-Candles-Remote-Control-Pill...

If you are still looking you could buy a flashlight with a diffuser (a kind of translucent cone that slips over the end). On modern flashlights you can adjust the brightness to many different levels. LED technology has also come along a long way, with much more natural shades of light, or even yellow shades if you want to mimic a candle.

If you need specific advice I recommend the r/flashlight community on reddit.

This. I would recommend anyone interested take a look at a kerosene lamp [1] (not sure if "lamp oil" that you can get is still just kerosene) but they've always had a similar effect on me. The color is nice but they are plenty bright to read by. I grew up with them and find them very calming but they are a little more stable and the flame is not totally open. You might be able to get away with less of them than candles as well making it safer. I would recommend nodding off and leaving it going all night but it won't melt and tip over by itself, it would likely just keep burning until it ran out of fuel or the wick burned out.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Lamplight-110-Chamber-Oil-Lamp/dp/B00...

Cheap candles give off fumes, how are these in that department?

I've never noticed them have fumes but I think it probably has to do with the fuel too. I think the clear fuels are maybe ideal, check out http://homeguides.sfgate.com/safely-use-oil-lamp-house-84155... and google around.

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