A tiki torch is an oil fired lamp that is mounted on its own stand so that you can pretty much install it anywhere you want. Since they are oil fired lamps they are usually only installed outdoors, but if the room is well ventilated, you can even use them indoors. These lamps are becoming very common accessories in hotels and other places where a certain ambiance is desired. Because they are available in a wide range of costs, they are also being used as lighting accessories for parties and such gatherings even at home.
A tiki torch in its most basic form is just a long stake that is about 5 ft. to about 6.5 ft. in height with an oil lamp on top. How this torch came to acquire this name is not known except that maybe because this torch has its origins in Polynesia, it came to be associated with the Von Tiki expedition. This is not fact however and only conjecture. The earliest tiki torches were used by a WWII veteran who served in the Pacific area and thus came into contact with these torches. He thought that it was a great idea to use them when he opened up his own hotel and restaurant. Although it became a hit immediately the use of these torches was not very widespread simply because if you wanted one, you had to make it yourself. There were not too many lighting manufacturers who made these lights.
It is only lately that manufacturers have been bringing tiki torches out and nowadays there is pretty much no design that you will not get. Their original problem with them being oil fired remains, but then this is one of the charms of the torch. If not it would probably be called tiki light. For those who want a slightly different version of the same thing, you also get gas fired ones. These lamps obviously do not look the same as the original oil fired one simply because a gas powered flame cannot mimic an oil fired one and each looks very different.
There is no reason for a tiki lamp these days other than for purely cosmetic reasons for your home. It makes the whole place look nice, and even if it is not something that you can use on a daily basis, it looks very nice if you are having a party, especially if you have a large garden. You can get these lamps from a low $30 each and go up to more than a couple of hundred dollars depending on the kind that you want. Once you get them, there is no installation as such. You just plant them in the ground and that’s it. The only problem is the oil that you use in them.
There are a number of combustible liquids that you can use in these lamps starting with kerosene. The only problem is that the use of kerosene is not recommended (obviously when the manufacturers are selling high “tech” oils for $30 or $40 a gallon, you can get kerosene for less than $5) by the makers of the lamp. The use of kerosene does not damage the lamp as such except for the formation of soot and smoke. Kerosene emits a lot of smoke and if you are sitting downwind of the lamp, you may not be comfortable with it. Other more technologically advanced oils are sold for higher prices, and some of them come like the citronella ones actually keep bugs away.
A tiki torch is a very different accessory to have at home. This lamp is usually not found anywhere other than in hotels and, even if you get a couple of the less expensive ones; this lamp makes a great impact. If you have parties frequently they add a nice atmosphere and, because they are mobile, you can pretty much arrange them in any way that you want to.
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