They seem to try and give good customer service just the same.
Here in La France Profonde where we have no town gas, it is safer to spread your risk and make sure that you can cook and keep warm however you do it.
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good point!
It is a good point, a free standing gas ring is an asset, really quite cheap to buy and link to a gas bottle in an emergency.
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We also have two camping gaz lanterns for when we lose the electricity and a gas barbecue.
We have solar panels for hot water and a wood stove for emergency heating.
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I’ve thought about buying some, Jane. At present I use portable LED lanterns which are handy in power-offs but run down quite quickly. How many hours of illumination do you get from the small portable gaz canisters usually on sale, please?
Sorry, Jim is not sure how long a cylinder lasts for. Perhaps if you Google then they willl know the answer.
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Depends on how bright you want the lamp, but quite a long time.
We still use an old fashioned oil lamp!
Expect around 7 hours from a gas cartridge.
Rechargeable LED - up to 48 hours.
Battery LED - anything up to 10 days, depending on model.
Gas lanterns are generally brighter, but extinguish instantly when gas is exhausted. Mantles are fragile so you need to keep spares.
Battery lanterns become less bright as voltage drops, so give plenty of warning to recharge or change batteries.
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They are good too.
My mum always had a gas lamp fitted over her gas stove so that she could still see to cook.
Accidents are more likely to happen while searching for a source of light in the dark. So it is important to keep a torch in an easily accessible location for emergencies.
Smartphone owners won’t have a problem because they can be used as torches - among other useful features.
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We bought a cheap pack of “stickon” lights (battery operated)… which we keep in an easily accessible cupboard … we don’t “stick” them we just place them where necessary during power-cuts. After use, I replace the tab which “guards” the battery until next time… 
and magnetic torches are ideal during the blackout as they can attach in so many place… yippee
Mike, where do you buy the wicks for your oil lamps? I can’t find anything here that works!
We are fortunate to live near Villedieu-les-Poêles where you can buy wicks, chimneys and even brand new handmade lamps.
But you can find all sizes of wicks on eBay. Very cheap, but mostly from China, so you might have to wait a few weeks for delivery.
What is the oil called (in French) for an oil lampe, please? I have 2 but no oil…
Alcool de brûler, pétrole, liquide de lampe, huile de lampe
Huile de paraffine pour lampes
Are these suggestions for when our wine supplies run low?
To the English, it doesn’t sound like the right stuff, but we use Pétrole désaromatisé and it seems to be the same as lamp oil. Available at all good supermarkets and hardware stores.
Find it in the Droguerie section - that doesn’t sound right either. All part of the joy of surviving France!
Just don’t smoke at the same time 
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