Davy lamp Davy lamp The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It consists of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen. It was created for use in coal mines, to reduce the danger of explosions due to the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called "firedamp" or "minedamp." Davy's invention was preceded by that of William Reid Clanny, an Irish doctor at Bishopwearmouth, who had read a paper to the Royal Society in May 1813. The more cumbersome Clanny safety lamp was successfully tested at
Carcel lamp were that the movement operated unattended, the oil could be used to the last drop, the lamp would stay lit for sixteen hours continuously without refilling, and it provided illumination for several persons at the same time with a single burner. They were more complex devices however, and were more expensive and prone to problems in the mechanism. They were most popular in wealthier European cities. Their unpopularity was partially due to the necessity of having to return them to the (mostly European) manufacturers for repair. In 1829 the simpler Moderator lamp was invented, which dispensed with clockwork and used