Sky Lantern Info
What Are Sky Lanterns ?Also known as Kongming Lantern, Chinese lantern, Wish Lantern, or Floating Lantern is a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a burning fuel cell is suspended.
In Asia and around the world, they have been traditionally made for to be launched for play or as part of festivities.
| – | Invented in China by Zhu Ge Liang (181~234AD) and used to transport
messages during civil unrest (Later, he was made a Confucian Saint in
1724) |
| – | Used in Asia to bring good luck. |
| – | Mid-2000's Sky Lanterns appear in Europe. However, large falling blobs of burning wax dripped from the Thai lanterns and liquid spirits or toxic fuels from the Chinese lanterns occasionally created dangerous situations. Lanterns were pricy too. MH manufacturing was commissioned to design a better lantern for a fair price.
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| – | TnT Sales solved the fuel problems. Also lantern costs decreased as we set fair factory direct pricing. The low drip fuel source was a break-through and continues today. |
| – | However, testing was still dangerous due to the flammability of regular paper.
Something more needed to be done. We began to test various fire retardant papers
with various designs to reach different volume to weight ratios.
The right ratios combined with the right amount of heat resulted in the invention
of the Original Fire-Retardant Sky Lantern. It obtained excellent height, glowed bright and would not start on fire. |
| – | In early 2006 we launched our Original Fire Retardant Sky Lantern invention and
the industry was changed forever, or so we thought. See Sky Lanterns Today Page… |
How Do They Work ?
The heat provided by the burning fuel cell produces hot air that fills the balloon. The air inside the enclosure is less dense causing it to rise in the more dense out side air. Lanterns rise faster and go higher when the difference in temperature between the air inside the lantern and the outside are greater. So in other words they work better in cool / cold weather.
Used in temperatures in the high 90's to 100's may prove difficult. When the outside temperature is high you must allow more time before releasing!
