Propane, Butane, White Gas, and Wood: Comparing Emergency Fuels

When people think about getting prepared, they think about food first. That makes sense. But I always ask a follow-up question. How are you going to cook it? And when the power's out in the middle of winter, how are you going to stay warm?

You can't eat most stored food raw. You need to boil things, fry things, and bake things. And a cold night without heat is no small matter. So fuel is a big part of preparing, and a lot of people don't think about it until it's too late.

Every fuel has strengths and weaknesses. Here's how I see them.

Propane: Easiest, With One Big Catch

Propane is the easiest fuel to use and the easiest to store. It lasts the longest and has the fewest problems. It doesn't go bad sitting in the tank the way gasoline does.

The catch is that there's only so much in each container. How long a typical 20-pound propane tank lasts depends on how much you use it and what you use it for. It might last a week. It might last a month. Cooking uses some. Heating uses the most by far, and that's going to be the biggest problem if you have to keep a heater running all night.

For heating indoors, I'd highly recommend a catalytic propane heater that's designed and rated for indoor use. They have no open flame and produce minimal fumes, which is why they're made for use inside. Even so, follow the manual exactly, crack a window to let in fresh air, and have a working carbon monoxide detector in the room. Don't skip those steps just because the heater is rated for indoors.

Plan for how fast they burn through fuel, too. Depending on how cold it is, one of those heaters can use up a one-pound propane cylinder in a single night. Plan accordingly.

And here's the bigger issue. If we're in a serious crisis with fuel shortages and transportation shortages, propane is only going to last so long. You can't store enough of it to keep your family going indefinitely. So you have to think about other methods.

Butane: Good for Small Jobs

Butane works on small stoves and small heaters. Those little single-burner butane stoves are handy for heating up a meal or boiling water. They're a good part of a backup plan, but they're small-scale tools. Like other camp stoves, butane stoves are for outdoor use unless the product is specifically designed and rated for indoor use.

White Gas: Works, but Hard to Keep

White gas, sometimes called camp fuel, burns hot and works well in camp stoves and lanterns. The trouble is storing it.

It lasts a while, but somehow it manages to escape. I've watched this myself. I had a gallon of white gas I thought was full. I went back to it a couple of years later and it was only half full. I don't know exactly where it went, but it seemed to just seep away.

So if you store white gas, keep the containers tightly sealed and store them outdoors in a shed, away from your living space and anything that could ignite it. Check on them now and then. And remember that white gas stoves are strictly for outdoor use. You can't cook indoors with them safely.

Wood: Plentiful, but Handle With Care

Wood is the fuel a lot of people fall back on, and it has a lot going for it. It's renewable and often easy to find.

If you have a built-in wood stove or fireplace in your home, you're in good shape. The small portable wood stoves are another story. Camping wood stoves can work quite well, but you can't use them indoors. Some are made for use inside canvas tents, and they make a wonderful hot tent, but they have to be piped outside through a proper stove jack or chimney.

Once you try to bring one of those into your house, you're talking about open flames inside your home, and the risk goes up enormously. A stove that isn't built in and properly vented is extremely dangerous indoors. Be very careful with that. Some people with a covered patio set one up there and add a chimney, which can give the family someplace to keep warm without bringing the fire inside.

For cooking, rocket stoves are much better than an open campfire. A campfire wastes an enormous amount of wood. A rocket stove uses very little wood and focuses all the heat on one spot, right under your pot. I talk more about these in off-grid cooking with rocket stoves and camp stoves.

Gasoline: The Hardest to Store

Gasoline is the most difficult fuel of all to store because it's so volatile and it breaks down over time. It's still important for vehicles and generators, and with the right approach you can keep it good much longer than most people think. I share exactly what worked for me in storing gasoline long-term.

A Word on Safety

This is worth saying plainly. Propane, butane, and white gas camp stoves and heaters are for outdoor use only unless the product is specifically designed and rated for indoor use. Burning fuel indoors can produce carbon monoxide, which you can't see or smell. Put carbon monoxide detectors in your home, check the batteries, and store all fuels outside your living space.

The Rule I Live By

If there's one thing I want you to take away, it's this. Think of more than one way to heat and more than one way to cook. Don't depend on just one. Every fuel can run out, fail, or become impossible to get.

But at least have one. Having nothing is the worst place to be. You can't do very well without cooking, and you can't do very well in the cold.

The free Family Planner on this site will help you think through fuel, heat, cooking, light, and water for your whole household. There's no sign-up, and nothing you enter is ever saved.

A Thought to Carry With You

Every fuel on this list eventually runs out. The tank empties, the woodpile shrinks, the white gas slips away. I think that's part of the lesson. We store what we can, and we're wise to do it, but there's a warmth that doesn't come from any of these. Faith in God, kindness from neighbors, and a family that prays together keep burning when the fuel is gone. Prepare both kinds of fire.