Camp Stove Fuel Calculator
Work out how many grams of canister gas your trip needs and which canister size to bring.
This assumes calm conditions with a typical upright canister stove. Wind and cold can double your fuel use, so bring a windscreen for the pot and keep the canister warm (in your sleeping bag or jacket) on cold mornings so it keeps its pressure. Simmering burns more fuel than a straight boil, so this estimate runs a little lean if you cook more than you boil water.
How it works
A typical upright canister stove burns roughly 8 g of gas per 1 liter boil in calm conditions. The calculator multiplies your trip days by how many times you boil water each day (coffee in the morning, dinner at night, and maybe an extra for tea or freeze dried lunch) to get total boils, then multiplies that by 8 g to get the gas you'll burn through. From there it picks the smallest canister size, 110 g, 230 g, or 450 g, that covers the total.
Worked example: a 4 day trip with 3 boils a day (coffee, dinner, and one extra) is 12 boils total. At 8 g a boil, that's 96 g of gas, which a single 110 g canister covers with a little to spare. Stretch the same trip to 40 boils, maybe a longer trip or extra hot drinks, and you're at 320 g, which needs the 450 g canister instead.
FAQ
What if my trip needs more than one 450 g canister?
Bring two smaller canisters instead of assuming one giant one will last, an empty or low canister with no backup means no hot food or coffee for the rest of the trip. Splitting fuel across two canisters also spreads the weight and gives you a backup if one has a bad valve.
Does cold weather really change how much fuel I need?
Yes, noticeably. Canister stoves lose pressure in the cold, so they burn less efficiently and take longer to boil the same water, which burns more gas per boil. Keeping the canister warm (sleeping bag overnight, inside a jacket before use) helps it perform closer to its rated output.
Why does wind matter so much for a stove?
Wind carries heat away from the pot before it can transfer, so an unshielded stove in a breeze can take much longer to boil, burning noticeably more gas for the same result. A simple windscreen around the pot (not touching the canister) usually fixes most of it.
Is simmering really that different from boiling?
Yes, a rolling boil is the efficient way to cook with a canister stove. Simmering for a long time, like slow-cooking rice or a stew, burns noticeably more fuel per meal than bringing water to a boil and letting food sit off heat to finish cooking.
For more on choosing gear and planning meals on a stove, see how to choose a camp stove, easy camping meals for beginners, and how to make coffee while camping.