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idoc72
1181
Mar 15, 2017
Awesome! Have you done any standardized testing to compare fuel efficiency (i.e. grams of fuel to bring a set volume of water, at a given starting temperature, to boil)? I know there are many variables including elevation, air temperature, and wind, but I find that sort of info extremely valuable for trip planning. Thanks for the post!
hikin_jim
251
Mar 15, 2017
idoc72Yeah, that is good information (fuel consumption figures). It's also technically very difficult.
Temperature, pressure, and wind, one can reasonably control for. One can even adjust for changes in canister pressure to a degree. Where one is in the life of the canister does matter. A full canister typically has higher pressure and boil times are typically faster at a given valve setting -- but more fuel is typically consumed. As the canister empties, pressure decreases, boil times at a given valve setting lengthen but typically consume a bit less fuel.
But just where to put the valve setting? Say you want to compare a Soto Windmaster (11,000 BTU/hr) with and MSR Pocket Rocket 2 (8,200 BTU/hr). Well, if you open both up max, an 11,000 BTU/hr stove is going to generally burn a lot more fuel than an 8,200 BTU/hr stove. Really, one has to set both stoves on the same BTU/hr rate. The stove that then boils with the least amount of fuel is clearly the more efficient. And it can be done. You just need a regulator set up that feeds gas at a set rate to each stove. But such test equipment I just don't have.
So, unless the person running efficiency tests has such test equipment, the numbers are somewhat subject to vagary. Just exactly what valve settings did he or she use? One half valve turn on one stove is not equal to one half valve turn on another by a different manufacturer.
That said, I can tell you that stoves with recessed burners like the Amicus and the WindMaster tend to use less fuel -- at a reasonable valve setting -- simply because they're protected from wind whereas open burner stoves are not. I can also say that the BRS-3000T is about the most affected by wind of any canister stove I've seen and is generally inefficient. All stoves are more efficient if you turn them down and run on a moderate flame; this is particularly true with higher output stoves (say 10,000 BTU/hr or more). With a high output stove, you really need to turn it down or you'll eat through fuel. Save that high output for when you really need it as in group cooking or snow melting. I actually prefer high output stoves simply because you are given more choices. You can't turn an 8,000 BTU/hr stove up to 10,000 BTU/hr to melt snow. But you can turn a 10,000 BTU/hr stove down to 5,000 BTU/hr to get good fuel economy.
HJ
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