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Heet or Alcohol


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) Heet or Alcohol

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  • #1235091
    john braun
    Member

    @hitman

    Locale: West Florida

    I've been using a super cat with denatured alcohol.

    It boils 2 cups of water with about 1 – 1.5 ounces. I'm fairly happy with it.

    Would the yellow Heet boil water quicker?

    #1488887
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    I don't think so. I experimented with both, and they are pretty much the same.

    #1488889
    Mark Hurd
    BPL Member

    @markhurd

    Locale: Willamette Valley

    John,

    HEET (yellow bottle) is methanol. Denatured alcohol is usually ethanol with some methanol or other non-drinkable substances mixed in.

    So what is the difference?
    methanol has about 4.6 kcal/gm
    ethanol has about 6.4 kcal/gm

    Ethanol has about a third more energy available per gram than HEET. So your denatured alcohol ( depending on how pure it is ) probably boils water a little quicker than HEET would. However I would guess that it isn't a big difference given all the variables with alcohol stoves.

    Stick with your denatured alcohol.

    -Mark

    PS- For more info than you ever wanted to know about stoves and fuel check out:

    http://zenstoves.net/

    #1488959
    john braun
    Member

    @hitman

    Locale: West Florida

    Thanks for saving me the trouble and hassle of testing it.

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