➡ The text discusses five types of fuel: wood, diesel, solar energy, propane, and kerosene. Each has its pros and cons. Wood is cheap and abundant but requires physical labor to harvest. Diesel is the cheapest petro-based fuel with high energy density but needs a power source. Solar energy has a high upfront cost but is safe. Propane is cheaper than kerosene but more volatile. Kerosene is expensive but versatile and safe to store. The choice of fuel depends on factors like cost, safety, storage life, and the duration of use.

➡ The text discusses different heating systems, asking readers to share their preferences in the comments. It also encourages viewers to support the channel by purchasing survival gear from CanadianPreparedness.com, using a discount code for a 10% off. The message ends with a reminder that preparation is key to thriving in survival situations.

Wood stove, diesel, electric, propane, kerosene. What is the best solution to keep you alive when the lights go out? Let’s talk about it. So if winter comes and the grid goes down, you’re probably going to die. For that reason, you need to find an alternative way to heat your home. There are five general ways you can do this. You can use a wood stove, you can use diesel, you can use electric, you can use propane, or you can use kerosene. You can even get a multi-fuel heater that uses diesel, kerosene, or fuel oil. There’s also things like passive solar heating that we’ve talked about on the channel before.

But for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to be talking about the big five. We’re going to be comparing all of these five along various dimensions, and we’re going to talk about what situations they’re ideally suited to. So let’s get to it. Okay, let’s start with everybody’s favorite, the cost. A wood stove can vary between $100 to $700 depending on the type that you want. We’re just talking about portable wood stoves here. We’re not talking about the permanent installations for your home. You can install a wood stove in a house with relative ease. I’ll post a video on how you can do that here.

Generally though, these are made for four season tents with a wood stove jack. Diesel heaters are relatively cheap. These are going to cost you between $150 and $200. An electric heater that you probably shouldn’t even consider, but we have to talk about it, will cost you about $150 to $200. Likewise, a propane heater will cost you about the same, $150 to $200. Kerosene heater might cost you around $200. Now for you Americans, I’m talking Canadian dollars, so subtract 25%, you lucky sons of. In terms of actual power consumption like electricity, the wood stove requires no electricity whatsoever.

It is the most rustic method of staying warm that you see here. The diesel, one of the downsides is that it does require a little bit of electricity. I see people get really excited about diesel heaters because in terms of the cost per BTU, it is far and away one of the cheapest and it’s one of the most efficient. I understand why it’s the ideal fuel. It’s a very versatile fuel. You can put it in your farm equipment, some of your vehicles. However, it does require electricity. Not that much, but enough that you’re going to need a constant power source to match the amount of diesel you plan on burning.

You’re looking at about 24 hours maximum on your standard small portable battery pack. If you have a portable battery system and a solar panel that maybe is recharging at a rate of 100 to 200 watts per hour, that should be sufficient to run something like this continuously, but you have to account for the fact that the sun is not shining in the night. If you plan on using this in your car in the wintertime and you’re relying on your car’s battery, you’re going to drain your car’s battery over time and that could potentially put you in a more dangerous situation.

Electricity, it’s a no-go. 1500 watts for this little sucker. To put that in perspective, to run 1500 watts, continuous. That’s going to be eight hours that you’re going to get heating a space, which is not even really going to generate that many BTUs compared to the other devices here. The only reason why we show the electric heater is because it is an option. So if you have a abundant source of solar energy, then electric heating might be a solution. Propane needs no electricity. Some of them have electronic ignitions. Some of them use piezo ignition, but you can also just ignite it manually with a lighter if you so choose.

The kerosene requires no electricity, but it does require batteries. So batteries are usually pretty easy, and so if you have a few packs of batteries laying around, you’re virtually going to be able to get indefinite amounts of heat, and then of course you can always light it manually. In terms of the ease of operation, wood stove, you’re going to have to install that sucker. You’re going to have to be venting that smoke somewhere, and you’re going to have to constantly tend to the fire with the wood that you’re going to put in the stove.

So this is probably the one that requires the most amount of maintenance. Diesel is also going to require some installation. You have to be able to vent the exhaust and the air intake. And of course, depending on how you want to pipe it in, there’s a myriad of ways to do that. Lots of installation. In electric, all you have to do is plug it in, but you’re limited to wherever there’s an outlet. Propane is the most user-friendly. You plug and play, you can use it anywhere. It has the highest portability over any of these options. Kerosene is also very plug and play.

You pour the fuel in, you turn it on, that’s all you have to do. What about toxic fumes and carbon monoxide? With a wood stove, we have to worry about smoke and carbon monoxide as well. Anytime you combust something, you’re going to have to worry about carbon monoxide buildup. So for that reason, you’re going to want to make sure you have a stove that has really good tight seals or good airflow. Diesel is also going to create carbon monoxide. This is why there’s a vent and there’s a muffler on there so you can vent that combusted air to the outside.

Electric, one of the great things is there are no toxic fumes whatsoever. With propane, there’s less carbon monoxide and usually there’s a low oxygen sensor which will automatically turn it off if there is carbon monoxide buildup. So of the four that do emit carbon monoxide, the propane will do so the least. However, there is condensation buildup that you have to contend with. Kerosene is also going to emit high amounts of carbon monoxide. So you’re going to want to make sure you’re using this and all of the combustion heaters in a ventilated space and make sure that you have a backup carbon monoxide detector just in case.

Now let’s talk about the downsides of all these. With the wood stove, you’re contending with smoke and everything in the space that you’re heating eventually smelling like a forest fire. There’s not many downsides to the diesel. It might be a little loud to start and there’s going to be a background noise while it’s running and there’s going to be a hot exhaust pipe. Above and beyond that, there’s not many cons. In terms of the electric, besides the unsustainable level of power consumption, there’s no noise and there’s no fumes. Propane, you’re going to have to deal with condensation.

The propane will actually act as a bit of a humidifier in your space at the same time. But that condensation can build up and that can lead to mold and mildew depending on how long you’re using this and how properly you’re ventilating the space. Kerosene, the biggest drawback is going to be the smell. Everything is going to stink like kerosene. It can also be a little bit messy compared to something like propane where that fuel is all contained. Let’s talk about the perks. One of the perks of the wood stove is that I would say overall this is going to create the most amount of heat over any of these units.

Of course, they’re going to vary in size. One of the other benefits is that you can use this as a cooking platform. You can boil water, you can cook, so you’re using that energy in multiple ways. One of the advantages of the diesel is that it’s actually combusting inside here and it’s heating up the air. So the air that blows out is actually preheated for you. It’s taking that cold air from outside, combusting it, and then it is creating heat which moves into your space. That’s different from the radiant heat that something like a propane heater throws off.

You’re also getting air circulation, so it’s going to move that heat around equally throughout the space. Whereas radiant heat like this takes a while to kind of build out in the space. The benefits of the electric heater is that it is the safest. Nothing’s being combusted and there’s no carbon monoxide. It doesn’t get safer than that. However, if there’s an EMP, you can kiss this goodbye. With the propane, you have versatility with propane itself as a fuel. You can use propane for a variety of different applications around the homestead. In addition to that, some of these actually will come with a cooker that can be used separately.

This one, for example, you can kind of tilt it. You can turn it. One of the great things about it is you can move it around the space. You’re not bound to one space like you might be with some of these units. The advantages of kerosene, it’s a set it and forget it fuel. You can also use the top of this, which gets very hot to cook on. I don’t think that that is something that they advertise. That might void the warranty. I’m just saying if you needed to, it does potentially have that dual use functionality.

In terms of portability, this is basically going to be a permanent fixture depending on where you start. That’s where it’s going to stay once it’s going. The same thing is true with the diesel. You can move it around, but of course, you’re going to have to change the way you exhaust it. Now, I have seen some people, they just keep these on top of their SUVs, and they just use this to pipe the air in, which is very convenient. You don’t necessarily have to bring this into the space. In terms of this, you’re going to be limited to an AC outlet.

Propane, you can pretty much use it anywhere. There’s no cords, there’s no exhaust, but you do need a ventilated space. Same thing with the kerosene, 100% portable, just slightly more unwieldy of a design, okay, for the equivalent amount of BTUs. Both of these are going to be admitting about the same amounts of heat, but as you can see, this is a much smaller form factor. These bigger units are typically used for heating job sites. It’s going to be giving off a lot of exhaust, so it’s meant to be used in like an open-aired workspace.

So we have five different types of fuel. We have our wood, we have our diesel, we have our solar energy, we have our propane, and our kerosene. What are the pros and cons of all of these? Wood is abundant. Depending on where you live, it might even be free. It is probably among the cheapest of energy sources. However, we have the axe here to symbolize that you’re probably going to have to work for it. So that’s something you have to factor in here, is that your physical labor and your energy is energy that gets factored into the equation.

Diesel is the cheapest of all the petro-based fuels that we’re going to show here. It has the highest energy density, which is why it is one of the preferred choices. However, remember, you’re also going to need a power source, which is why this segues well into solar. You’re going to need a way to power this battery if you plan on using your diesel fuel indefinitely. Now, if you don’t want to do solar, you can get a gasoline generator to power the battery or a diesel generator, but those are really expensive and probably out of most people’s price range.

Now, solar, the upfront cost is going to be massive, and the actual energy cost for heating a home electrically far exceeds most of the options that you see here, depending on where you live, of course, and depending on what type of system you have. Propane is going to be more expensive than diesel, but still relatively cheap, especially compared to kerosene. For example, to fill this container here in Canada, it costs us around $15. Typically, you’re looking at about a buck per litre. Now, kerosene is among the most expensive. For perspective, this is a nine litre, which is about two gallons for my American friends, and that’s going to cost you about $40 Canadian at Woma.

Okay, so you’re looking at about 20 bucks a gallon. Here in Canada, diesel is about six bucks per gallon, more or less. So that’s a huge difference, 25% the cost of kerosene. In terms of safety and volatility, wood is the safest, however, you do have to go and harvest it, and that means you’ve got to get out there with the bugs, you’re chopping wood, things can go wrong. So one of the safest fuels to store, but not necessarily one of the safest to harvest. Diesel has a much higher flashpoint than all of the other fuels that we show here, so it is going to be among the least volatile of all the fuels you can store.

It stores for a relatively long period of time as well. Solar is going to be relatively safe, however, that probably means that you have lithium batteries on site, and lithium batteries are prone to spontaneously explode. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen. I would say these are second in terms of the least volatile. Propane, of course, it has the most explosive potential of all the fuels here, but I think propane gets a bad rap. The amount of accidents that happen per year with propane are a lot less than people would think, but again, it is one of the more volatile fuels, so you have to be very careful with it.

Kerosene is slightly more volatile than diesel, but it’s still a relatively safe fuel to store around. It’s not like gasoline, where if a match looks at it the wrong way, it’s going to go up and smoke. In terms of the shelf life of the fuels, wood can last 10 years to indefinitely, depending on where you store it. It’s going to rot out eventually, but chances are you’ll be dead long before that happens. Diesel can last up to two years without fuel stabilizers. One to two years, they say, with fuel stabilizers, you can extend that, but that’s an extra cost.

Solar panels will typically last 25 years and beyond. Lithium batteries, of course, are going to have a limited life expectancy, depending on the type of lithium batteries. Propane can last about 10 years. They say 10 years because you’re limited by the gaskets and the seals that are essentially used to disperse the gas. Kerosene has about a five-year shelf life. With most of these, the fuel is still going to burn, but it’s not going to burn as good and it’s not going to be as potent. In terms of the size of the fuel, you’re going to need a large space to store wood.

If you have a homestead, that’s not going to be a problem, but the amount of fuel in wood is a lot less than the amount of fuel in these petrol-based fuels. Diesel is the most dense fuel of all the fuels that you see here. You can store a lot of it in a relatively small space. Solar and batteries are going to be incredibly heavy, but they’re also incredibly dense. Something like this might weigh about 25 pounds. If I had 25 pounds worth of diesel, it would take me a lot further than that 25 pounds of lithium, but you can recharge the lithium over and over again.

In terms of the propane, it’s going to be a fairly dense fuel as well, and probably equally as dense as the propane and the kerosene. In terms of volume and weight, propane, diesel, kerosene, they’re all pretty comparable. Perhaps the most important question when it comes to keeping yourself alive for the longest amount of time possible is how much BTUs, heat, British thermal units, are you going to be able to get out of all these different types of fuels? Wood is the longest term solution. If you’re preparing for the end of the world, you need a wood stove.

If you’re preparing for the end of the world light, then you need a solar system. However, you’re not using that for heat. Remember, if you’re preparing for the end of the world for maybe a few months, then you’re going to go with something like a diesel. If you’re preparing for the end of the world for a couple weeks, propane will probably get you through it. If you’re preparing for the end of the world anywhere from a week to six months, kerosene’s going to do it, but it’s going to cost you a lot of money.

Now, for myself personally, as a prepper of 15 years in climbing, I have all of these, okay? So I want as many options as possible. Depending on where you live, you might not need a full-blown diesel system or a wood stove system. You might be able to get by on solar and electric. For most people, generally, and what we’ve seen in the situations that have arisen recently down south where they got those big snowstorms, they were distributing propane because it’s one of the easiest things for people to plug and play and use. Kerosene, it’s very expensive.

Kerosene used to be one of the preferred ways of heating homes for preppers, but again, it really does stink. The fumes can be quite nauseating for some. So generally speaking, I would say if I was just starting out in this and I wanted to get something just for limited 72-hour emergencies, I definitely would go with a propane heater. If you’re wanting something that you’re going to be using more regularly, you can actually use a diesel heater for that. If you’re wanting to have something indefinite, every prepper should have a wood stove. If you’re worried about full-blown SHTF, presuming, of course, you have access to wood.

I’m not really sold on kerosene. It’s a nice fuel because you can use it in lanterns. So it’s versatile in that respect where you can use it for lighting and or heating and cooking. I would kind of have it there as a novelty item and because of its long shelf life, which is about five years, it really does come down to the timescales that you’re preparing for. I would rule out electric heating altogether. It’s going to be a big drain and you’re not going to be able to heat a very large space. Let me know which one of these you guys prefer in the comments section below.

And if you want any of these heating systems, I will post links in the description. Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe. Canadian Pepper out. The best way to support this channel is to support yourself by gearing up at CanadianPreparedness.com where you’ll find high quality survival gear at the best prices, no junk and no gimmicks. Use discount code prepping gear for 10% off. Don’t forget the strong survive, but the prepared thrive. Stay safe. [tr:trw].

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