Tldr: Pro: easy to use, versatile, low capex. Contra: high opex, hard to light in cold, fuel storage

As winter came faster than I wanted, and my cabin build always goes slower than I want, I’ve had to improvise on heating. So I’ve been burning alcohol as my main fuel source in my small cabin the last few months.

The burners are circa 10cm diameter ceramic spunges in stainless steel tins, as pictured. I made a variety of lids to the tins, with holes in them. The size and quantity of the holes affect heat output and duration of burning.

The setup cost me around 35EUR.

For high heat output, such as for cooking, I use lids with large holes. In the evening, I use multiple burners with small holes, so that they burn for longer.

Overall it works well. They’re very easy to refill, and light. Unless it’s really cold (<5C), then I put them, closed, in my pocket for 10 minutes to pre heat them.

As my cabin is small (2.5m by 3m), and well insulated, it heats the inside temperature up from 5C to 18C within an hour. When outside temperatures dropped to -5C, I burned 2l a day, which costs me 4 EUR a day.

The fuel doesn’t store very long (1 year max I’ve read), and should not be subjected to below freezing temperatures. I store it mainly underground both for the constant temperature, and for fire safety.

Overall, I’m happy with the solution. Come next winter I do hope I’ll have a wood burning stove installed, as I’ve lots of wood available. But I’ll keep the alcohol stoves around, for cooking and backup.