I tried it outside at -5C, after 3 attempts and freeze my butt off I gave up, not going to happen. 15 ml of ethanol is just not enough, water would get warm and have small bubbles at bottom of pan but nowhere near boil. If I throw more fuel at it I have no doubt it'll boil, but with the fuel consumption rate I might as well use a manufactured stove.
Well, perhaps I'm off my rocker, but I just don't see it when it comes to using alcohol as a stove fuel in temps below 0C. Alcohol doesn't have a lot of heat per gram compared to canister gas or liquid petroleum based fuels. When it's cold, higher heat output is desirable in order to get cold, cold water up to the boiling point.
If you take a look at my
Standards for DIY Alcohol Stoves, my suggestion is that 15ml should be able to boil 500ml of water that is
20C. I'm guessing that if the air temp is -5C that the water temp was less than 20C.
My attitude is save the alcohol stove for temps above at least 5C and preferably 10C. Use petroleum based fuels in colder temps. Just my perspective.
HJ
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