When I was a kid I had one of those little sterno stoves and often used it to cook eggs and heat soup etc.

I found it cooked food well enough for a kid and I am sure a can of the stuff would produce enough heat to warm the inside of a tent or vehicle considerably higher than the outside air. Certainly at least as much as several candles which are quite effective.

Maybe it could be useful to drive off the dampness a bit before sleep, though of course if there is carbon Monoxide potential your sleep may be deeper than you'd like...

I just don't know, haven't been that high since we got them. Spent the first three months of this year at about 4400 ft, then all over Alaska, but not real high, and it was summer anyway. Right now we are sitting at 47 ft, and in a couple of weeks moving to an old Army Fort that is probably a little bit lower.

One good feature is that they have a low oxygen shut-off, so you can't do yourself in that way. Still, we only use then when we are awake. Saves propane that way also...

As I mentioned above, I contacted the Sterno website and asked about the Carbon Monoxide info in the above article by the Canadian medical journal. Here is the replyl:

"Thank you for your recent email regarding our World Class Sterno products.

This is Mike Siefert, Global Director for Quality and Technical Support of Sterno. Your email has been forwarded to me from our fine Customer Service Team for additional help to you.

Per your email request, please note:

On our Sterno website, www.Sterno.com , you will find many useful downloads, like Material Safety Data Sheets, usage & handling instructions, among other good information and safety charts. We use only the finest, cleanest, highest purity alcohols on the planet in the manufacturing of the Sterno family of products.

Regarding your comment on the website you listed below, I have submitted a rebuttal to their information. We have had independent test laboratory analyze our Sterno Brand Gel Chafing Fuel for between 50-60 compounds, and CO (carbon monoxide). Zero CO, or carbon monoxide is produced by burning Sterno Brand Gel Chafing Fuel for the entire 2+ hour burn. Attached you will find the independent laboratory analysis, and their report. Only CO2 carbon dioxide, is produced during combustion of our fuels. I do not know if their website will correct their reporting error, or not, or even post my letter which I submitted to them today. They may have been using a "Sterno-Like" product, but our Sterno Brand Fuel does not produce any carbon monoxide. Zero ppm measured down to 0.0000 mole percent.

Our retail product Sterno Brand gelled Canned Cooking Fuel will burn approximately for 2.5 hours, and is a canned, gelled alcohol product.

If you have additional particular questions regarding the use of our products, need additional technical information or BTU outputs, etc, please feel free to call or email me with any additional questions by reply, or at the number listed below.

Sterno, when used according to directions, usage instructions, and recommendations, is extremely safe by design. Sterno has been in the marketplace since the late 1800's. Safety is of strategic concern to us, and so is your individual safety. We design quality and safety, as much as humanly possible, into every single can we sell. We appreciate your feedback and comments.

At our website, we have safe handling and usage instruction sheets in .pdf file extensions, which one can download and print for reference. When you get to the above website, click on the "Foodservice Professional" link, then click on the "education and safety" link, then click the "fuel handling & safety tips" link. There you will find various methods of safe handling of Sterno fuel.

I sincerely hope this information has helped you. Thank you for your interest and patronage of Sterno Brand Fuels.

Please feel free to let me know if you need additional information and how to best further assist.

Best personal regards,

Mike Siefert"
Global Quality & Technical Support Director

The Sterno Group
Ofc: 903.223.3450 (Dial Country Code from outside US) 01
International Mobile: 903-293-8200(Dial Country Code from outside US) 01
MSDS's, handling, and usage instruction charts, are on the web at:

http://www.Sterno.com/

That was good of you, I think, to take the initiative and go straight to the source with the information in this thread. Also: Interesting reply regarding the carbon monoxide.

I'm thinking.... if a person burned enough Sterno.... say in a van... in the summertime.... and the resulting carbon dioxide were to solidify, hence forming dry ice.... would that have a cooling effect? Thinking (this type of thinking is just wrong!) a little more.... if Sterno were burned... in a van... in the wintertime.... would we be creating heat? ... or dry ice?

Ok. Enough thinking. Thanks for the email from Sterno.

Carbon monoxide can be created by the combustion of any carbon-containing fuel. The difference between the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) is the amount of oxygen (O2) available to the combustion process at any given moment.

If there is a sufficient supply of oxygen present (complete combustion), then two oxygen atoms are distributed to each carbon atom released in combustion, resulting in carbon dioxide (CO2).

If there is not sufficient oxygen present at any given moment, incomplete combustion will occur where only one oxygen atom will be available for some of the carbon atoms released, resulting in carbon monoxide (CO).

In some moments, there will be so little oxygen available that more carbon atoms are released than oxygen can bind with, resulting in a complete lack of combustion for some material, resulting in soot.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've never burned anything and not had some sort of black crap left over, so I damn well know that nothing burns completely. In fact, complete, full combustion for the entirety of any fuel is all but impossible. So it seems to me that Sterno's claims are faulty.

For more information, see the Wikipedia article on Combustion.

Well, I think Sterno is basing their claim on laboratory tests. In those tests, there must have been plenty of oxygen available while the Sterno was aflame. If your theory is correct, and it sure sounds reasonable to me, the only way they could measure zero carbon dioxide is if there weren't an instance during the testing when oxygen levels ran low, or below a certain (unknown) threshhold.

For our coleague fesigohl, who is probably right now sleeping in the van with 2 large, oxygen-sucking dogs, and with him sucking up his own share, we need to know how much oxygen must be available to save the three of them from carbon monoxide poisoning. He mentioned cracking a window, maybe two. Plus, there should be other intake ports where fresh air (and oxygen) are taken into the van.

Now, if someone were to use a carbon monoxide detection device, in a van, whilst burning Sterno, and the device were to register zero (or negative) for the presence of carbon monoxide, he would have some basis for refuting your claim, or at least making some oxygen variant arguement. If the device showed the presence of carbon monoxide, he could send that in to Sterno and say, "See! Your independant laboratory tests are b.s.!", or something silly like that.

I feel like I'm suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning right now.

Well from what I know through my chemistry experience, complete full combustion throughout an entire fuel source is all but impossible short of spraying pressurized pure oxygen onto the flames. Even then, I sincerely doubt that complete full combustion would occur.

In conclusion, I love to know exactly what their "lab test" comprised of.

Thank you for posting that. That pretty much confirms the experiences I've had with the stuff. It is not foolproof, but it's about as close as you can get with a portable open flame heat source. It is much safer than any propane heater or the like. About every other year during deer season somebody leaves a propane heater going in a camper or a tent, and they wake up dead from CO. I have yet to hear that happening from Sterno.

That's a good point about the generic sterno as well; it may well have a different composition. Another thing to watch out for.

With the relatively puny heat output of Sterno, wouldn't cracking a window result in a net loss of heat?

I guess the output is puny relative to a big 'ol space heater, but it's downright massive compared to a candle. I use one outdoors while hunting on cold mornings and it sure is nice to lean over. A vehicle gets toasty pretty quick, at least at the temps I am used to.