When the electric hob goes off, a camping stove still gives you a hot drink, a hot-water bottle and a hot meal. For most homes the Campingaz Camp Bistro 3, about £30, is the one to keep: it takes an ordinary saucepan and runs for over an hour on one small cartridge. For winter cuts, the Kovea Spider copes better with the cold.
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What it's good for in a power cut
Hot drinks and hot-water bottles, which matter most when the heating is off too.
Heating a pan of soup, beans or a tin of stew from the store cupboard.
Just-add-water meals, porridge and noodles.
Camping stoves are made for outdoor use, so you'll want a garden, yard or patio to cook on. If you have a gas hob, it may still work in a power cut too: cooking in a power cut.
Portable gas stoves: which type suits you?
Think about what you'd actually cook. For tea, hot-water bottles and just-add-water meals, a fast-boil system or a small burner is enough. To heat a pan of soup for a family, choose a tabletop or remote-canister stove that takes a normal saucepan.
Camping stoves compared
Type
What it is
Good for
Less good for
Tabletop cartridge stove
A flat box with one burner and the gas cartridge slotted in the side
Ordinary pans, simple to use, steady on a garden table
Frosty days, as most run on butane
Screw-on burner
A small burner that screws on top of a gas canister
Light and cheap; boiling a small pan
Big pans, as it stands tall
Remote-canister stove
A low burner on legs, with a hose to the canister
Bigger pans; often better in the cold
Price: it costs more than a basic burner
Fast-boil system
Burner and insulated pot locked together
Boiling water quickly with little gas
Frying, or cooking for several people
Methylated-spirit burner
A small pot of meths you light, under a pan stand
Simple, no gas, few parts
Speed: it's the slowest of the lot
Three stoves worth a look
Ranked by fit for a home in a power cut, not by price. Prices checked 4 November 2026. Specs are from the retailers' listings.
Campingaz Camp Bistro 3Simplest for cooking
A tabletop stove in a carry case that takes an ordinary saucepan or frying pan. Push-button lighting, and the cartridge clicks out when you put it away. Its CP250 cartridges are mostly butane, so it's at its best on a mild day. Campingaz rates it at 160 g of gas an hour, up to 1 hour 15 minutes on a CP250 cartridge. Expert Reviews named the previous model, the Bistro 2, its best budget stove.
A low burner on fold-out legs, connected to the gas canister by a hose, so it sits low and steady with a pan on. Its pre-heat tube is designed for use in low temperatures, which suits winter power cuts. Check Kovea's instructions for which canisters it takes.
Type
Low burner on legs, connected to the gas canister by a hose
Cold weather
Pre-heat tube; seller calls it a four-season stove
A burner and a 1-litre insulated cup in one, built to boil water fast: Live for the Outdoors timed half a litre at two minutes and named it the best backpacking stove of 2026. Ideal for tea, hot-water bottles and just-add-water food. Not made for frying or a family-sized pan, and it has no fuel regulator, so it slows as the canister gets cold.
Type
Fast-boil system: burner and 1-litre insulated cup in one
Burner
1.5 kW
Boil time
About 120 seconds per half litre (maker's average)
These are findings other testers have published, credited with links.
Campingaz Camp Bistro 3Expert Reviews tested the previous Camp Bistro 2 and named it best for camping on a budget, "sturdy enough to take bigger pans with no wobbles", though slow to boil, at 5 minutes 25 seconds.October 2023
Kovea Spider KB-1109Walkhighlands called it "nothing short of excellent" as a remote-canister stove, with a good simmer, though there's no built-in igniter.October 2013
Jetboil Flash 1.0LLive for the Outdoors named it the best backpacking stove on test and its 2026 stove of the year; it "brought 500ml (16.9fl oz) of water to the boil in two minutes".November 2026
How long does a camping stove gas cartridge last?
About an hour of full flame from a small cartridge. Campingaz rates the Camp Bistro 3 at 160 g of gas an hour, "up to 1hr 15min" on a CP250 cartridge, and Kovea gives the Spider 130 g an hour. Simmering uses far less: one tester used 137 g over seven days of two boils a day with the Spider, in chilly weather. For a few days' cooking and hot drinks, keep three or four cartridges.
Gas in cold weather
Plain butane works poorly around freezing: the flame gets weak. That matters, because winter storms bring many power cuts.
Winter or "four-season" cartridges are usually a mix with propane or isobutane, which copes with lower temperatures. Check the temperature range printed on the cartridge, and that your stove takes it.
Campingaz's CP250 cartridge, used by its tabletop stoves, is 75% butane and 25% isobutane according to the retailer we checked: fine on a mild day, weaker on a frosty one.
Remote-canister stoves with a pre-heat tube are designed to work better in the cold.
Getting the right cartridge
Fittings differ. Some cartridges clip in with a collar or bayonet (like Campingaz CP250), others screw on with a self-sealing thread. Buy the cartridge your stove's instructions name, and keep a couple of spares with the stove.
What it costs
The three stoves above range from about £30 to £130. Add cartridges: a pack of four Campingaz CP250 was £16.95 at Jacksons Leisure. Add a pan that fits if you need one, and a flask to keep hot water for later.