Natura Lite Stove

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Here is a new invention that may help Tiny Home owners achieve independence from propane or electricity for cooking their meals, The Natura Lite stove by Lodge-tech, it uses 100% vegetable oil.

It operates similar to a water cooler by keeping the fluid level the same, the yellow flame of the stove burns at a much slower rate and lower temperature than the blue flame of propane or other gases, so the saving are as much as 30-50% or more, even if it seems a gallon gas or pound of propane is less expensive.

It does not boil large amounts of water very quickly, but it is wonderful for cast iron skillets or small dutch ovens and fantastic for steaming any meal piping hot in 30-45 min.

It is very safe to operate and will usually will self extinguish if knocked over, the oil bottle has strong magnets at the base to keep it firmly in place, and storing the oil is vastly safer than propane or other fuels.

The stove is available at www.lodge-tech.net.  Lodge-tech also makes yurts, domes, greenhouses and a low cost earth toilet.

16 thoughts on “Natura Lite Stove”

  1. Antique alcohal stoves that work on the same pricipal can be rather dangerous if they spill. Oil should be safer it you don’t have any fabric nearby that could absorb the oil and act as a wick

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    • Your comment has made me stop and think because, I was about to say just the opposite. Alcohol can be extinguished with water and tends to burn quickly and evaporate on the surface of a spill area whereas oil tends to cling to surfaces and cannot be easily extinguished. I may be wrong. I’ll have to work up a little experiment 😉

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  3. A new take on a very old technique. Can’t comment on this one, not having used it, but we used to make our own veggie (and other fat-burning) stoves using cans. We always placed on a non-burning, stable surface. Now I’m waiting for someone to reinvent the burlap and orange crate cooler.

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  6. Hey I posted about vegetable oil burners recently on my blog (click my name) see “vegetable oil burner”

    You can get a little bit of backgrounder around burning veggie oil.

    By the way, ideally you should use *waste* vegetable oil. You can get this from restaurants easily and way more cheaply, as mentioned in my post.

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    • You need to factor the environmental cost of making the solar panels, system regulators and the batteries along with disposal costs for the system as parts need replacement. You may find oil burners are actually greener.

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  9. As someone who does a lot of cooking, I must say this looks very dangerous. The pot does not appear stable and the slightest movement could send the contents off the base and onto the cook.

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  10. Not fast enough for most people’s usage. Also wouldn’t it smell, and soot-up the bottom of the pans?

    There are better burners which resemble those in a “trangia” scandinavian camp stove. You can make one using the underside of a coke can and a push pin. It gives a flame that is more like a cook top burner so will be hotter and less sooty.

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  11. Doesn’t seem very practical for serious cooking. “Safety” at the expense of utility seems a bit of a poor trade-off, especially when you consider any open flame has dangers for the unwary. I can see where it would be good at a potluck for keeping things warm though, especially in a longer configuration for multiple pots. You still need to obtain, process (old restaurant veggie oil can be rancid and full of burnt bits) and store oil for it which is usually more of an urban resource. Some form of stove using wood, like the wood-gas burners that use smaller stuff, might work better in a rural setting. I’ve used propane for years and never had any issues with storing it, other than it not flowing out of the tank very well at 40 below.

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