Cook smarter outdoors with precise fuel estimates today. See cost per session, week, and year. Adjust burner power, efficiency, and gas price instantly here.
| Scenario | Gas type | Burner rating | Burners | Duration | Sessions/week | Fuel per session | Cost per session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patio stir-fry night | Natural gas | 9,000 BTU/hr | 2 | 45 min | 4 | 0.068 therms | 0.15 |
| Weekend grilling | Propane | 12,000 BTU/hr | 3 | 60 min | 2 | 0.24 gal (US) | 0.95 |
| Garden party prep | Propane | 3.5 kW | 1 | 90 min | 3 | 1.06 kg | 1.85 |
Outdoor cooking rarely runs at full flame from start to finish. This calculator converts your burner rating and time into fuel energy, then applies an overhead allowance for preheat, wind, lid lifting, and simmering. By entering typical session minutes and weekly frequency, you get a repeatable baseline for planning patio meals and garden gatherings.
Many appliances publish input heat rates, while real heat delivered to cookware is lower. The efficiency field bridges that gap, letting you estimate useful heat or required fuel when your rating represents cookware heat. Use consistent assumptions across appliances so comparisons between grills, camp stoves, and side burners stay meaningful.
Utilities and refill stations charge by different units. Natural gas may be billed in therms, cubic meters, or energy equivalents, while propane may be sold by gallons, pounds, or kilograms. The calculator uses typical BTU-per-unit values to translate cooking energy into billable quantities, which makes cost estimates comparable.
Once fuel per session is known, the tool scales the result to weekly, monthly, and yearly totals using your session frequency. This helps budget for high-use seasons, estimate refill cadence, and evaluate changes like fewer burners, shorter sessions, or better wind shielding. Exported CSV and PDF outputs support simple recordkeeping.Tracking results over time steadily improves accuracy as your habits change.
Carbon estimates are calculated from fuel energy and standard CO2 factors for each gas type. Treat the values as directional, not laboratory measurements. The biggest reduction levers are shorter cook time, fewer burners, and better heat transfer. Small changes compound over a season, lowering both costs and emissions.
No. Simmering usually uses a fraction of the nameplate rate. If you simmer often, reduce burner rating, increase efficiency, or raise overhead modestly to reflect your real control settings and wind conditions.
For open-flame outdoor cooking, 35% to 65% is a practical range. Use a lower value for windy conditions and thin cookware, and a higher value for good shielding and tight-fitting pots.
Bills include other household usage, standing charges, taxes, and price tiers. Also, your burner rating may differ from actual flame settings. Use your receipt unit price and adjust sessions, minutes, and overhead until outputs match typical refills.
Yes. Select each fuel and keep the same cooking pattern inputs. The tool converts energy to your chosen billing unit, so you can compare cost per session and annual totals under similar usage assumptions.
It adds a buffer for preheating, lid lifting, wind loss, and short high-flame bursts. Start at 5%. Increase it if your setup is exposed or you frequently preheat grates and cookware.
They are estimates based on standard emission factors per unit of fuel energy. Supplier composition and combustion conditions vary, so use them for trend tracking and reduction planning, not for compliance reporting.
Important Note: All the Calculators listed in this site are for educational purpose only and we do not guarentee the accuracy of results. Please do consult with other sources as well.