Many individuals who prefer to purchase reusable products have moved from fluid-filled lighters to a butane lighter. These devices are cleaner-burning, impart no taste to tobacco and come in designs that are as windproof as their fluid-filled cousins. They also provide a very long service life and can be purchased in designs with ornamented and commemorative cases. While their reliability is not an issue, many individuals wonder how many lights they can get out of a tank of fuel.

Butane torches use pressurized gas which is held in the reservoir portion of the device. Though the lighter may have a large size, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has a large reservoir of fuel attached. In fact, some larger lighters have rather small reservoirs relative to the size of the device on the whole. The larger tanks are oftentimes found on the more expensive models, principally those with more than one flame, that consume more fuel simply because they produce a hotter and more energetic flame.

Torch lighters can be adjusted to allow for a shorter, less powerful flame. This can help to conserve a great deal of fuel. In cases where one’s lighter is just about out of fuel and one is far away from home, this can help to get a few extra lights out of the torch. Remember that keeping a sustained flame will burn a very large amount of fuel, as well, and should be avoided if one is almost dry.

With larger lighters, the reservoir is oftentimes very much enlarged to accommodate more powerful flames and multiple jets. This has the effect of balancing out the number of lights that one can expect from a full tank of fuel with what one would expect from a less-powerful lighter. In either case, butane is a long-lasting fuel and even a lighter which is heavily-used should only have to be refueled a couple of times each month. Relative to the weight, butane lighters provide many more lights than liquid-filled lighters.

In the end, the most efficient lighters will be those that produce the gentlest flame. Turning one’s flame up higher will diminish the efficiency. In most cases, one can count on at least 100 lights out of their butane reservoir depending upon their usage habits and the number of jets on their lighter. To increase this number, one may simply turn down the fuel valve a bit.