Getting the best from your LOFI.
The LOFI Stove 2.0 is a 150g wood-burning stove for boiling water and quick trail cooking. A few simple habits make a big difference to how long it burns, how clean it runs and how long it lasts. Here’s what we’ve learned from years of cooking on it.
Best for
Hot drinks, noodles and trail meals
Weight
150g, with the speed controller
Burn time
10+ minutes on a full load of pellets
Top-ups
Every 3 to 5 minutes with thumb-thick sticks
Power
55 to 350mA from a power bank or phone
Where
Outdoors only
What it’s for, and what it isn’t
The LOFI is a boil-and-quick-cook stove. It’s at its best making coffee and tea, cooking noodles and rehydrating trail meals, on trips where every gram counts: backpacking, bikepacking, thru-hiking and wild camping.
- Hot drinks, noodles and trail meals for one or two
- Ultralight trips where you’d rather not carry gas
- Long routes where you can’t buy fuel along the way
Longer meals are possible with bigger sticks, but long, slow cooking for a group isn’t its main job. For that, a campfire or a bigger stove is the better tool.
It also needs a little power. The fan runs the whole time the stove is lit, from a power bank or your phone. That’s what lets a 150g stove burn this hot and this clean.
Outdoor use only. Never use it inside a tent, porch, bivvy, shelter or vehicle. Like any fire, it gives off carbon monoxide. Never leave it unattended, keep water nearby, and let it cool fully before you pack it away.
Choosing the right fuel
What you burn makes the biggest difference to how the stove performs.
- Thumb-thick sticks, 2 to 4cm long, burn far longer than twigs or bark. LOFI Snips cut them to size in seconds.
- Wood pellets are the easiest fuel of all. A full load burns for more than 10 minutes, and a third of a chamber boils water for a hot drink. Carry a handful for when everything outside is wet.
- Thin twigs, bark and paper are for lighting only. As your main fuel they burn away in seconds, and their fine ash can choke the ember guard.
- Other dry fuels like charcoal, nut and seed husks and dry dung burn well too. In an emergency, it’ll even burn corn chips, pasta, noodles or popcorn
- Avoid driftwood, green wood, poisonous species and treated or painted wood
Use dead, dry wood that snaps cleanly, and never cut living trees or branches.
Lighting it
Almost anything will light it, because the fan feeds the flame with air. Firelighters, a little alcohol fuel, a ferro rod or flint and steel with dry tinder, a lighter, or a bit of waxed cotton wool all work.
- Test the fan first. Plug in the speed controller, check the power indicator is lit and you can hear the fan running, then set it to low. Before your very first burn, run the fan for a moment to check it works
- Take the ember guard off and add your fuel to the burn chamber
- With twigs, put a firelighter, some waxed cotton wool or a pinch of dry tinder in the bottom with fine kindling on top, and light it from the bottom. Build up to thumb-thick sticks once the fire takes hold
- With pellets, fill the chamber to just below the upper air holes and light it from the top. A teaspoon of meths on top of the pellets gets it going quickly, but only add it when the stove is cold. A full load burns for more than 10 minutes
- Once the fire is established, put the ember guard back on. Lifting the pot for a moment gives it a bit more airflow, and there’s a little smoke at this stage
- Put your pot on the outer frame and cook. With pellets, let the load burn through rather than topping it up halfway
Wet weather? Carry a few firelighters and a handful of wood pellets. With the fan feeding it, even damp twigs keep burning once the fire is going.
How long it burns, and how to refuel
Burn time depends almost entirely on the fuel:
- Wood pellets: 10+ minutes on a full load. Let it burn through rather than adding fresh pellets halfway, which can smother the fire
- Thumb-thick sticks: add a few more every 3 to 5 minutes
- Thin twigs: they burn fast, so you’ll be feeding it almost constantly. Save them for lighting
To add fuel, lift the pot, drop a few more pieces in and put it back. The ember guard works like a funnel, guiding the fuel straight into the burn chamber, so it only takes a second.
To simmer, let the flames die back and cook on the red embers with the fan on low. Add a little more fuel before the coals turn white.
Where to rest your pot
Rest your pot on the outer frame of the stove, not on the inner ring. The stove takes pots up to 2kg, which is plenty for cooking for two.
Keeping the ember guard clear
The ember guard catches sparks and embers while you cook, and its holes are sized to do exactly that. With a pot on, the fire is fully contained, so embers are unlikely to escape. Take more care when there’s no pot on.
If it starts to clog with ash, usually from paper, bark or very thin twigs, build a hot fire with a pot on top. The heat burns the guard clean.
Never drill or enlarge the holes. Bigger holes let sparks and embers escape, which defeats the point of the guard.
Getting a clean, smokeless burn
There’s a little smoke while you light it. Once it’s going and the fan is set right, the fan blows secondary air in above the flames, which burns off most of the smoke before it escapes.
If it’s smoking:
- Lift the pot for a moment to give the fire more airflow while it gets established
- Turn the fan up a notch to give the fire more air
- Use drier fuel. Damp wood smokes in any stove
- Don’t add too much fuel at once. Feed it a little at a time so you don’t smother the fire
Powering the fan
The fan sips power: 55mA on its lowest setting and 350mA on high, about 1.75W. A 10,000mAh power bank runs it for 25 to 150 hours, and 1% of a phone battery boils up to 2 cups of water, so a small power bank is all you need. It runs from:
- A USB power bank
- A phone with reverse charging
- A small solar panel
- An older USB-A power bank, with the USB-A adapter
The speed control is built into the included LOFI USB-C speed controller. Any USB-C cable will run the fan as a fallback, but only at full speed. It doesn’t need a fast-charging power bank, but some power banks switch themselves off when the power draw is very low, so test yours before you head out.
What to avoid. The fan only needs a little power, so a small, good-quality power bank or your phone is best. Avoid large, high-powered power stations and cheap, unbranded power banks. Some don’t follow the USB power standard properly and can send the fan the wrong voltage, which can damage the electronics. If you’re unsure about a power source, email hello@lofi.com and we’ll tell you.
Keep the fan running until the embers have burnt out. It feeds the fire and keeps the stove cool.
Looking after it on the trail
The LOFI is built to be looked after anywhere, with no tools.
- Twist the base off by hand to reach the fan and electronics
- On the 2.0, the fan comes out by hand too, so you can clear out grit or ash in a couple of minutes
- The electronics have a protective coating, but they aren’t waterproof. If it gets rained on or splashed, disconnect the power and let everything dry thoroughly. Avoid salt water, and don’t let salty cooking water boil over into the base
- Once it’s cool, tip out the ash, give it a shake and run the fan for a moment to clear dust from the air channels. Don’t store it with ash inside, especially if it’s damp
- Store it in its mesh bag inside the LOFI Pot. The bag keeps soot off the rest of your kit, and the pot protects the stove from knocks in your pack
- A little soot and creosote on the bottom of your pot is normal. Back home, a little oven cleaner shifts stubborn deposits on a titanium pot. Check it suits your cookware and follow the instructions
- Keep the USB-C socket clean and free of sand, and check it before you plug in
Troubleshooting
The fan is stuck on full speed
- Check the speed controller is the right way round, with the dial nearest the power bank
- Make sure the USB-C connections are completely dry. Moisture can interfere with the controller
- Unplug it, then plug the cable into the stove first and the power bank second. The stove looks for the controller in the first half-second after power is connected
If it still won’t adjust, email hello@lofi.com and we’ll help.
The fan stops while the stove is lit
Plug it into your phone or a spare power bank straight away. If you can’t, stop adding fuel and let the fire die down safely. Don’t keep it burning without the fan, as the parts inside can overheat. Once it’s completely cold, check the fan spins freely and nothing is blocking it.
The power bank keeps switching off
Some power banks switch themselves off when the power draw is very low. Try a different power bank, or turn the fan up a little. Test your power bank at home before you head out.
You need to put it out quickly
Normally, let it burn out with the fan running. In an emergency, pour a cupful of water into the burn chamber. It works, but it can stress the metal and shorten the stove’s life, so only do it if you have to.
It’s smoky
Lift the pot for a moment to give the fire more air, turn the fan up a notch, use drier fuel and add it a little at a time. More on getting a clean burn.
Built to last, and to be repaired
Customers have been cooking on LOFI stoves for more than four years, and some have done more than 150 burns. The 1.0 and 2.0 share the same control cable and most of the same electronics, so the design has years of real-world use behind it. The fan is rated for 20,000 hours and has heatproof blades.
More than 1,500 stoves have been made, every part is sold separately, and we’ll keep making spares for as long as LOFI is in business. If something does go wrong, we’d much rather repair it than replace it. We even repair stoves with heat damage. And if you ever no longer need your stove, send it back to us to be reused or recycled.
See what owners say on Trustpilot.
Warranty, returns and refunds
- Two-year warranty. Every LOFI product is covered for two years, and repairs in that year are free.
- 30-day returns. Changed your mind? Return unused items in their original packaging within 30 days.
- Spare parts. Every part is sold separately in the spare parts shop.
If the fan or speed control ever stops working properly, email hello@lofi.com and we’ll sort it out. Read the full returns, refunds and warranty policy.
Still got a question?
Have a look at the FAQs and the glossary, or email hello@lofi.com.