Everything You Need To Know About Lighters And Their Fuels

A lighter was invented as a portable tool to provide flames to a combustible substance. Lighters changed its form and used throughout history. They were invented even before matchboxes. Matchboxes were often rejected due to the presence of lighter as an option. In fact, the matchbox industry lost most of its customers and market share to lighters. Lighters operate on the fuels stored inside them, and most of the lighters are refillable. The fuel used has changed constantly with technology. There are different types of lighters present today. There are antique lighters which are kept by people as collectibles. There are lighter enthusiasts who collect different attractive and fancy lighters they come across.

Everything You Need To Know About Lighters And Their Fuels

History of Lighters:

The first lighter was invented back in 1823 by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. This lighter used hydrogen as a fuel. The lighter created this hydrogen through a chemical reaction. Then a platinum metal catalyst ignited this hydrogen. This burning hydrogen gave off a large amount of heat and light. All the lighters today are somewhat based on these principles. After the first lighter became popular, innovative ideas flowed in. Lighters went through several developments. This made them cheaper and more portable. There are different types of lighters such as:

• Automobile Lighters – These are the lighters that come installed in the dashboard of cars. They heat electronically and get hot enough to burn cigars and cigarettes.
• Match Lighters – Antique lighters, which uses an attached rope as fuel. This rope is ignited by a striker. These are windproof, and wind even helps the rope to burn better.
• Electric Arc Lighters – These types of lighters are electronic and use burning plasma as fuel. There are Wind-proof and rechargeable.
• Flameless Lighters – These are windproof lighters with no flame. These lighters are safest to use and are perfect for igniting cigarettes and cigars.

Butane Lighters And Zippo:

Today, the most commonly used lighters are butane fuelled lighters. Butane is stored inside a plastic or steel compartment, which is used as a fuel for the flame generated. Butane lighters create a clear flame and can be used for combustion of any type. While flameless and electric lighters have limited use, butane lighters can be used in the burning paper, wood, cigarettes, candles, etc. Instead of butane, naphtha was used by lighters earlier. In the 1950s, butane replaced naphtha. Butane allowed better flame control and had less odor. These were the main reasons for a switch between fuels.

Butane lighters are widely produced, but one industry has specifically taken up most of the market worldwide.  Founded in 1932, Zippo lighters became super famous because of their elegant looks and varieties. Today, Zippo produces varieties of butane lighters and other fire starting equipment Zippo continue to make its iconic designs and have its own huge fan base globally.

Butane Lighters And Zippo

Refilling Your Lighter With Butane:

Most of the butane lighters are refillable. Zippo makes refillable lighters and also sells butane canisters and refills. These butane canisters are multipurpose. You can use them as your refills for Zippo butane lighters, refills for Zippo hand warmers, etc. You can also use butane canisters as Zippo flex neck utility lighter refill. Zippo sells these flexible and long-necked lighters for campfire burning, BBQ grill igniting, etc. These utility lighters are very useful in outdoor combustion and to start combustion from the inside of a thing. They use butane too.

For Zippo’s fluid based devices and lighters, you can use Zippo butane fluid. It contains liquid fuel of high quality. Zippo provide an option of refilling in most of its tools. This refilling can either be done through Zippo butane gas canisters or Zippo butane fluid refills.

You are thinking about where to buy Zippo butane fuel? Zippo is a very large organization by now. You can find its products in stores around the world. You can also shop online either directly through its official store or through other ecommerce stores. Zippo sells all its products through its website. You can buy Zippo butane fluid, Zippo butane canisters, Zippo flex neck utility lighter refill, etc. Because of great distribution channels and online availability of Zippo, the question of “where to buy Zippo butane fuel” is not really an issue anymore.

You should prefer refilling your lighter with same brand fuel. It ensures optimum performance if you own a different brand of lighter, research for butane fuels of that brand.

Conclusion:

With great advancements in technologies, even tools like lighters have come a long way too. The innovations in lighter have made them a very handy tool. Companies like Zippo have kept the lighters interesting, fancy and made them durable too. With refillable lighters, a person can fill them with butane again and again. There are butane fuels like Zippo lighter fluid refills easily available in the market. Lighters can be useful as a survival tool too. They are an interesting human invention.