Short answer: how to store bioethanol fuel comes down to four rules. Keep it in its original container, tightly capped. Keep it somewhere cool and away from any flame, spark or heat source, including the fireplace itself and any fuel-burning appliance. Keep it where children and pets cannot reach it. And keep only as much as you need. The reason is that ethanol gives off vapor that can ignite at ordinary room temperature: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lists ethanol’s flash point as 55°F.
Health Canada’s advice on pourable alcohol fuels puts the core of it in one line: keep them “tightly capped when not refuelling and away from any flames or other objects that can create a spark.” The rest of this page explains why each part of that sentence matters, and where people get it wrong.
Why storage matters more than it looks
A bottle of bioethanol fuel looks harmless on a shelf. It is not an ordinary household liquid, for three separate reasons.
It is flammable at room temperature. The NIOSH Pocket Guide entry for ethyl alcohol (read September 28, 2026) gives a flash point of 55°F and classifies ethanol as a “Class IB Flammable Liquid,” defined there as a flash point below 73°F and a boiling point at or above 100°F. The flash point is the lowest temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapor to ignite. Most homes are kept warmer than 55°F, so an open or leaking bottle can produce ignitable vapor in an ordinary room. Fireplace fuels are blends rather than pure ethanol, so check the figures for your own product on its label or safety data sheet, but the basic property is the same.
The bottle is part of the refueling hazard. Health Canada’s information update of October 9, 2019 (read September 28, 2026) describes flame jetting: fuel poured into a firepot that is still burning or hot ignites, and the flame travels up the stream toward the container. A bottle stored near the burner is a bottle that is near the flame when someone decides to top up.
It is not something anyone should swallow. Fireplace fuel is not drinking alcohol, and in an unmarked bottle it can look like an ordinary liquid. That makes where it sits in the home a child safety question as well as a fire question.
How to store bioethanol fuel: where the bottle should live
The guidance written for home users, from product safety regulators and from fireplace makers’ own instructions, points to the same kind of place.
| Condition | Why | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Original container, tightly capped | Limits vapor escaping and keeps the label with the fuel | Health Canada: “tightly capped when not refuelling” |
| Cool, dry area | Warmth increases vapor; the flash point is below normal room temperature | Anywhere Fireplace: “Always keep it in a dry cool area”; NIOSH flash point |
| Out of direct sunlight | Sunlight can heat the bottle | Anywhere Fireplace: “Never store Ethanol Fuel in direct sunlight, or allow fuel to become heated” |
| Away from the fireplace | Keeps the bottle out of the refueling flame path | Anywhere Fireplace: store fuel “a safe distance from fireplace” |
| Away from flames and anything that can spark | Vapor ignites from any ignition source | Health Canada: “away from any flames or other objects that can create a spark” |
| Out of reach of children | Fire and ingestion risk | Anywhere Fireplace: “away from children”; CPSC fuel container guidance |
Anywhere Fireplace’s statements come from the maker’s own safety information page (read September 28, 2026). They describe its products; the storage instructions on your fuel’s label and your fireplace’s manual are the ones that apply to you.
Where not to store it
Most storage mistakes are about convenience. The bottle ends up wherever it was last used.
- Next to the burner, or on the hearth. This is the most common and the most dangerous. It puts fuel beside the flame and makes a quick top-up tempting.
- In a cupboard next to a stove, oven, water heater or furnace. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s fuel container safety guidance, written mainly about gasoline cans, warns against storing them near “fuel-burning appliances, open flames, pilot lights, stoves, heaters.” The same logic applies to any flammable liquid that gives off vapor.
- On a sunny windowsill, a shelf above a radiator, or in a hot car. Anywhere Fireplace’s instruction is not to let the fuel become heated.
- In the kitchen with drinks, or under the sink with cleaning products. A liquid in a bottle can be mistaken for something else, especially by a child or a guest.
- In a different container. Decanting into a drinks bottle, a jar or an unmarked plastic container removes the label and the warnings. The CPSC also warns against using “inappropriate containers” for flammable liquids.
- Open or loosely capped. The CPSC’s advice for fuel containers is: “Never leave fuel containers open, always put the cap back on after use.”
If a spot is warm, sunlit, near anything with a flame or spark, or reachable by a child, it is the wrong spot.
How much to keep at home
Keep only what you expect to use. Every extra bottle is extra fuel in the house if there is a fire, and there is no benefit to stockpiling.
We do not publish a maximum quantity, because limits on flammable liquids in homes are set by fire codes, and they vary by jurisdiction and by the type of building. If you want to keep more than a small supply, or you live in an apartment or condominium, ask your local fire marshal or fire department what applies at your address. Renters should also check the lease; our page on ventless fireplaces in a rental explains the permissions a tenant needs before a fuel-burning appliance comes into the home, and the same question applies to the fuel.
Children and pets
The CPSC’s fuel container guidance says to “keep gas cans and other portable fuel containers out of the reach of children,” and Anywhere Fireplace says its fuel and fireplace should only be handled by adults.
In practice, that means a high shelf or a locked cabinet, never a low cupboard, and never the hearth. It also means the fuel does not come out while children are nearby.
If anyone swallows fireplace fuel, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 in the United States. If the person collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing or cannot be woken, Poison Control’s own guidance is to call 911 now. Keep the bottle so you can read the label to them. This page is general safety information, not medical advice.
Our household test for who should not use a ventless fireplace was written for vent-free gas units, but a home where a toddler can reach a low cupboard has the same problem with a bottle of ethanol fuel.
Moving fuel from storage to the burner
Storage and refueling meet at one moment: the bottle leaving the shelf. That is where the fire risk is highest. The conditions are simple, and none of them is a shortcut:
- The flame is out, extinguished deliberately with the snuffer or method in the manual. Health Canada says to be certain the flame is out by using a snuffer or similar tool.
- The burner has cooled completely. Health Canada says to be certain the firepot “has cooled completely before refuelling.”
- Only then does the bottle come near the burner. Anywhere Fireplace warns: “NEVER OPEN FUEL BOTTLE NEAR OPEN FLAME. A DANGEROUS FIRE FLASH COULD RESULT.”
- The bottle goes back into storage, capped, straight after. It does not stay on the hearth “for next time.”
Health Canada also says: “Do not use pourable fuel containers without a flame arrestor,” which it describes as resembling “a screen that is built into the container opening.” If your fuel comes in a container with one, keep the fuel in that container.
Spills and leaks
If fuel spills in storage or on the way to the burner, treat it as a fire hazard until it is cleaned up and the area is dry. Keep flames and sparks away, ventilate the room, and follow the clean-up instructions on the fuel label or its safety data sheet. Do not light the burner until any spill is gone. If a bottle is leaking, or you smell fuel in a closed cupboard, the cap or the container has failed. Deal with the fuel according to its label and your local rules for disposing of flammable liquids, and ask your fire department if you are unsure.
The fuel is only half of the risk
Storing fuel safely deals with the fire hazard on the shelf. It does nothing about what happens when the fuel is burned. An ethanol burner has no flue, so its combustion products, including carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion, go into the room. Ethanol flames give no warning when CO is building up, and on vent-free gas units the oxygen depletion sensor responds to falling oxygen, not to carbon monoxide. We treat a working CO alarm in the home as a condition of running any unvented flame; our guide to the CO alarm as a condition of use explains why.
If a flame effect is what you are after, an electric fireplace means there is no fuel to store at all. Our comparison of ventless gas vs electric fireplaces sets out the trade-off.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I keep bioethanol fuel at home?
In its original, tightly capped container, in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight, away from the fireplace and from anything with a flame or spark, and out of reach of children and pets. A high shelf or locked cabinet in a utility area is a sensible choice. Follow the storage instructions on your fuel’s label.
Can I store bioethanol fuel next to my fireplace?
No. Keeping the bottle beside the burner puts fuel close to the flame and makes refueling a hot or still-burning unit more likely. Health Canada links refueling a burner that is still burning or hot to flame jetting. Store it away from the fireplace and bring it over only once the flame is out and the burner has cooled.
Is bioethanol fuel flammable at room temperature?
Yes. NIOSH lists ethanol’s flash point as 55°F and classifies it as a Class IB flammable liquid, so it can give off ignitable vapor at normal indoor temperatures. That is why the cap stays on and flames and sparks stay away.
Can I pour bioethanol into a different bottle for storage?
It is safer not to. The original container carries the label, the warnings and, on some products, a flame arrestor. Health Canada advises against using pourable fuel containers without a flame arrestor, and the CPSC warns against inappropriate containers for flammable liquids.
How much bioethanol fuel can I keep at home?
Only what you expect to use. Limits on flammable liquids in homes are set by local fire codes and vary by jurisdiction and building type, so ask your local fire marshal if you plan to keep more than a small supply, and check your lease if you rent.