Two things that helped me to decide on a Coleman gas lantern are: How long will the lantern burn and how far does the light spread?
A Coleman gas lantern will burn 3 hours for the Coleman Northern Nova Propane Lantern and 20 hours for the Coleman Powerhouse® Dual Fuel™ Lantern. These are the two extremes for the duration. The average Coleman lantern will burn 7.5 hours on a 16.4-oz canister of propane.The average light spread for a Coleman gas lantern is 75-feet.
So, to help you make a better buy decision I created the following database for the light duration and light spread for Best 10 Coleman gas lanterns. It also included the lumens, light in watts, price, and the number of ratings.
The Coleman NorthStar 1500 1-Mantle produces 1500 lumens that are equivalent to a 100-watt light and have an effective light spread of 85 feet. It has a matchless ignition with a 4-hour duration on High and 9-hours on Low with a 16.4 oz canister of propane. Its single mantle design reduces maintenance costs and time.
The Coleman QuickPack™ Propane Lantern emits the equivalent of a 66-watt light with 1000 lumens. It has dual mantles, and on high last for 7.5-hours on High and 13-hours on Low using a 16.4oz propane canister. It has 72-ft of effective light spread. It gets the name QuickPack™ because the lantern’s base is actually part of the carrying case which makes for compact and easy storage, a brilliant idea.
The Coleman Two Mantle QuickPack™ Lantern has a light spread of 54-ft and produces 810 lumens equal to 54-watts of light. It is fueled by a 16.4 propane canister that will last 7-hours on high and has an adjustable knob for lower light when needed.
The Coleman Elite Propane Lantern produces 1000 lumens or the same as a 66-watt bulb. It lights with the push of a button and the canister (16.4 oz) lasts 7.5-hours and spreads enough effective light for 75-feet. It has a reflector that you can use to direct the light or be removed for a 360-degree light spread. The bail handle allows you to hang it or extend the base to sit it on a table or other flat surfaces.
The Coleman Deluxe Propane Lantern has a 5-star review with 1,904 ratings which is the highest-rated gas lantern Coleman makes. It's very inexpensive at $37 and like most of the Coleman lanterns, it uses a 16.4-oz canister which lasts 7.5-hours on High and 13-hours on Low. The 66-watts of light spread over 75-feet. It may light with a match, but it’s one of Coleman’s workhorses for its propane lantern line-up because of its simple design and durability.
The Coleman Basic Propane Lantern is a no-frills lantern. It cost $33 and with a quick strike of a match, you have 1000 lumens of light. With the adjustment of the control knob, you get 6.5-hours on High or 11.5-hours on Low before you have to replace the 16.4-oz canister. The 66 watts of equivalent light spread for 75-feet and enough light for the average single tent campsite.
The Coleman Kerosene Lantern is the most cost-effective of all of Coleman's gas lanterns since Kerosene is one of the most inexpensive fuels. The Coleman Kerosene lantern has its history in one of Willian Coffin Coleman's earlier gasoline pressure lamps that he created and began selling in Kingfisher, Oklahoma in 1900. As he experimented with different fuels, he was eventually able to fit his original lantern with the ability to use common inexpensive kerosene use by many homeowners to heat their homes.
The modern Coleman Kerosene Lantern carries on that tradition. It produces 700 lumens which are equal to a 46-watt light bulb and cast light for 36 feet. The Coleman Kerosene lantern has a tank capacity of 1.5-pints and can last 6.5-hours on high and 8.5-hours on low. And here's the good part, 1.5 pints of Kerosene cost only $1.13. On High that's $.17 per hour and on Low it's $.13 per hour, that's a lot of light time for the money.
The Coleman Powerhouse® Dual Fuel™ Lantern is another economical gas lantern to use. It uses both Coleman Fuel and unleaded gasoline. If unleaded gas cost $3.00 per gallon, then the lantern's 1.5-pint tank would cost you $.47 to fill, and at the high setting of 5-hours duration that would be a cost of $.09 per hour and on the low setting for 20 hours of light that would be a cost of $.02 per hour. There's not another cheaper light source than this for camping. The Powerhouse Dual Fuel emits 800 lumens of 53-watts equivalent of light over 72-feet.
The Coleman Compact Propane Lantern will last all night on just one canister of propane. This makes it the most economical propane lantern made by Coleman. Its 300 lumens of light spreads 26 feet which is plenty for a small campsite or a night of fishing. On high a 16.4-oz canister of propane that costs $4.00 will last 11.5-hours and 17.5-hours on low. And it small and compact as well. Not a bad buy for $30.
The Coleman Northern Nova Propane Lantern is the brightest Coleman Lantern. Like my family, if you have grown children and therefore a campsite with multiple tents then you will need high lumens per foot of general light spread for 80 feet.
The Coleman Northern Nova Propane Lantern has a light spread of 32 feet that's why if you use 3 of these it’s like have three 200-watt bulbs and you get a lot of bright light spread all around a large campsite. They are placed at three points of the camp at an equal distance whenever possible at 25 feet apart on metal shepherd's hooks about 6 feet off the ground. The propane canisters on high last about 3 and a half hours. The Coleman Northern Novas cost around $160 each but they really light up your campsite.
For my Coleman battery powered database check out this article, Maximum Effective Light Spread for Coleman Battery Powered Lanterns.
All the best,
Alex Anderson