The fuel will last me between 8 and 12 hours. 8 hours if I'm walking around, 12 if I light it when I get to my stand and set it down. The pads depend on how bad the mosquitos are. If I put in a fresh pad and the mosquitos are light it will last up to 8 hours if I stay out all day. When I go out after work and I'm only in the woods for an hour with maybe 2 or 3 days between hunts it'll only last for about 4 hours. When you run out of fuel but you still have a bunch of pads left you can buy the fuel separately. Wal-mart sells refill packs for cordless curling irons, they use the same exact fuel cylinder.