The best thermacell mosquito repellents, compared.
Top pick: Thermacell repeller Best value: Thermacell Protect – About £39.95, and the bullet names three plates and a gas cartridge, so you do not need a separate canister. The UK sample is three texts. Updated October 2026.
A Thermacell mosquito repellent heats a mat or a liquid cartridge and releases a pyrethroid vapour around a seating or cooking spot. You buy one for a garden table, a fishing pitch, or a still campsite, not as a skin spray and not as a bedroom plug-in. You judge a unit by the refill, by whether mats and fuel are in the box, and by whether you can see that it is alight. It does not replace 50% on a disease-risk trip, or a midge head net in a swarm. The [Thermacell mosquito repellent buying guide](/hub/pest-control/thermacell-mosquito-repellent/sub/thermacell-mosquito-repellent-buying-guide) separates those power families before you match a refill. Burton in is the distributor Thermacell names for the United Kingdom, and that page describes a 20 m² zone, allethrin, and a butane cartridge under a mat.
A Thermacell mosquito repellent heats a mat or a liquid cartridge and releases a pyrethroid vapour around a seating or cooking spot.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
What will you run it on?
The listing titled ThermaCell Mosquito Repeller is £42.00 and shows 4.5 from 1,523 reviews, and that star line is almost all the extract gives you. The page URL is B00CY4IUBQ while the product-details line says ASIN B06Y21HKJB, so this file cannot name a model, a fuel, or a zone. Review texts in the extract are labelled Canada, the United States, or Spain, not the United Kingdom. A Canada review calls it expensive. A United States review says it is bulky on the hip and that you can feel the heat. Another describes an evening of bites because the unit was not actually on. No UK-labelled defect is recorded, and the reviews cannot be tied to a model code from this file alone. Open the live page and confirm the body before you treat £42 as a known kit.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A closer look on the live amazon.co.uk page, once the model and the box are named
Less suitable: Choosing a fuel system from this extract alone
Specifications
Common questions
Which ASIN is this listing?
The page URL is B00CY4IUBQ. The product-details line in the extract says ASIN B06Y21HKJB. Both are recorded. The file uses the URL ASIN.
Does the extract say it is safe for children, or usable while camping?
The page asks both, and also whether it repels other insects. None of those questions is answered in the extract.
Are the 1,523 reviews United Kingdom reviews?
The star line is 4.5 from 1,523. The review texts in the extract are labelled Canada, the United States, or Spain. They are not labelled United Kingdom.
The olive Thermacell MR-300, model 10000829, is £37.60 for the handheld body only. The title says it comes without active ingredients and gas, and the bullet points you to sets R-4 and R-10. The listing prints both a 4.6 m diameter and a 20 m² zone, claims maximum protection after 15 minutes, and says a plate lasts over 4 hours. The star line is 4.5 from 79 reviews, and none of the 18 texts in the extract is labelled United Kingdom. German reviews praise a terrace or a fishing seat in little wind, then repeat that you cannot light it until plates and gas arrive, and that a belt clip is a separate buy. That is not UK opinion, and a German comment about plates becoming harder to buy is not a UK rule. At this price you are next to the Backpacker and the Protect, which name mats or plates in the offer. Buy it only if those R-4 or R-10 sets are already yours.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A spare MR-300 body when you already own the matching butane mats and cartridge
Less suitable: A first evening on the patio, or a basket that was meant to be a complete kit
Specifications
Common questions
Does this MR-300 come with mats and gas?
No. The title says it is without active ingredients and gas. The bullet says cartridges and plates are sold separately as sets R-4 and R-10.
Does it need batteries?
The page asks. The bullets say a gas cartridge heats the plate. No battery is listed.
What zone does the listing claim?
One bullet says up to a 4.6 m diameter and a 20 m² zone. Another repeats 20 m². Maximum protection is claimed after 15 minutes. Indoor use is asked and not authorised.
The Thermacell Backpacker, model THCMR-BP, heats four included mats from an EN417 canister you buy separately, and the amazon.co.uk listing claims a 20 m² zone at £37.99. Of 429 reviews in the extract, the texts checked are labelled United Kingdom, and the score is 4.4. Campers and anglers often say mosquitoes ease off while they stay beside it, including by a bivvy, and several mention little smell. The same UK texts cut the range: one puts it nearer 3 m, another about 30 cm in Scotland, and a loch-side review says a real midge swarm almost landed on the unit. At least one reviewer says the missing gas was not obvious on the listing, and one box of mats was past its expiry date with no manufacturer reply reported. Reviewers also describe the zone collapsing when they walk away or when a breeze picks up. It is the deepest UK review set in this file, and it still will not light until that canister is fitted.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A still camping or fishing pitch when you already carry an EN417 canister
Less suitable: A first patio evening with no camping gas, or a Highland swarm as your only defence
Specifications
Common questions
Does the Backpacker include the gas?
No. The listing says it runs on standard EN417 canisters, and that the canister is not included. A UK review says you have to buy the gas separately before it will work.
What does the listing claim it repels, and how far?
The title and the first bullet say a 20 m² zone against mosquitoes and midges, without sprays. Target species in the specification table is Mosquito. UK reviews disagree about the real range.
Is it described as weatherproof?
The page asks. The bullets do not answer. Water Resistant appears only as a material feature. Indoor and outdoor usage is set to Outdoor.
The Thermacell Protect is a graphite patio stand at £39.95, and the listing bullet includes three active-ingredient plates plus a gas cartridge for an approximate 20 m² zone. The star line is 4.2 from 354 reviews, but only three texts in the extract are labelled United Kingdom. One of those says a unit they had seen working was fantastic, and they had not used this one themselves. The other two are failures: one unit did not turn on, and one arrived faulty, with the reviewer saying they paid to return it to Leisure Lakes Bikes and still had no refund after a month. The Included Components field says only the device, which disagrees with the starter-set bullet, and the warranty field reads “no Guarantee”. Hours per plate are not stated. If the bullet is what arrives, this is the fuel set you can light without a separate canister run. The UK sample is too small to treat 4.2 as a British verdict.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A garden table or terrace when you want plates and gas named in the same listing
Less suitable: A buy that depends on a large set of United Kingdom reviews
Specifications
Common questions
Can this Protect stand be used indoors?
The page asks. The bullets describe the garden, terrace, balcony, camping, fishing, and hunting. They do not say indoor use is allowed.
Are the plates and the gas in the box?
The bullet says the box includes the stand, three active-ingredient plates, and a gas cartridge. The Included Components field only says “Mosquito repellent device”.
Does the listing say it is weatherproof, or that it repels other insects?
Both questions are on the page. The bullets do not answer them. The target species field says Mosquito.
The Thermacell E55, model E55B, is the rechargeable row at £90.31, with a lithium-ion battery claimed at up to 5.5 hours, a 20-foot zone, and a 12-hour cartridge whose active is printed as methofluthrin. The star line is 3.9 from 3,266 reviews, the lowest score and the highest price in this file. None of the review texts in the extract is labelled United Kingdom, so they are not British opinion. In those texts, patio users praise a quiet one-button start, while others say the battery lasted about 3 hours and that a “12 hour” cartridge was finished in an evening or arrived about half full. One review says the liquid cartridge has to be recapped or it dries out with the unit off. Refills are called expensive, and one reviewer says upkeep can approach the price of a new unit. “DEET-free” on the title is a contrast with sprays, not a clearance for children, pets, or indoor rooms.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A patio or deck when you will not carry butane and you accept E-series refill cost
Less suitable: A first fuel kit under £45, or a decision that needs United Kingdom reviews
Specifications
Common questions
Does the E55 need butane?
No. The power source is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The bullet says up to 5.5 hours per charge. There is no fuel cartridge.
What active ingredient does the listing name?
The bullet spells it methofluthrin. The zone in the title is 20 feet. A 12-hour repellent refill is included.
Does the listing say it is safe around children, or indoors?
Both are asked. The bullets say suitable for people and pets, with no age, and they name the patio, pool, and deck. They do not authorise indoor use.
We scored five Thermacell mosquito repellents from amazon.co.uk listings checked on 16 October 2026. There was no laboratory test. The raw score uses stars, UK-labelled review depth, whether you can light the unit from the box, and whether the listing names a model and a zone. A large star line from outside the United Kingdom is not treated as a British sample. Deductions cover a repeated limit the points above have not already removed. The weights below sum to 100.
Stars
44%Amazon stars times 10, rounded to the nearest whole number, up to 45 points in the raw score. Scaled here to 44 of 100. The star line is not the editorial score.
UK-labelled review depth
25%Fifty or more UK-labelled texts score the top of this block. Three UK-labelled texts score a small share. None scores nothing. Reviews labelled Canada, the United States, Spain, Germany, Italy, or France are not a British sample.
Ready to run
16%Plates and a gas cartridge named in the bullet, or a battery and a liquid cartridge named, score the top of this block. Mats in the box but gas not included score less. A body only, with mats and gas excluded, scores almost nothing.
Listing you can use
15%A model, a zone, and a usable rank or registration number score here. A title-only extract with an ASIN clash does not get the top of this block. The thin listing’s points are a residual star line plus a title that names a Thermacell repeller.
Buy the power system and the refill that match the body, then check that mats and fuel are actually in the box. A 20 m² claim is still air beside the unit, not a cleared garden. Prices below are amazon.co.uk shelf prices on 16 October 2026, from about £37.60 to about £90.31.
A Thermacell mosquito repellent, for this category, is an outdoor device that heats a mat or a liquid cartridge and releases a pyrethroid vapour around a seating or cooking spot. UK shoppers buy it for a garden table, a fishing pitch, or a still campsite, not as a skin spray and not as a bedroom plug-in. Burton McCall in Leicester is the distributor Thermacell names for the United Kingdom, and that page describes a 20 m² zone, allethrin, and a butane cartridge under a mat.
The olive MR-300 is about £37.60 for the handheld body only. The title says it comes without active ingredients and gas, and points you to sets R-4 and R-10. At that shelf price you are next to the Backpacker and the Protect, which name mats or plates in the offer.
The Backpacker sits on an EN417 canister. Thermacell’s fuel pages put Backpacker mats on their own label. A butane cell from an MR-300 does not fit that body, so the unit will not run.
Thermacell says place the unit upwind and allow 10 to 15 minutes. Wind shrinks the plume. The Backpacker instruction sheet bars caravans, tents, boats, and cars because of carbon monoxide. “DEET-free” is not a clearance for children, pets, or indoor rooms.
The first split is the power system. Butane-plus-mat stands, including MR-300 and Protect-style units, heat a blue mat from a Thermacell butane cell, often stated as 4 hours per mat and 12 hours per cartridge. The Backpacker, model THCMR-BP, sits on an EN417 canister that is not in the box on this listing. The E55 heats a liquid cartridge from a lithium-ion battery, with a stated 5.5-hour charge. Thermacell’s fuel pages put Backpacker mats on their own label, and E-series refills on another.
Judge the zone as still air. Burton McCall says 20 m². Other lines say 15 feet. The MR-300 bullet prints both a 4.6 m diameter and 20 m². The E55 title says 20 feet. Thermacell says place the unit upwind and allow 10 to 15 minutes. Wind shrinks the plume. UK reviews on the Backpacker put the working range under the 20 m² claim, including nearer 3 m and a loch-side note that a midge swarm almost landed on the unit. Do not treat that as a measured UK zone or a cleared garden.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You already carry an EN417 canister and you want the unit outside the inner tent, on a still pitch. The Thermacell Backpacker is about £37.99, with four mats in the box and the gas not included. It is 4.4 from 429 reviews, and the texts checked are labelled United Kingdom. The instruction sheet bars caravans, tents, boats, and cars because of carbon monoxide.
You want a quiet stand and a listing that names plates and gas together. The Thermacell Protect is about £39.95. The bullet includes three plates and a gas cartridge for an approximate 20 m² zone. The star line is 4.2 from 354 reviews, and only three texts in the extract are labelled United Kingdom, two of them failures.
You will not carry butane, and you accept E-series refill cost. The Thermacell E55 is about £90.31, with a lithium-ion battery claimed at up to 5.5 hours and a 12-hour cartridge printed as methofluthrin. The star line is 3.9 from 3,266 reviews. None of those texts is labelled United Kingdom, and review texts dispute the battery and cartridge hours.
Across these five amazon.co.uk listings, the top pick is the Thermacell Backpacker at about £37.99: 4.4 from 429 reviews with UK-labelled texts, four mats in the box, and EN417 gas not included. The condition is that you already carry that canister and stay in still air beside the unit. The best value is the Thermacell Protect at about £39.95. The bullet names three plates and a gas cartridge, so it is the fuel set in this file that does not need a separate canister. The UK sample is three texts. The olive MR-300 at about £37.60 is cheaper on the shelf and still will not run until set R-4 or R-10 is bought. This is not a laboratory test.
Thermacell Protect
About £39.95, and the bullet names three plates and a gas cartridge, so you do not need a separate canister. The UK sample is three texts.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings in this set, last checked on 16 October 2026.
This page contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and review counts are from amazon.co.uk listings. We did not lab-test these units.
