CO2 Jets vs the Antari J-100 Sonic Jet: The Real Cost of a Big Blast

October 30, 2026

That big white blast that fires up on the drop is one of the most recognisable effects in live events. For years, the only way to get it was a CO2 jet: a cylinder, a hose, a solenoid and a lot of gas.

The Antari J-100 Sonic Jet gives you the same vertical burst without the gas. Across a busy summer, the difference is thousands of dollars and over four tonnes less to cart around.

Antari J-100 Sonic Jets firing at The Met, Brisbane.

How each one works

CO2 jets release liquid carbon dioxide from a siphon cylinder through a nozzle. As it expands it forms a dense white plume that shoots upwards and disappears within seconds. Every burst empties the bottle a little more, at roughly 1 kg of CO2 for every 2 seconds of firing.

The Antari J-100 Sonic Jet is a high-output jet fogger. A powerful heater fires a column of fog roughly 15 metres into the air on cue, using Antari FLK fast-dissipating fluid. You get the CO2 look, but you're paying for fog fluid instead of gas.

Cost per burst

Consumable	Price	2-second bursts	Cost per burst
Antari FLK-4 fluid, 4 L	$73.90	approx. 666	$0.11
CO2 cylinder, 31 kg	$120	approx. 31	$3.87

That makes each CO2 burst roughly 35 times more expensive than the J-100.

A summer season, side by side

Here's a typical 12-week summer: 4 machines, each firing 90 bursts a week, which comes to 4,320 bursts in total.

Antari J-100 setup

4 × Antari J-100 @ $3,490 = $13,960.00
6.5 × FLK-4 fluid @ $73.90 = $480.35
Total: $14,440.35

CO2 setup

4 × CO2 jets @ $659 = $2,636.00
4 × CO2 hoses @ $69.90 = $279.60
4 × CO2 hose T-pieces @ $34.90 = $139.60
140 × 31 kg CO2 cylinders @ $120 = $16,800.00
Total: $19,855.20

The J-100 setup comes out over $5,400 cheaper in the first summer, and after that you own the machines. Next summer you're spending around $475 on fluid, compared with around $16,800 on gas.

All prices include GST. CO2 prices vary by supplier and region.

It's not just the gas bill

James Johnston on stage at the Gympie Music Muster with Antari J-100 fog jets firing
All blast, no bottles: J-100s on stage at the Gympie Music Muster.

Transport. Those 140 cylinders hold more than 4 tonnes of CO2, plus the weight of the bottles themselves. Moving that much gas takes a forklift. The J-100 runs on a few boxes of fluid.

Setup. No cylinder bookings, no chasing refills before a Saturday show, no high-pressure hoses to run. Set the machine down, fill the canister, plug in and patch it into your DMX.

Labour. CO2 needs someone who knows how to handle compressed gas. The J-100 doesn't need a dedicated technician, so your existing crew can run it.

Safety. There are no pressurised cylinders on stage, and no gas to store, vent or manage in an enclosed venue. That makes it a much easier conversation with the venue manager.

Built for touring. The J-100 is IP53 rated for outdoor use, runs off standard power, and gives you DMX, RDM, timer and stand-alone control.

Where CO2 still has the edge

To be fair, CO2 does two things the J-100 doesn't: it's instant with no warm-up time, and the crowd feels the cold blast. If those are essential to your show, CO2 still has a place. For most productions, though, the numbers speak for themselves.

Seen on the big stages

Raiders Meninga Medal, AIS Arena, Canberra. Event AV Services ran Antari J-100 Sonic Jets alongside spark machines and Antari HZ500 hazers for the Canberra Raiders' biggest night of the year. The rig also included a Lampro LED screen, Havoc moving heads and Event Lighting fixtures.

Antari J-100 fog jets at the Canberra Raiders Meninga Medal, AIS Arena