Methanol and ethanol in transformer oils have been recently proposed as new markers of thermal and mechanical degradation of cellulose (the solid insulation in power transformer). In this work, we optimized and compared the performance of two head-space gas chromatographic methods based on flame ionization (HS-GC-FID) and mass spectrometry detection (HS-GC-MS) to determine methanol and ethanol in insulating mineral oil.For methanol and ethanol, the detection limits were 12 µg kg (HS-GC-MS). Repeatability was evaluated in transformer oils for both the methods at different concentration levels of analytes and was included within 1.8% and 16%.The accuracy of the methods was assessed under a proficiency test (Cigré JWG A2/D1.46). The methods were compared by a F-test and a one-sided paired t-test performed on twenty-one transformer oils in service. Correlations of methanol and ethanol content in sampled oils against their actual time of service are provided. For each sample, the content of traditional markers (furan-2-carbaldehyde and CO 2 ) was also measured, finding a correlation between light alcohols and CO 2 content. This indicates that methanol and ethanol determination may be helpful in providing further