Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Feasibility of fuel oil to waste oil conversion? [Merged thread]
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Garbade11
03-22-08, 02:33 AM
From: Garbade11
Hi guys, very new to this site so before I provide much in the way of detail let me explain where I'm coming from. My wife Inherited a mess up in the Steubenville, Ohio area. It's an old house with a fuel oil furnace in a basement appxox 15 to 20 years old. Unfortunantly, The home neesd to be replaced or have a whole lot of TLC to fix it. Asbestos shingle siding, front porch roof fallen in, new windows and doors, ect. The problem is $. Grandma left none and Connie is an only child, She wants to keep the house as it is the only legacy from her parents she may be able to preserve. Currently, she is living there with the kids trying to get her mom's estate resloved, but that looks like it will continue to take awhile.
So my question is; what is the feasibility of converting the fuel oil furnace to a waste oil furnace? Is there a downside, a upside? Is this a monster I don't want to mess with. Fuel oil from november to february cost was over $1,700.00 and we don't make that kind of money? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED.
Thanks,
Phil
Hi guys, very new to this site so before I provide much in the way of detail let me explain where I'm coming from. My wife Inherited a mess up in the Steubenville, Ohio area. It's an old house with a fuel oil furnace in a basement appxox 15 to 20 years old. Unfortunantly, The home neesd to be replaced or have a whole lot of TLC to fix it. Asbestos shingle siding, front porch roof fallen in, new windows and doors, ect. The problem is $. Grandma left none and Connie is an only child, She wants to keep the house as it is the only legacy from her parents she may be able to preserve. Currently, she is living there with the kids trying to get her mom's estate resloved, but that looks like it will continue to take awhile.
So my question is; what is the feasibility of converting the fuel oil furnace to a waste oil furnace? Is there a downside, a upside? Is this a monster I don't want to mess with. Fuel oil from november to february cost was over $1,700.00 and we don't make that kind of money? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED.
Thanks,
Phil
GregH
03-22-08, 06:56 AM
There is no possibility whatsoever.
A waste oil furnace is based on a regular oil burner but has many additional parts to operate on motor vehicle oil.
The main problem is with safeties that shut the furnace down in the event that gasoline has diluted the fuel and it burns hotter than normal and the filtration system for cleaning up the waste oil.
An even bigger problem though is that if converted a residential furnace will no longer be approved and will violate the terms of your house insurance.
A better alternative is to consider an even modest investment in insulation and even taping plastic over inefficient windows.
If you look areound many areas have grants and low interest loans on improving insulation.
A waste oil furnace is based on a regular oil burner but has many additional parts to operate on motor vehicle oil.
The main problem is with safeties that shut the furnace down in the event that gasoline has diluted the fuel and it burns hotter than normal and the filtration system for cleaning up the waste oil.
An even bigger problem though is that if converted a residential furnace will no longer be approved and will violate the terms of your house insurance.
A better alternative is to consider an even modest investment in insulation and even taping plastic over inefficient windows.
If you look areound many areas have grants and low interest loans on improving insulation.
Beachboy
03-24-08, 02:07 PM
Even if it was possible to easily convert from a technical standpoint, where are you going to obtain the quantity of waste oil to keep this house warm during the winter? The five quarts drained out of your car every 3000 miles will probably provide only an hour's worth of heat.
Another area of concern with waste oil being burned for heat is that used motor oil contains large amounts of heavy metals, mainly from bearing wear in your car's engine. Those heavy metals end up in the smoke emitted from the chimney, and are a concern when it comes to your family and the neighbors breathing that stuff. You very well may come under the permitting authority of your state's department of natural resources if you get into the business of incinerating waste oil products in your home heating system.
Another area of concern with waste oil being burned for heat is that used motor oil contains large amounts of heavy metals, mainly from bearing wear in your car's engine. Those heavy metals end up in the smoke emitted from the chimney, and are a concern when it comes to your family and the neighbors breathing that stuff. You very well may come under the permitting authority of your state's department of natural resources if you get into the business of incinerating waste oil products in your home heating system.
Garbade11
03-25-08, 07:43 PM
Ok thanks for the info. However I think I used the incorrect terms for waste oil. The oil I was considering using would be obtained from several local restaurants so it is waste oil but of the fry variety. Will that make any difference?
Grady
03-27-08, 04:26 PM
It doesn't matter what kind of oil you are burning, if you modify the existing furnace to burn something other than for which it was designed your insurance isn't going to be worth the paper on which it is written.