For about 25 years we’ve had a maintenance plan where our heating oil supplier’s “model” would estimate when it was time to refill. I’m not sure how that all worked, but we never ran out, so there’s that.
One day, however, I realized how much they’d been gouging us (I know, I should have looked earlier) and I switched to a much cheaper (and very local) on-demand supplier.
The thread title will tell you what happened next. It ran out sometime in the late afternoon, and we were out, so I didn’t discover it until around 11PM.
None of the local emergency suppliers would handle me because I’m not an existing client, and my new local supplier couldn’t because one of his two guys just fell on an icy driveway and broke his arm. But, after talking to him, I learned:
oil-burning furnaces can run on diesel gas. not forever, because they burn hot and can eventually cause problems, but for a few days at least.
the furnace requires priming to start again (to clear air out of the line), which I knew, but he cautioned me not to pay someone to do that, that I could figure out how to do it myself, and he was right - it was easy to do, thanks YouTube!
whoever designed the locking/pouring caps on new gas cans can go fuck himself or herself. I finally figured out how to use it while leaning over an intake line, but it was so slow I finally just took it off.
Yeah, diesel fuel and heating oil are less pure forms of kerosene. Mostly that is, there other forms like biodiesel. Kerosene doesn’t have additives like lubricants and is more highly refined than diesel fuel and heating oil. Kerosene is a #1 grade oil while the others are a #2 grade. I don’t know what kerosene would do to diesel engines but you can run an oil burner on kerosene for a while while causing no great harm. As mentioned above, straight kerosene will burn a little hotter and you may need to replace newer types of fuel injector nozzles sooner. The most expensive problem might be burning out the lining of the firebox faster.
Best wishes. I got it because the guy at the hardware store pushed it. And i was like, “naw, i don’t need the overpriced one”. And he suggested i try opening the standard one, and sold me on it.
I’m not certain it’s the same thing, because mine came with the can, but it sure looks identical.
Just jumping in to say that I hope my plastic fuel cans last till I die. I bought a new Rotopax style several years ago for my dual sport moto and I can attest that new spout is horrible. If I had children, I’d make sure to pass along my old school fuel cans.
Our propane supplier was pretty good at coming around and checking on our tank and filling it on time. But the last couple/few years we’ve run out. Fortunately, we have a wood stove insert in the fireplace that provides plenty of heat and gives us a nice fire to look at. Last year they put a monitor on the tank that alerts them to come out and fill the tank when it gets low.
We used to have a fuel oil furnace. We’d, “can” it often, cause we were often broke. Back then a local gas station carried fuei oil. It was the kind we needed too as our tank was inside. A guy who was a furnace installer and friends with my father in law showed me how to prime it ( though we called it something else don’t remember what.) Sort of a stinky process. I got pretty good at it, though the 10 gallon cans gave me tennis elbow.
You may see your heating oil is red. That is to distinguish it from off-road diesel, for tax reasons. You should be paying tax when you use it for driving your truck. If you are running red tinted fuel in your truck, that is avoiding tax But it is the same fuel.
Kerosine is a slightly more refinded product, but is not much different. Number one heating fuel is just kerosine, which is just tax free diesel.
And your “jet fuel” that is running your airplane flying across the country is basically just home heating fuel/diesel/kerosine.
There’s a little more to it than that. Jet fuel contains a bunch of additives for antibacterial growth, anti icing formation, corrosion inhibitors, etc. But broadly speaking, it’s just fancified kerosene as you say. It certainly burns just fine in a truck, tractor, or home furnace.
Jet fuel at the refinery gate runs about $2.30 a gallon this week. At the airport being pumped into your bizjet, it’s more like $6.50/gallon. The airlines pay something less than full retail for the stuff, but it is an expensive way to heat your house or power your pickup truck.
There are two kinds. The red stuff is for farm-equipment and is tax-exempt as long as it used for agricultural purposes. The other stuff is for recreational off-roading and is taxed like gasoline.