Running a Chinese Heater on Bio-Diesel

[Fabian]

Hi
As I'm not a Motorhome owner as yet I do have a Chinese heater at the back of my shed and it works a treat. A marval for me as I'm one of those blokes who puts up a shelf and all the books huddle up at one end scared to go any further along the shelf just in case it give way.

My question is, can you run the heater on any other fuel besides red diesel. I ask as my energy supplier EDF is robbing me of every penny I own and its difficult at present even to buy red diesel as the price of that has risen as well.

Natrually I don't want any accidents so I thought I'd ask before I try something different. I saw a video on Youtube about using grass and hedge cuttings mixed with Potassium Hydroxide (drain cleaner) and rain water to make bio-diesel. I'll give it a go and see what happens. (I can always build another shed)?

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks very much.

Fabian.

 

[triky]

When we purchased a property in France a few years ago (now sold ) the old boy was running his Merc' & the Wife's Clio ,on central heating oil !! He even left the pump & nozzle behind for me ,which i did'nt use !! Central heating oil (gas oil) is cheaper ??

 

[Winger]

Kerosene/heating oil works without any adjustment

 

[Wildbill]

Been running my heater on kerosene for years
With no problems
Bill

 

[pappajohn]

Red diesel is regular diesel with a red dye added to distinguish it from road diesel for tax purposes.
You heater will run on any diesel and domestic heating oil (kerosene)

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Otter Spotter]

Red diesel is regular diesel with a red dye added to distinguish it from road diesel for tax purposes.

Yes and the government are giving it the push, hence his enquiry I assume

 

[Gromett]

Hi
As I'm not a Motorhome owner as yet I do have a Chinese heater at the back of my shed and it works a treat. A marval for me as I'm one of those blokes who puts up a shelf and all the books huddle up at one end scared to go any further along the shelf just in case it give way.

My question is, can you run the heater on any other fuel besides red diesel. I ask as my energy supplier EDF is robbing me of every penny I own and its difficult at present even to buy red diesel as the price of that has risen as well.

Natrually I don't want any accidents so I thought I'd ask before I try something different. I saw a video on Youtube about using grass and hedge cuttings mixed with Potassium Hydroxide (drain cleaner) and rain water to make bio-diesel. I'll give it a go and see what happens. (I can always build another shed)?

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks very much.

Fabian.

The man to watch on this is David McLuckie. He has tried all sorts of fuels and combinations of fuels.

You can find them all here. https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidMcLuckie/videos

But here are 4 to get you started on alternate fuels and fuel mixtures.

 

[Jays2]

With the cost of vegetable oil been higher than diesel why would you do it? Also if it’s used oil it needs to be cleaned, so why would you be bothered ?

 

[Two on Tour]

I have always run our Chinese diesel heater on our van on home heating oil (kerosene 28), a no brainer when we have 2500 litres tank of it for heating our house.

 

[pappajohn]

I have always run our Chinese diesel heater on our van on home heating oil (kerosene 28), a no brainer when we have 2500 litres tank of it for heating our house.

It's not far behind diesel in cost.
We got 1000ltrs a few weeks ago.
£1050.
It'll be more than that now

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Fabian]

Well I must say you lot really know how to answer someones questions. I thank you all for your reply's but have to give a shout out to Gromett for shoving me in the right direction. I shall definately bee looking into David McLuckie's channel.

Thanks a lot guy's.

Fabian

 

[Two on Tour]

It's not far behind diesel in cost.
We got 1000ltrs a few weeks ago.
£1050.
It'll be more than that now

You have a funny idea of "not far behind" with road diesel at £1.80 a litre and you buying heating oil at £1.05 litre.
I'm emailed the current price of heating oil by our local heating oil club each Friday and "This weekend's rate is £0.8640 ppl* for the Catworth, Tilbrook, Ellington & Stow Longa Heating Oil Club"
The heating oil that I have been running through our diesel heater was bought at £0.32 a litre.

 

[Two Owl Ones]

Hi
As I'm not a Motorhome owner as yet I do have a Chinese heater at the back of my shed and it works a treat. A marval for me as I'm one of those blokes who puts up a shelf and all the books huddle up at one end scared to go any further along the shelf just in case it give way.

My question is, can you run the heater on any other fuel besides red diesel. I ask as my energy supplier EDF is robbing me of every penny I own and its difficult at present even to buy red diesel as the price of that has risen as well.

Natrually I don't want any accidents so I thought I'd ask before I try something different. I saw a video on Youtube about using grass and hedge cuttings mixed with Potassium Hydroxide (drain cleaner) and rain water to make bio-diesel. I'll give it a go and see what happens. (I can always build another shed)?

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks very much.

Fabian.

yes you can, many taxi drivers use central heating fluid which is thinner than diesel so they up the viscosity with a measure of engine oil, you can usually tell when you are behind one they smoke a little and have a familiar smell, it has been known to run a diesel vehicle with old cooking oil with a little fettling, (mc donalds run most of their wagons on cooking oil they call it bio diesel) there is a couple of you tube video,s making off grid heaters with ammo boxes and candles which are very interesting and have an amazing heat output plus give off light and space to heat a pan or kettle,you can also make a HHO generator to make hydrogen gas from water, good luck with your project

 

[Gromett]

Well I must say you lot really know how to answer someones questions. I thank you all for your reply's but have to give a shout out to Gromett for shoving me in the right direction. I shall definately bee looking into David McLuckie's channel.

Thanks a lot guy's.

Fabian

We are a helpful bunch on here on a whole range of subject Might be worth getting a motorhome and joining our club

 

[Chris CM]

yes you can, many taxi drivers use central heating fluid which is thinner than diesel so they up the viscosity with a measure of engine oil, you can usually tell when you are behind one they smoke a little and have a familiar smell, it has been known to run a diesel vehicle with old cooking oil with a little fettling, (mc donalds run most of their wagons on cooking oil they call it bio diesel) there is a couple of you tube video,s making off grid heaters with ammo boxes and candles which are very interesting and have an amazing heat output plus give off light and space to heat a pan or kettle,you can also make a HHO generator to make hydrogen gas from water, good luck with your project

I hope not, if found out these taxi drivers risk having their vehicle seized and a substantial fine and having to pay the back duty!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Two Owl Ones]

well yes i agree,apparently if they get dipped and caught and found that it is their first time,its £800 to have the tank drained and a new fuel filter thats for (red diesel) just a slap on the wrist, im not sure if they can identify kerosene/central heating fluid though, there is a fuel station nearby who have a pump around the back with marine diesel (red),its the only time you see hackney cabs and private hire taxi,s waiting in a line without any animosity whatsoever ! also there is a couple of large hackney repair yards, that also still run the old oil fired heating systems, with huge steel tanks of heating oil that for some reason have a fuel pump handle ( to keep topping up their central heating boiler )

 

[Chris CM]

In an earlier life I was an RFTO with HM Customs & Excise (Road Fuel Testing Officer), if a taxi was detected using rebated fuel we would go to town on it, including examination of all fuelling records comparing with mileage records to establish usage and hence the duty evaded, and if he disclosed where the rebated fuel was purchased they would be in for the high jump as well! Part of our testing regime was not just based on colour but also testing for other chemical markers in rebated fuel and the specific gravity of the fuel, so yes we could identify kerosene/heating fuel.

 

[Two Owl Ones]

brilliant, you can always smell vehicles in traffic using kerosene it has a differnt smell, you would have to stop them all to find out which ones are using it,they have been testing some of the taxi,s in the town centre at night, so they are obviously aware its a problem,so all the tricks in the book have been tried,cat litter and loaves of bread to remove the dye, which i doubt would remove the dye anyway, and if it did the tell tale markers left behind would catch them out, the police in the mersey tunnels do quite a bit of random dipping,there is always something being transported away,i suppose with the fuel situation right now the use of these fuels will increase

 

[jockaneezer]

It was quite a big thing in Ireland a few years back (can't remember which way the traffic went) but they were using car litter to take the dye out of red diesel, but dumping the spent litter in the countryside which went on to pollute some water courses ?

 

[Jaws]

With the cost of vegetable oil been higher than diesel why would you do it? Also if it’s used oil it needs to be cleaned, so why would you be bothered ?

Errrr.. IF you buy new..but 50 gallons ( about 225 litres ) of used cooking oil recently cost £50
Filtering and processing the lot cost less than a tenner
And yes, nowadays it is legal for you to use it not only in a heater but in your van too... as long as you do not process more than 2,500 litres and it is for personal use

Excise Notice 179e before 1 April 2022

www.gov.uk

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Two Owl Ones]

yes dangerous stuff really, and once burned we all breathe it in too, but not as dangerous as the hydrogen fuel cell in my opinion,i did experiment some years ago, i made a hho generator and used anti blow back valves for safety, it produced hydrogen gas quite quickly on its own without a pecentage of oxygen, as i was cutting through a piece of steel plate with my new creation i heard a destinctive fluttering sound,i dropped my cutting tool and ran, for such a small amount of hydrogen that i was producing and the explosion that followed was huge, it destroyed the roof of my workshop in the yard,that gas burns so hot it burned through a brass flame arrestor and back into the generator, needless to say my interest in producing an alternative fuel disintergrated along with my roof and my hho generator

 

[Jaws]

It was quite a big thing in Ireland a few years back (can't remember which way the traffic went) but they were using car litter to take the dye out of red diesel, but dumping the spent litter in the countryside which went on to pollute some water courses ?

Norfolk too !
It got so bad at one time you were hard pressed to find a layby or field entrance that did not have a small mountain of the stuff deposited in it !!!!!