Can Used Cooking Oil Help Warm Your Home?
Posted on: 12 November 2015
If you're tired of paying high energy bills to keep your drafty oil-fueled home warm this winter, you may be investigating the cost of replacing your windows (or your furnace) in an effort to keep your energy bills down. While upgrading to more energy-efficient windows and appliances is often an investment worth the cost, in many cases it can be equally as economical -- as well as better for the environment -- to convert your existing oil heater to run on biodiesel you create yourself by recycling cooking oil. Read on to learn more about the benefits of using biodiesel to heat your home, as well as some ways to help create your own biodiesel at a low cost.
Can oil furnaces run on biodiesel?
If your existing oil furnace is in relatively good condition and you're just shocked at the cost of heating oil, biodiesel may be a viable solution. Unlike heating oil, which is distilled from crude oil or byproducts, biodiesel is an oil distilled from natural biological sources like animal fats and vegetable oils. Due to the structural similarities between biodiesel and heating oil, biodiesel can be substituted in existing oil-burning furnaces with relatively little fanfare.
To convert your heater, you'll want to start slowly -- mixing in a small amount of biodiesel with the existing heating oil. For a 250-gallon storage tank, adding a 5-gallon bucket of biodiesel will provide you the 2 percent ratio that helps you test your heater's capabilities while minimizing the amount of sludge that breaks off from your fuel lines. You'll then be able to up this amount gradually while keeping a close eye on your furnace for any problems. In most cases, this transition will be seamless; however, biodiesel is a solvent and can be more drying on rubber hoses and seals, so you'll want to periodically check over your furnace to ensure everything is functioning optimally. Eventually, you'll happen upon the biodiesel mix ratio that provides the greatest efficiency for your home, or you may opt to end your reliance on heating oil forever by running your furnace on pure biodiesel.
How can you make your own cheap biodiesel?
If you're purchasing biodiesel in small quantities, you may find that this isn't much of a cost-saving measure over the bulk purchase of heating oil. Refined biodiesel can be expensive in some areas. However, purifying and creating your own biodiesel using oil you get for a low cost can help you quickly recoup your initial investment through lower heating bills for years to come.
For those who have the basement or garage room for an extensive filtration and storage setup, recycling waste cooking oil from nearby restaurants may be the most cost-effective way to generate fuel for your home. In many cases, these restaurants already pay a weekly or monthly fee to a recycling facility for grease removal so that the restaurant isn't responsible for the ecological disposal of this grease. By taking this used cooking oil off a restaurant's hands yourself, you'll be saving them money while obtaining a free source of heat. Depending upon your eventual supply and total storage space, you may even be able to convert a vehicle (or two) to run on biodiesel, cutting your bills even further.
You'll need to purchase a storage vessel that can be used to transport the used cooking oil from the restaurant to your home, as well as an appleseed processor that can be constructed with materials available at your local hardware or home supply store. After filtering the oil and removing any food or debris particles, you'll need to run it through a processor to heat it to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, you'll be able to add methanol and potassium hydroxide and let the mixture cycle through the processor for a couple of hours, then sit overnight. These chemicals serve as a catalyst to convert this recycled oil into a pure source of fuel for diesel engines. After you've strained the excess glycerin from the tank, you'll be able to pour the remaining mixture directly into your oil furnace.
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