Running Diesel Gennie On Home Heating Oil: Anybody Actually Doing It?

[(PeteCresswell)]

I am seeing conflicting accounts of this.

Some say "No Way"... Home heating oil is not just #2 diesel with dye added. It lacks certain lubricants and will ruin the engine.

Others say "No Problem".... Home heating oil and RV fuel are the same stuff: #2 diesel with a dye added.

First thing that I think is "What, exactly, is Home Heating Oil?".... and that the answer that comes to mind is "It can vary from location-to-location and time-to-time, since a furnace is relatively non-critical compared to an engine".

So... I anybody actually *doing* this?

If so, how did you verify the quality of the oil?

[Ralph Mowery]

I don't hae a good answer for this, but didn't the diesel fuel change in the last few years and the trucks have to run an additive tank to make up for this ? Also heard the new fuel is actually bad for the old diesels.

[terrable]

Here is what the EIA says:

Definitions of EIA Distillate Categories and Fuels Contained in the Distillate Grouping

No. 2 distillate and No. 2 diesel fuel oil are almost the same thing (diesel is different in that it also has a cetane number limit which describes the ignition quality of the fuel). Distillate fuel oils are distilled from crude oil.

No. 2 Fuel Oil (Heating Oil) A distillate fuel oil that has a distillation temperature of 640 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 396. It is used in atomizing type burners for domestic heating or for moderate capacity commercial/industrial burner units.

No. 2 Diesel Fuel A fuel that has distillation temperatures of 500 degrees Fahrenheit at the

10-percent recovery point and 640 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 975. It is used in high-speed diesel engines that are generally operated under uniform speed and load conditions, such as those in railroad locomotives, trucks, and automobiles.

[clare]

Pretty much anything that will run on veggy oil or bio diesel should run on stove or furnace oil. I know guys who have run furnace oil in their tractors - got paid to dispose of furnace oil from decommisioned furnace tanks - and used it for tractor fuel.

[Paul Drahn]

When the price of Diesel was high, I pumped heating oil out of the tank and ran it in my Kubota tractor. Didn't notice any difference.

Paul

[gfretwell]

There is no mechanical, legal or moral reason not to. The only real difference is the 'road tax" and you are not using the roads.,

[Stormin Mormon]

A decade or more ago, I knew an old farmer. he'd have the home heating guy come out and put heating oil in his tank for the house. Same truck and hose, to fill the crank tank and fill his diesel tractor. Far as I know, it worked fine.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[Pete C.]

Yes I've done it and had no issues at all. The difference between #2 heating oil and #2 diesel is taxes and dye, nothing more. Highway #2 diesel is all ULSD now, and most heating oil is the same at this point as well. I've yet to see a diesel generator with a DPF, so unless you have one it won't be an issue if your heating oil happens to be LSD rather than ULSD. Since some home heating oil tanks are outdoors, heating oil #2 will have anti-gel additives just like highway diesel does in cold weather. Some people say that heating oil isn't as clean, but the reality is that in areas that use heating oil, the tanks are filled from the same source and then they add the dye to the untaxed heating oil.

This is pretty much the same argument as oxygen - medical vs. aviator vs. welding, where again the reality is that they are all filled from the same LOX bulk tanks and all have purity higher than the standards for any of those grades. Indeed the purity standard for the welding grade is higher than the standard for the medical and aviator grades. Only the analytical grade gets special handling, and the medical, aviator and welding grades typically meet the analytical grade but aren't certified to it.

[Pete C.]

ULSD - It has less lubricity than the old diesel fuel. This is however pretty much all you will find in the US these days, so you need to add an additive for most any application beyond an oil burner. This means for a generator you need an additive regardless of whether you use #2 diesel or #2 fuel oil.

[EXT]

Several years ago, I installed a diesel back up generator for our home/business, and this question was often asked on the internet. I did not trust the conflicting information that was being spewed about the differences so I asked a few oil companies such as ESSO, Shell and PetroCanada for an answer. ESSO and Shell ignored my enquiry but PetroCanada replied with a reasonable and detailed answer. It depends on where you are. They explained that diesel fuel is refined and treated so that it will run properly in a diesel engine -- would you want to put a low grade fuel in your Mercedes-Benz? Home heating oil is often a lower grade fuel because basically anything will burn in a furnace. They explained in large populated areas they will stock two different grades because there is enough demand that the reduced costs of heating oil can make it worth separate facilities, however, in small communities, there isn't enough demand for separate tanks and trucks so both purposes are served by diesel fuel, with no differences. So check with your supplier.

I am in a large populated area so I called a local Shell dealer who supplies local construction equipment and ordered 200 litres of untaxed off-road diesel fuel to be delivered for my tank. It is dyed red, and is cheaper than going to a gas station and hauling 5 gallon containers. I have a 200 gallon tank (400+ litres) and they pumped the diesel fuel into the tank the same as they would heating oil.

[trader_4]

From what I've seen, there is controversy over how the new ultra low sulfur diesel compares with the previous diesel with regards to lubricating capacity. Some say essentially what you say, that refiners add enough stuff to it to make up for most of the lost lubrication. Others say they don't and you should use an additive to boost the lubrication. And a lot probably depends on what you're putting it in. If it's going in a long haul truck, any difference in lubrication could make a difference in engine wear because the truck is racking up huge miles. In a car, it's unlikely the car will go so many miles that any additional wear would make a difference, meaning the car probably will be junked for various other reasons first.

It would be interesting to know what major trucking fleets actually do. You would think they would have data and know if it's worth the few extra bucks to put in an additive for increased lubrication. For a home generator, I wouldn't be worried about using either diesel or home fuel oil without adding anything. It's not running 24/7.