PowerSwitch

Can anybody assist me with some clarity here?

Is home heating oil interchangeable with diesel fuel for a modern diesel engine or not?

Diesel oil is currently £1.40 per litre, but heating oil is £0.53p/litre, so I assume they are not refined to the same extent and thus not interchangeable?

I am thinking of what would be required to hold a stock of diesel. I suppose a similar tank - probably about 1200 litres - as for storing home heating oil?

All just hypothetical of course.

Red diesel fuel is the same grade of fuel as that sold for road use, but it has a much lower rate of excise duty applied.
It is against the law to use red diesel in a road vehicle. Who cares after TSHTF !, but whilst times are normal I would strongly advise against use of red diesel on the road*. The penalties are severe.

Heating oil is usually a slightly lower grade of fuel and is not optimised for use in a diesel engine.
Most diesel engines will run on heating oil, but starting may be problematic especialy in cold weather, and an otherwise clean burning engine may smoke.
Older types of engine are usually less fussy and more likely to accept heating oil.
It is AGAINST THE LAW to use heating oil in a road vehicle*, the penalties are severe, as is the case with red diesel.
Again who cares after TSHTF, but I would advise against breaking the law whilst times are normal.

*To be pedantic, AFAIK the law only applies to vehicles driven by an internal combustion engine, as almost all are.
I believe that red diesel or heating oil can be lawfully burnt in a steam engine driven road vehicle.

I knew a man who had 35 sec instead of 28 sec oil delivered for his new central heating system. Since the oil delivery was, well let’s say slightly dodgy, and therefore couldn’t be returned, it found its way into his Astra van. The van ran fine; although this did happen a good few years ago.

adam2 wrote: Heating oil is usually a slightly lower grade of fuel and is not optimised for use in a diesel engine.
Most diesel engines will run on heating oil, but starting may be problematic especialy in cold weather, and an otherwise clean burning engine may smoke.
Older types of engine are usually less fussy and more likely to accept heating oil.
It is AGAINST THE LAW to use heating oil in a road vehicle*, the penalties are severe, as is the case with red diesel.
Again who cares after TSHTF, but I would advise against breaking the law whilst times are normal.

*To be pedantic, AFAIK the law only applies to vehicles driven by an internal combustion engine, as almost all are.
I believe that red diesel or heating oil can be lawfully burnt in a steam engine driven road vehicle.

Heating oil is the same as avaition fuel, less a few additives. It is lower viscosity than diesel, and has absolutely no lubrication properties. Running your engine on it will severely reduce its life.

You could store diesel in a steel tank (don't use plastic tanks, they're rubbish) but if you have bio-diesel, it's hygroscopic so it degrades over time. You'd also need some security, as you will have plenty of visitors.

woodburner wrote: Heating oil is the same as avaition fuel,

Isn't it paraffin (aka kerosene) that is the same as aviation fuel? Heating oil is different.

I've often heard domestic heating oil referred to as kerosene.

The RAF have been known to run their Land rovers on Jet-A1

Since we've been up in Scotland I have been surpised to see just how common the Customs and Excise vehicles are, out and about in the country lanes. If you're caught with red diesel in your tank you're screwed.

Interesting to hear about it being OK to use red diesel to run a steam engine. I wonder whether the same would apply in a diesel-electric vehicle (i.e. one using a diesel generator to charge the battery for an electric drive). The new Vauxhall Ampera works on this principle, but I believe it's a petrol generator.

AFAIK heating oil or red diesel may not be lawfully used in any INTERNAL combustion engine that is used to power a vehicle on public roads.
This would appear to include hybrid vehicles .

AFAIK heating oil or red diesel may be lawfully used for a steam engine, including one used on public roads.

Some oil burning heating systems do use red diesel, but this is not the norm.
Most oil burning heating units are optimised for heating oil, which is similar to diesel, but NOT the same.

Heating oil in the UK is kerosene it is class C2, and used to be known as 28sec. Very different from 35sec. Out of date oil from the RAF has been sold as heating oil. It caused problems with the performance additives.

Tarrel wrote:I've often heard domestic heating oil referred to as kerosene.

These may help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin

We're about to move and there's a bit of oil left in the tank so I've got a hand pump and was planning to fill up at least one 20L jerry can with it. Seems to burn OK in an oil lamp