In times of financial crunch, a little bit of effort and imagination can help offsetting some of the costs related to running a house. Energy Refuge caught wind of a blog that gives you advice on how to recycle waste oil and convert it into a source of heat.
The Oil Burner Guide is a blog set up by a waste oil enthusiast who claims to have made massive savings by installing a waste oil burner. That’s the good news. The bad news is that before you start saving, you need to spend some money. “This is definitely a long term investment”, says the blogger. “A quality oil burner will cost you several thousand dollars and that’s without the cost of installation. Depending on your current set up the installation can be in the $1500-$2000 ballpark. But when you think about what you stand to gain over the course of five years the payback is immense.” He says his heating bill for last February was $10, when it could easily have come up to $400 if he had used the service of a gas company.
But are these oil burners environmentally-friendly? According to Northwest Alternative Energy, yes, they can be. “Waste oil burners have been used to heat air, boilers and waterstoves for over 40 years. In that time they have evolved to become highly efficient, versatile and environmentally friendly. Today’s waste oil burners can burn used oils such as used vegetable oils, recycled oil, used motor oils, used transmission fluids or used hydraulic oils. Many are retrofittable to a multitude of fuel oil fired heaters and fuel oil fired boilers.”
So it seems like it’s well worth looking into the possibilities of waste oil recycling. And while you’re at it, you may well learn how to recycle waste cooking oil into light. Have fun!
I’ve heard of these waste oil burners, but was not sure how environmentally friendly they were. Great post explaining how well they work! Now if we can just get people to open their eyes and realize there’s other options out there.
Paul Hundrieser
That is a great article. Thanks for sharing.
I know a friend who got one of those waste oil boilers for his house. He gets the oil from a friend who owns a mechanic shop down the road. He has saved a lot of money! He has house at 80 degrees throughout the whole winter because its 100% free.
good info…
In the mindset of alternative heat sources, I made a solar window heater for my greenhouse..
I used non-perforated sewer pipe for my heat chamber and it worked pretty well.
I put a youtube together if interested. Not fancy but it worked
http://gravitygarden.com/powergarden/?page_id=11
My friend’s dad got one of these machines for his mechanic shop and they pay nothing for heat now. His bills used to be like $600 a month and now he pays nothing. I think he has a hard time getting oil in the prime winter months though. He calls other places and asks them for it.
Went to the Oil Burner site. Wow, I had no idea you could do that. Its funny! That guy is living in Alaska and he has lower heating bills then me. I saw one of his statements for last month and it was less than ten dollars. I’m going to save up and see if I can get one by the end of next year. Great post!
Jason
This is why there are service providers who willingly collect used cooking oil and grease especially from restaurants to help them in dealing with these properly. You would be doing some good not just for the sanitation of your abode but also for the environment.