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Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil

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Jon with an M

11-05-2002 07:03:12

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I have been told that home heating oil is disel fuel with red die in it. My home heting oil bill actually says "died diesel" on it So What? Well I just bought a New Holland 3cyl diesel skid steer to use around the homestead and it would be much easier to pump out of my home heating oil tank than it would be to take a bunch of 5 gal cans up to the gas station. So I called my home heating oil supplier and asked. "Can I use your home heating oil in my Diesel Equipment?" "Hek NO!, well wait a minute, Heay Bill, talk to this guy" "Hi Bill Can I use your home heating oil in my Diesel Equipment" "Hek YES, I do it alla time! It's the same stuff you get outta the pump cept it's died." You see my confusion. What do you think? By the way, I bought this skid steer to replace my broken 63' JD 1010 front end loade/backhoe that I can't find parts for. I bought it with a bucket and a set of forks. And can't say enough good about it. The only negative is that it tears up the yard.

Jon, Maryland

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Mr. Duck

10-21-2005 14:17:27

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

Does anyone have an explanation as to why home heating oil is currently selling at a higher price than diesel fuel? Particularly in light of the fact that the home heating oil doesn't have the taxes that diesel does?

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mike

11-05-2002 10:37:38

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

I've used the same number 2 diesel in my tractors,
house and farm shop for 30 years with no problem.

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Woodbeef

11-05-2002 10:28:20

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

Basically there are only two types of Fuel Oil.
#1 Diesel or Heater Oil
#2 Diesel or Furnace Oil

Everything else is made from either a combination of these, and/or additive packages added.

#2 gels because of the pariffin in it,but this is what also gives it some lubricating qualities,and higher btu.

#1 is further refined and has the pariffin removed,so it will not smoke when used in heaters. This also gives it better cold weather properties,but a lower btu rating.

Premium diesel has additive packages usually added to it.

The best fuel to run in a tractor in the winter is a blend of #1 and #2. which is what most winter diesel is.

The dye is for the road tax indentification.

Some companies such as Shell have been adding additives for years to get around the low sulphur problems in their over the road diesel products.

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paul

11-05-2002 07:57:48

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

There is #1, the winter grade, works in colder temps, has less btu but costs more & the engine will run hotter if you use it in summer.

There is #2, regular. Can jell up below 25 degrees or so.

Dyed stuff means you did not pay tax on it, can not use it in a licenced vehicle. Has no effect or indication of which it actually is. Only means no road tax charged.

Diesel fuel has an additive package in it to lubricate the pump, etc. Strict heating fuel does _not_ have this. Otherwise they are identical, as far as the fuel itself.

Due to volume, costs, seperate tanks & delivery issues, many, many, many, many outlets do not have any heating fuel, but use diesel fuel with the lubricating additve as both diesel & heating fuel. Cheaper for them to deal with one less catigory (2 actually, dyed & undyed) than the tiny difference in price.

Seems like your supplier is a bit confused, but if you are reasonably sure it really is diesel fuel with the additives, go ahead & use it.

--->Paul

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jake

11-05-2002 07:34:56

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

i use the heating oil all the time on my two old tractors, and the winter quality fuel i use will run good in the fuel lines down to -25~c (-13fahrenheit). Only thing they told me when i asked about this was that with diesel fuel the tractor would start better and perhaps give a few more hp's, but my tractors start good with heating oil.

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Red dave

11-05-2002 07:16:58

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Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Jon with an M , 11-05-2002 07:03:12

I think the dye is in so the DOT can tell that you didn't pay the Motor Fuel Tax, which wouldn't apply to off-road machinery anyway.
The only thing that might go wrong that I know of is that the heating oil might gel on you in cold weather if it doesn't have a winter mix additive. Maybe somebody else could tell you for sure about that.

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deadeye

11-05-2002 07:42:43

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Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Red dave, 11-05-2002 07:16:58

There are 2 blends of diesel and heating fuel. Number 1 with the additive in it to keep it from freezing or turning to jell and Number 2 (no additive) which will jell in cold weather. The diesel and heating oil are basicly the same outside of the dye or the dealer.
Co-op may be a different color than Amoco.

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john

11-05-2002 10:29:33

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Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to deadeye, 11-05-2002 07:42:43

Hi.. I am a petroleum chemist with approx. 21 years of petroleum specification background. For what it is worth there is a major difference between diesel fuel and home heating oil. Diesel fuel for engines contains an additive and often a cetane improver. Cetane is similar to octane in gasoline. Every diesel engine has a minimum cetane value that it needs to run properly. Usually a 40 cetane is acceptable, but some engines require a 45 . I would be concerned about burning diesel fuel in my home furnace because of the effects on the air fuel ratio that the diesel fuel aditives would have. Most engines however will not immediately suffer from a low cetane. Over time you will begin to notice a sluggish performance from the engine with an overall loss of power.

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KCinPA

04-16-2006 19:20:22

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to john, 11-05-2002 10:29:33

Will running #2 fuel oil in your tractor cause engine damage over time? I assume the sluggish performance you mentioned would be from engine damage. Or would it be from dirty injectors due to lack of addatives in the fuel? I add a cetane addative to fuel oil in my tractor.

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Joe Fabregas

11-06-2002 04:50:19

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to john, 11-05-2002 10:29:33

Hey, John, what can you tell us about the red dye? I had trouble with my furnace lines plugging, the oil company said I wasn't plumbed correctly after 25 years and it was my fault. I read on the net that there's a problem with the red dye plugging up systems. My filter plugged and when I changed it I still had no oil. Found the line from the tank to the filter was plugged with like a black pudding. I had to snake it all out. Never saw this before. Thanks! Joe Fabregas

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rubber wrench

11-06-2002 07:28:01

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to Joe Fabregas, 11-06-2002 04:50:19

your black pudding is bacteria that grows in diesel.need to add a bacteriacide to your tank

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Thanks! Joe- nm

11-08-2002 05:26:55

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to rubber wrench, 11-06-2002 07:28:01

Thanks!

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Bus Driver

11-05-2002 16:56:26

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to john, 11-05-2002 10:29:33

The higher octane numbers (gasoline) burn more slowly (than lower octane numbers), higher cetane numbers (used for rating fuel for Diesel) burn more quickly (than the lower cetane numbers). These numbers are therefore quite the opposite of each other. Local grading company has 5 Caterpillar crawler loaders, 4 Caterpillar pans, a Caterpillar dozer, a JD dozer, a JD motor grader, 2 Case backhoes, etc. They run them all with the same dyed "stuff" that the same oil company delivers for use in furnaces. No problems with loss of power. My Diesel tractor has used only such fuel since it was new in 1978- no problem.

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TomH

11-05-2002 16:36:03

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to john, 11-05-2002 10:29:33

I'm sure what you say is true. But I know when I get a heating oil delivery, it says right on the invoice "dyed diesel". And when my neighbor gets a diesel delivery (from a different supplier), the driver also fills his heating oil tank from the same truck while he's there. Sounds like as long as the furnace is adjusted to burn correctly things should be okay.

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Robert in W. Mi

11-05-2002 18:58:00

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Diesel fuel vs Home heating oil in reply to TomH, 11-05-2002 16:36:03

My diesel supplier carries the dye with him! Same fuel for everyone, but throws a packet of dye in where needed!!! Robert

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