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Kerosene or diesel

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Patrick Potter

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Ok, I've got a kerosene heater that's a nice one and I used to use it to heat my garage/shop but kerosene has gotten so expensive that I just work out in the cold when I'm out in the garage but they're calling for an unusually cold and wet winter this year and so far it is definitely colder than normal, have any of yawl used diesel in place of kerosene and how did it work I goggled it and didn't find much on that
 
How expencive is kerosene?Do you buy it 'precanned' at a store,or do you take a 5 gallon can to your bulk plant and fill that?I used to work at a place that would use #1 diesel instead of kerosene.
 
If your using a regular wick type kerosene heater, then you definitely need to stick with the kerosene, epecially if your shop is insulated, or relatively air tight. Without any outside air flow, as casecollectorsc said, the diesel will tend to smoke and stink up the pace. Now if your using one of the jet type heaters, and your shop is well vented, then you should be able to use diesel with no problem. I"ve got one of the 35,000 BTU ones that I use to get my shop comfortable, and I use diesel in it all the time, but my shop has it"s share of air leaks so it"s vented enough that I don"t really notice any smell.
 
I've got a dual fuel torpedo heater (jet). I have never run diesel in it. I get kerosene bulk for just a couple of cent more per gallon at the pump.

My BIL has one too, only supposed to run kerosene in his but he runs diesel in it all the time. When it's cold, below zero cold it will kick on and off a few times when first starting it. He's used it like that for a few years.

Rick
 
Do you have a vented heater, like a Monitor or a Toyo? If so go ahead and use diesel in it. I have for years and it works fine. If you have a non-vented one use kerosene, like everyone else said. Around here diesel is usually quite a bit cheaper. They also sell two grades of kerosene. One for vented heaters and a cleaner version for the non-vented ones.
 
Tried it is the last bad ice storm outage. Never again, black smoke, lots LOTS of black smoke. Good idea, but don't do it.
 
If you are talking about a wick type like a kero-sun you need to stay with kerosene. If you have a torpedo type heater I have found the last couple years as they have taken the sulfur from diesel and made it cleaner that once your heater is up to temperature the fumes aren't that noticeable.
 
You should be able to buy K-1 for about a buck a gallon over the price of #2 highway diesel. Well worth it. If you're paying more than that you need to find another supplier.
 
I've got two torpedo heaters. One I got from Central Tractor 30 years ago. The other is brand new from Tractor Supply and rated as "dual fuel." I've used diesel fuel in them both with zero issues. The newer one is inside a small house I'm fixing up. It makes a few fumes at first start and then burns clean (enough for me).
 
I sold the torpedo heaters I had. When I built my 2 shop buildings I put in regular oil furnaces. These are dirt cheap around here as the people who could get natural gas changed over. I've found that if I'm around non-vented heaters I have a more difficult time breathing due to asthma. Good clear herosene cannot be found around here except the canned stuff that runs $10 to $12 a gallon. The dyed kerosene around here I suspect is nothing more than diesel and it smokes and stinks like diesel. Operational cost wise it's no more expensive to run one of the oil furnsces than a torpedo heater. (much quieter too.) I just burn off road diesel in them.
 
Up here K-1 kero is up well over $4.00 a gallon. The sad part is that it's mostly taxes that drive it up so far. I use diesel int he salamander. Save the K-1 for the wick burners, buy the "lamp oil" for the oil lamps in the house for power outages.
 
Need to find a bulk fuel supplier that buys it from the termial. It cost a little more then #1 diesel. A heating tax should be the only tax on it.
 
I will second what Cannonball posted. I still have the K-1 heaters for portable stuff. In the shops I use the propane heater. They burn cleaner and are much cheaper to run.

I can get a 100 LBS cylinder filled for $50. That contains 23.8 gallons of propane. So that costs $2.10 per gallon. K-1 has 135,000 BTUs per gallon where Propane is just 91,500 BTUs per gallon. SO you need basically 1.5 gallons of propane to match a gallon of K-1. So $2.10 x 1.5 = $3.15 per gallon. So if your K-1 is higher than $3.15 then propane is cheaper.

Also the propane burns much cleaner and the propane heater is quieter than the K-1 heaters. That is the forced air ones with a fan.

The Propane Convection Heaters — 200,000 BTU, make almost zero noise. They are cheap too.

Here is a
Mr. Heater Propane Convection Heater — 200,000 BTU, at Northern Tool on sale for $109.
a136855.jpg

Propane Convection Heater
 
kero, diesel, heating oil, are within a few cents of each other here too.
all crazy expensive
I use kero in my torpedo heater but have run out a few times and ran diesel. Didn't notice any difference in my drafty shop.
both stink, one like kero, one like diesel :D
 
How frugal do you have to be to save $20 a season by stinking yourself out with diesel instead of kerosene ?
The kerosene molecule is much shorter , lighter and cleaner burning than diesel.
 
Diesel will smoke more and tend to plug up the orifices. I have tried this and would not do it again.
 
I transported a Fire Chief in to a burn center who blew himself up (accidentally) in his garage with a propane heater.
 
The new low sufur diesel is not bad. I have since moved away from kerosene heaters cause of expensive fuel. Propane from a big tank is about the cheapest. They really sock it to you when filling small tanks.
 
I borrowed the neighbor's torpedo heater and put diesel fuel in it. It quit working. I bought my own after that in 1986 and only burn kerosene in it and have never had it quit working due to fuel problems.
 
I find that diesel (stove oil) works just fine in mine. Just a little bit of smoke on start up but clears up soon as it warms up. I would''nt want to use it in a sealed building though as there is some build up of exhaust that is noticeable if you work around it much. It is best for heating up objects like a cold engine or a cold new born calf. To heat a work shop I would go with a real oil furnace. Burns the same fuel, pretty much same amount , but the exhaust goes up the chimney, not into your lungs.
 
If you want to burn diesel, consider a fuel oil furnace. Talk to a local heating contractor and ask to buy the next usable fuel oil furnace they take out of a house. One should become available for $25 to $100. A house furnace has a heat exchanger that sends all the combusion fumes up the chimney, not into your shop.

Myself, I would rather have a natural gas or LPG furnace instead of burning diesel of fuel oil.
 
Kerosene here where I live 40 miles sth of DFW area TX kerosene is not easy to come by and here there is only about 1 or 2 bulk suppliers that keep it on hand and where you do get it is more than double the price of diesel about $8/gl compare to $3.60/gl
 

Check into a non-vented catalytic propane heater. They are extremely economical with no downside. I have had one in my 40x50x17 shop for eight years, with a CO detector four feet away which comes on only if I run my forklift for awhile. It also gives me some moisture which helps the sinuses a lot in the winter, yet there is never enough to condense on any surface.
 
Patrick, I have no experience with it, but others have suggested using Jet-A in their heaters. Whether or not you can get an airport fixed base operator to sell it to you is another thing.
 
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