[jwscott]

I'm not sure where to post this, but I will try this forum. I heat my shop with an old Sharp oil stove that has a flooded pot controlled by a flow valve. It works great, but since it requires #1 stove oil (kerosene) and the local price on kerosene is now about $8.00 a gallon I can no longer afford to use it. I would like to try to make it run of diesel. Is this possible? I don't want it to get out of control and burn my shop down. If anyone knows, please post an answer.
Jim

 

[BuilderBob]

Goggle the price of kerosene, it is lower than $8, maybe 1/2.

 

[NickKent]

$8 a gallon. :shocked: Do you get the kerosene in bulk or do you buy it in small quantities?

 

[SmokeyWren]

Kerosene is almost identical to Diesel #1. So if you live in cold country, you can probably buy #1 diesel at a truckstop for less than $3 per gallon right now. "Winter blend" diesel is a mix of #1 and #2, so that's not kerosene. But straight #1 is close enough to kerosene for government work to work just fine in a kerosene stove.

Also, if your stove will work on "home heating oil", that's the same as #2 diesel. So either way, paying more than the current price for on-the-road diesel is nuts.

If you buy your kerosene from a hardware store or some such in 5-gallon cans, then that's why you're paying $8 per gallon. Shop around for some place that sells a lot of bulk kerosene and it shouldn't cost much more than on-the-road diesel, and maybe less.

 

[THEBUNDO]

Can you use old motor oil in this type of unit, or has modern technology excluded that?

 

[94_turbo]

bundo--not modern tech--but--the old oil stoves had to have the pots cleaned periodically--soot--and when you try to use wmo--its far worse--and you have to inject air into the fire to get it to burn right--doable--but have to redo the whole stove---