BioHeat

[ALLSKIING]

The fuel company I use to heat my home has started to use this stuff starting this summer... This is the first I have heard about it. My fuel company did say the price will not increase.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home...bioheat_gaining_steam_as_home_heating_option/

 

[ctenidae]

Your home furnace is different from a diesel engine, but I do know that truckers who have been using biodiesel have complained that it corrodes some gaskets faster than regular. Might want to double check what effect, if any, the B10 or B20 will ahve.

Other than that caveat, go for it, and tell everyone you know to do it, too.

 

[bvibert]

Your home furnace is different from a diesel engine, but I do know that truckers who have been using biodiesel have complained that it corrodes some gaskets faster than regular. Might want to double check what effect, if any, the B10 or B20 will ahve.

Other than that caveat, go for it, and tell everyone you know to do it, too.

Interesting, I hadn't heard that before. I just did a little research and aparently it affects natural rubber and some nylon gaskets and hoses the most. It only seems to be an issue if you're running 100% biodiesel though. So I'd think B10 or B20 wouldn't cause a problem...

It's a good idea, I don't know why someone didn't think of it sooner. Hopefully more people will start using it to bring the cost down a little.

 

[ctenidae]

Re: natural rubber and nylon- I'm thinking there's not a whole lot of that in a furnace- they're pretty much welded and threaded, and cast iron. Which is good.

One other thing reported on biodiesel is that it cleans the engines really well, so fuel filters have to be replaced pretty often at the start. May be another thing to be aware of. Again, though, it's a minor hassle at the start with longer term benefits.

I think the main reason B10 and B20 are just now making it here is that there's not a good source for biodiesel here. It's springing up like crazy in the midwest, but we don't grow many soybeans in the northeast, and there's no pipeline for carrying it. As a result, everything's got to be trucked in, or produced from local restaurants. I'm sure that accounts for the reported 10-20%/gallon premium.

 

[Greg]

As a result, everything's got to be trucked in

Kind of ironic, eh? Maybe they can burn more biodiesel to haul the biodiesel... :idea:

 

[bvibert]

Re: natural rubber and nylon- I'm thinking there's not a whole lot of that in a furnace- they're pretty much welded and threaded, and cast iron. Which is good.

I was thinking the same thing, but I don't know much about furnaces...

I think the main reason B10 and B20 are just now making it here is that there's not a good source for biodiesel here. It's springing up like crazy in the midwest, but we don't grow many soybeans in the northeast, and there's no pipeline for carrying it. As a result, everything's got to be trucked in, or produced from local restaurants. I'm sure that accounts for the reported 10-20%/gallon premium.

The article did say that someone was looking to build a biodiesel plant in the NE didn't it? I imagine that would help quite a bit.

 

[ctenidae]

Cerio currently works as energy manager for the Hudson Cos., a Providence-based asphalt supplier. He said the company is planning to build a biodiesel production facility in Providence within the next year.

''It will be the first biodiesel production facility built in the Atlantic Northeast," he said. ''We hope to produce between 1 [million] and 3 million gallons of biodiesel each year.

That seems to be a bad idea. What does an asphalt manufacturer know about biodiesel? More importantly, what are they going to make it from? There's no way there's enough excess corn production here. Maybe in New Jersey, but I can't see it here. I could be wrong, though. Either way, I hope it works. There's nothing like success to spur growth.

 

[knuckledragger]

We have been useing it in buildings down here at Middlebury college going on 2 years. No major issues that I am aware of other than occasional french fry stuck in the nozzle.(haha)

 

[NYDrew]

bio-diesel corrodes rubber fittings fairly quickly. That is why a bio-diesel engine must have as much of the rubber as possible converted to threaded steel (hoses)

I don't know how heating oil will be different, but considering that the refining quality is not much worse, I would take steps to make sure that your oil company is willing to pay damages and repairst on the rubber gaskets.

 

[Marc]

Wood is bio heat and requires less processing-

:dunce:

 

[ctenidae]

Wood is bio heat and requires less processing-

:dunce:

It pollutes worse than you after an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet, though.
If only we could harness that bioheat...

 

[Marc]

It pollutes worse than you after an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet, though.
If only we could harness that bioheat...

Depending on how you burn it, it pollutes no more than burning biodiesel would.

 

[ctenidae]

Wood, or All-Marc-Can-Eat-Mexican-Buffet?

 

[Marc]

Wood, or All-Marc-Can-Eat-Mexican-Buffet?

Both.


Or either.





Actually you'd be suprised how remarkably similar the two are in energy out.