Advice on which waste oil boiler to buy...

[gchartrand]

I'm new to the forum here! People here seem to be very helpful and knowledgeable and willing to share information.

I would like to know if anyone here has a waste oil boiler and what they think of it? Very shortly I will be buying one but I am not certain what to get? I have been making biodiesel for almost 8 years now and I have a petty great set up for filtering my use veggie oil. I use a centrifuge that filters oil down to about 1-3 microns, so oil quality should not be an issue. Here are the brands that I am looking at right now.

Clean Burn CB-200: Company has a good reputation. Boiler is 200,000 BTU's. Less warrantee than OMNI. $13,000 with taxes.

OMNI: Company does not have the greatest reputation. Boiler is 250,000 BTU's. More warrantee than CB. $10,700 with taxes.

Does anyone here have other brands that they use or recommend? What about EnergyLogic?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[gchartrand]

I just called EnergyLogic and they seemed to be very knowledgeable and super positive about burning veggie oil! Does anyone here have experiences with this company? They also commented that their tech department is always there to help individuals out and resolve the issues. Their price for 200B is $9700 with taxes.

Also all the other prices included shipping.

 

[Bret Chase]

If you're making biodiesel... why are you looking at waste oil burners? biodiesel is supposed to work in a regular oil appliance.

generally waste oil burners are used to burn used motor oils... as is. and as such aren't approved for use in a home.

 

[gchartrand]

Good questions. I tried burning biodiesel in my furnaces MANY times. I can't get it to burn at all. I tried using a preheater and still didn't make any difference. My fuel meets or passes all tests... It will burn somewhat if mixed with regular heating fuel. I talked to a few people that apparently heat their homes with B100, but after digging into it and asking specific questions, I think they say they do but they never actually did it. I know it sounds crazy to lie about something like this, but my furnaces aren't much different that anyone else's.

I'm going to have the boiler in the shop and run some lines to the house for heating. This is apparently legal and gets done a lot according to Clean Burn.

 

[cityboy172]

This is relative to my interest. I'm looking into a converting a fuel oil boiler and putting it in the garage, and tiring it into my system that's out there for my wood boiler.

 

[salecker]

I have a Reznor Used Oil furnace that I'm very pleased with.I have been using it for 16 yrs to heat my shop.All the filters are cleanable and it has it's own compressor.I do all the maintenance and repairs myself.It is not fussy about the fuel it uses.
If they made a boiler i would put it at the top of manufactures to look at.
Thomas

 

[Vinced]

Might be a dumb question, but why isn't there a separate section here for oil burners, HHO,WVO, and WMO? These have been around for years and a lot of repair/mechanics shops that have waste oil use them.

 

[goosegunner]

I have a Reznor Used Oil furnace that I'm very pleased with.I have been using it for 16 yrs to heat my shop.All the filters are cleanable and it has it's own compressor.I do all the maintenance and repairs myself.It is not fussy about the fuel it uses.
If they made a boiler i would put it at the top of manufactures to look at.
Thomas

How much oil do you go through? What kinds of oil do you use?

gg

 

[salecker]

Hi Goose
In an average year i use 1300-1500 gallons.I have used anything i could get.I had some diesel from the 50's that was no problem,old veggie oil,this one can burn up to 20 % gas so i get lots of old gas from a junk yard.
There has been a new wave of regulations come in and i may burn off my stockpile and go back to wood.We are going to try to sell our business so we will see what happens.I have a big old oil fired boiler i may look at turning into a wood boiler and a storage tank,i'll put the boiler in a shipping container outside and storage in the shop and keep the used oil furnace for backup.Vent the heat out of the container into the shop and it should work on the cheep.
Thomas

 

[fuelmiser]

Hi Goose
In an average year i use 1300-1500 gallons.I have used anything i could get.I had some diesel from the 50's that was no problem,old veggie oil,this one can burn up to 20 % gas so i get lots of old gas from a junk yard.
There has been a new wave of regulations come in and i may burn off my stockpile and go back to wood.We are going to try to sell our business so we will see what happens.I have a big old oil fired boiler i may look at turning into a wood boiler and a storage tank,i'll put the boiler in a shipping container outside and storage in the shop and keep the used oil furnace for backup.Vent the heat out of the container into the shop and it should work on the cheep.
Thomas

That unit sounds nice, but sounds like you use it full time for a garage/shop, but can it burn oil motor oil for scores of oil changes?

The reason i ask, is i would love to create or purchase a waste oil heater for my home small shop to heat it during projects on weekends, so i would only burn what would heat it on fri & sat, and then bigger projects maybe low during day while at work, then kick it up in evening and run for a week, sometimes a few weeks in cold season, and cold here runs average 32 to 45, then cold snaps at 20 degrees, worst case sometimes 10 or 5 degrees.

What can a home owner build or find for a on the cheap waste oil change oil burner for part time heating?
for me, with 3 cars, i may have 6 oil changes a year, and if needed i could get the old oil change oil from my friends and relatives

 

[heaterman]

Of all the brands we've installed, the most reliable seems to be Clean Burn. None of them are worth it though if care is not taken in setup and keeping relatively clean oil supplied to the unit.
Make sure the oil is allowed to settle out or run through a coarse filter before hitting the filter at the pump.

These days, unless you are generating a few thousand gallons for your own consumption it's hardly worth doing considering what waste oil can be sold for.

 

[salecker]

That unit sounds nice, but sounds like you use it full time for a garage/shop, but can it burn oil motor oil for scores of oil changes?

The reason i ask, is i would love to create or purchase a waste oil heater for my home small shop to heat it during projects on weekends, so i would only burn what would heat it on fri & sat, and then bigger projects maybe low during day while at work, then kick it up in evening and run for a week, sometimes a few weeks in cold season, and cold here runs average 32 to 45, then cold snaps at 20 degrees, worst case sometimes 10 or 5 degrees.

What can a home owner build or find for a on the cheap waste oil change oil burner for part time heating?
for me, with 3 cars, i may have 6 oil changes a year, and if needed i could get the old oil change oil from my friends and relatives

Lots of people have an oil drip into their wood stoves around here.A tank and copper tubing that goes through the top of usually a barrel stove.Start a fire and once it is going turn on a valve and let the oil drip onto the wood fire.Cheap and dangerous.
Thomas

 

[wooddope]

Been using a clean burn hot air furnace firing on waste automotive oils to heat a garage for a couple of winters now and am very pleased. 1200 gals a year with very little fuss. Furnace is about 10 yrs old and requires very minimal attention during heating season.It gets a good cleaning in the off season including all filters and is ready to go to work in the fall.I have worked at other shops with other waste heaters and they required a lot of messing around with, sometimes almost daily.

 

[gchartrand]

Thanks for all the info. I am really leaning towards the Energy Logic not just cause of the lower price tag, but because of the great service that salesman gave me. I also have heard many good things about their products.

I

 

[3bros]

Thanks for all the info. I am really leaning towards the Energy Logic not just cause of the lower price tag, but because of the great service that salesman gave me. I also have heard many good things about their products.

I

Just wondering how the energy logic heater did last winter? I have been considering them or clean burn. Thx

 

[Bob Rohr]

Check with the local regs also, several states have banned waste oil burners. There is a waste oil burner forum online, they probably have the most up to date info.

One issue I remember with the boilers that I installed was the trouble burning synthetic oils. They have the flash point engineered so high it was tough to get them to light off. Pre-heaters had to be cranked up fairly high.

They do take some cleaning depending on the type of oils you burn. Wear a respirator when cleaning the ash!

 

[930dreamer]

I've considered burning the waste fluids I collect at my shop (transmission/motor oil) 300 gallon tote. I don't think I want to spend the money quoted for the listed brands in this thread. I look at YouTube and see a few wood stove conversions. Shop is 40'x60' and insulated.