Bought a waste oil furnace for my polebarn.....gotta buy 8" class A ...OUCH!

[michiganwinters]

My husband and I went back and fourth about a million time trying to figure out what would be the most efficient, most economical way to heat the barn full time, without taking up a ton of room and taking alot of time. We initially thought pellet stove but didnt think it would put out enough btus for our 30x40x10 barn.....and we would have to buy like 2-3 tons of pellets and store them,....and I would have to clean it about every wk or 2. Then we thoght wood.....but we dont have time to keep an eye on 2 woodstove,....we are away from home often and are barn is about 300' away from our house, and we dont want to cut, split and stack an extra 4 cords of wood a year. Of course we didnt want to do propane...thats just silly! So we came up with a waist oil furnace. We have plent of oil from maint. our equipment, and know others who would supply. Set it on a thermostat, clean, efficient, no loading, clean evey 1000 hrs, so we bought it.

I think we got a good deal. Its an older Clean Burn model 70,000-150,000btus, great shape, runs great, came with the 250 gallon tank/workbench, all of the single wall chimney, oil pan attachment, and attached compresser. We picked it up for $1k. BUT>.....I have to buy 8"class A....YIKES! I found some selkirk brand (called supervent here in the states) for $90 per 36". Any ideas where I can find it cheaper???

Anyone have any experience with wast oil??

 

[gary]

I heated 2 County Road and Bridge heavy equipment shops with Reznor waste oil heaters. Did an excellent job. Both buildings (one was about 7200 s.f.) were insulated but keep in mind the huge bay doors were opened several times a day to move equipment. The heaters managed to keep up with it even in the dead of winter.

I think you may be surprised by the amount of oil you'll use. It get's burned up pretty fast. You need to be sure the oil is not contaminated. Gasoline, kerosene, water, etc. will cause trouble and some are dangerous. The Reznor's would burn hydraulic fluid, brake fluid, and several others though.

Maintenance, particularly regular cleaning, is essential. I am not familiar with the brand, but you may want to check on the availability of replacement parts.

Hope this helps.

 

[gary]

Forgot to mention, as we added oil to the tank, we would run it through a furnace filter to screen out ant particles.

 

[donatello]

We have a couple in our shop.
A lot of people are using synthetic engine oil and gear oil which don't burn well . As long as there is plenty of the old fashioned "dino oil" in the mix, there shouldn't be an issue. And those furnaces HATE water/antifreeze. Oil will rise and water/antifreeze will sit on the bottom of the tank. I would check it often and drain it... Try to monitor what people bring you. If your neighbor uses Mobil 1 synthetic in all 4 of his vehicles and all his farm equipment, you may NOT want his waste oil ...