All,
I primarily heat with wood, its great.
If the heat kicks on, it runs the heat pump down to 20F, its amazingly cheap, great!
But if it is below 20F, the oil burner kicks on (it was pre-existing in the house and is only backup to the heat pump). Since it is used so rarely, last year i only burnt about 35 gallons of heating oil. I have about 150 gallons left in the tank(250gal)... at this rate it will be years before I am done with the oil in the tank, the oil there is already over 2 yeras old. So i figured that I better do something to keep it fresh. I added some clear diesel, by power service (keeps the fuel fresh and helps deal with any moisture). I also added some biocide to keep fungus from growing. Or at least that is what the snake oil claims to do. When i pulled out the fuel gage to add the additives, the fuel gage rods and float were covered in REALLY gross glack goo, guess thats some biological growth... thats not good.
Since there was evidence of satan living in my fuel tank I tried to suck some fuel out of the top and the bottom using an oil extractor i have (pleumatic so it was safe). I also drained a little from the filter. All of this fuel looked pretty good, red in color, looked and smelled like diesel fuel. (I didnt pull the filter, just drained a little fuel) same top and bottom, no indications of water, no black goo, no rotten-egg smell, anything. So i think i am ok with the additives i put in the tank. Since the house is about 60 years old, and I assume the tank is just as old (its in the basement) that goo could be pretty old and not an issue now.
So what do you all think? Anyone else do stuff to store their fuel?
I was also thinking, since I hardly use oil, I really dont have any need to keep the tank topped off. I think once I drain it down, i will probably just get a few gas cans and buy offroad diesel and dump that in the tank, then I can keep about 50 gallons there (over a year of heating). and not worry as much about things growing in the tank. I know keeping it very low might cause more moisture to be in the tank, but i dont have problems with that, and it is easier to deal with so it is less of a concern than having a full tank of stuff growing in the fuel ....
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Rick
I primarily heat with wood, its great.
If the heat kicks on, it runs the heat pump down to 20F, its amazingly cheap, great!
But if it is below 20F, the oil burner kicks on (it was pre-existing in the house and is only backup to the heat pump). Since it is used so rarely, last year i only burnt about 35 gallons of heating oil. I have about 150 gallons left in the tank(250gal)... at this rate it will be years before I am done with the oil in the tank, the oil there is already over 2 yeras old. So i figured that I better do something to keep it fresh. I added some clear diesel, by power service (keeps the fuel fresh and helps deal with any moisture). I also added some biocide to keep fungus from growing. Or at least that is what the snake oil claims to do. When i pulled out the fuel gage to add the additives, the fuel gage rods and float were covered in REALLY gross glack goo, guess thats some biological growth... thats not good.
Since there was evidence of satan living in my fuel tank I tried to suck some fuel out of the top and the bottom using an oil extractor i have (pleumatic so it was safe). I also drained a little from the filter. All of this fuel looked pretty good, red in color, looked and smelled like diesel fuel. (I didnt pull the filter, just drained a little fuel) same top and bottom, no indications of water, no black goo, no rotten-egg smell, anything. So i think i am ok with the additives i put in the tank. Since the house is about 60 years old, and I assume the tank is just as old (its in the basement) that goo could be pretty old and not an issue now.
So what do you all think? Anyone else do stuff to store their fuel?
I was also thinking, since I hardly use oil, I really dont have any need to keep the tank topped off. I think once I drain it down, i will probably just get a few gas cans and buy offroad diesel and dump that in the tank, then I can keep about 50 gallons there (over a year of heating). and not worry as much about things growing in the tank. I know keeping it very low might cause more moisture to be in the tank, but i dont have problems with that, and it is easier to deal with so it is less of a concern than having a full tank of stuff growing in the fuel ....
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Rick