burbling1

iTrader: (1)

What if any are the problems with using red diesel in a oil central heating system?

mamoon2

Why would you do that, I thought central heating oil was cheaper?

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

its refined differently, si may need an adjustment on the jet, but as above, why?

burbling1

iTrader: (1)

I can get it cheaper

EddScott

We used to put red diesel into pressure washers that had a boiler system. Never made any difference and I think oil fired heating burners are quite similar.

dpb

..depends where you got it from to start with

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Depends on the grade of oil (thickness) it is set to burn on.

It probably fire up and run, but to burn cleanly it may a few tweaks with the air damper. Don't want it choking up the baffles with carbon.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

When we bought our house many years ago it was running 35sec, which we carried on using for a few years. IIRC switching to 28sec was only a nozzle change and set-up, don't remember noticing any differences.

Lee247

It's more expensive.
We are looking at the heat pump option. Gets rid of the oil and is good for the enviroment

fast bloke

You just need to change the jet. 5 minutes work and maybe a quid for the new jet. It has't been a viable financial option until recently, but now bulk red diesel can he a bit cheaper than 28 sec. Wonder how long before it becomes illegal to burn red diesel for home heating

Glynmitch

This is correct and definitely worth paying for an engineer to check the emissions. The last thing you want is the inside of the heat exchanger filling with soot.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Please. Don't start me on heat pumps and the environment. Remember electricity comes from power stations some of which run on the very same fossil fuel you burn in your boiler (or worse eg. coal), bearing in mind the % loss of energy through heating step-up and step down transformers, and heating up all the powerlines in the entire national grid.

Ground source pumps are fine. But air source pumps are iffy in therr efficiency claims. Especially when its minus five degrees outside and all the fins have frozen solid with ice. Requiring an electric heater or defrost cycle (wasteful) to de-ice them - something I suspect is often negated in the glossy brochure's efficiency claims.

On the plus side, you could get a giant heat store tank and run them on economy 7: 4pence per kw/h. Problem is the day rate charges are through the roof

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

A good analogy:

Its like remapping a JDM impreza to run on lower octane UK fuel to avoid damaging it.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

Fine if combined with underfloor heating - the water temp from a gshp is 35'ish deg C, conventional radiators really need 60 deg c. The new aluminium rads might need slightly less, but still more than 35 deg from a gshp. It could be used to preheat the water for the boiler - not sure how economic this would be?