How do I Convert a Home Heating System to Biodiesel?

Converting your home oil heating system to run on biodiesel is relatively simple, as biodiesel is vegetable oil with additives that reduce natural viscosity and make it usable exactly as you would use regular diesel fuel. Fortunately, No. 2 heating oil is similar enough to regular diesel fuel that biodiesel fuels can be directly substituted for heating oil.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Oil filter
• Fuel pump seal

1. Check the rubber washer at the fuel pump for cracking. Bio-diesel is a solvent, and can break down the rubber of the seal. If the seal looks dried out or cracked, replace it before adding any bio-diesel into your system.

2. Replace any clogged or old filters in your fuel system. Using bio-diesel fuel in an older heating system can loosen old residues in the pipes, which will quickly block your filters if they are already dirty or clogged.

3. Add biodiesel to your fuel tank in low proportion to your regular heating oil, such as 2 percent biodiesel to 98 percent heating oil. The solvent of the bio-diesel will also break down any residue deposits in your pipes, so start with small amounts of biodiesel and work up to higher concentrations.

Tips & Warnings

• You can make your own biodiesel out of used vegetable oil to add to your fuel if you are only using a small proportion of biodiesel to heating fuel. Just be careful with the additives as they can be quite caustic.

References

• Mother Earth News: Heat Your Home with Biodiesel