I can not find a real answer on this. Will home heating oil go bad? I am doing a job at an old convenient store and there is a full barrel of oil in the basement that needs to be removed. The unit no longer uses uses oil for heat and hasn't in a long time. I don't know how long it has been sitting there but judging by the pile of crap on top of the old boiler I would guess about 10 years. I am having a co. come in to take the tank out but figured if I 1 get a bunch of free oil for my house and 2 cut down the cost of the removal (sense its considered hazardous waste) that would be good. I do have doubts on whether it would be good though.
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Heating oil go bad?
- Thread starter Brian5582
- Start date
Fixxah
NES Member
I use old recovered oil whenever I can. You might want to nonchalantly take it home. Know what I mean.
-Proud to be dad every day, a licensed plumber most days, and wish I was a shoemaker on others.
-Proud to be dad every day, a licensed plumber most days, and wish I was a shoemaker on others.
ntomsw
Banned
Nothing really. I have friends who mix it all the time. I have another friend who solely uses diesel fuel for heating oil.
slugworth
NES Member
Diesel is better actually. Less sulfur.....
I had a couple under ground tanks dug up & removed. They had not been used for over 40yrs. The contractor filtered the fuel approx. 100gals worth & used it in his construction equipment.
This, there are independent truckers that make their living using heating oil and trying to avoid getting caught.
My guess would be there is probably sludge/junk in the bottom of the tank from impurities in the fuel settling out. I don't know this for a fact so take it with a grain of salt but generally when things sit for a long time they separate. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the fuel was good to go though.
MisterHappy
NES Member
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the oil was created 300 million years ago....a few extra years in a basement are going to make a difference?
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
xtry51
NES Member
the oil was created 300 million years ago....a few extra years in a basement are going to make a difference?
This. Lol.
Run it through a fuel polisher and you should be good. It's weird how it doesn't work the other way around. I just drained a fuel tank on a boat where the diesel turned into paint thinner. It didn't even smell or look right, there was about a cup of water at the bottom, which is alot considering it's a 20 gallon tank.
Better for the environment, worse for engines.
Heating oil will degrade with time. Cetane value will lower, moisture will increase and metals will dissolve into the fuel. But that does not mean you can not use it. Stay away from the bottom 6 inches and you should be ok
You can have problems with heating oil or diesel fuel that has been stored for a long time. Depending on where its stored the fuel can actually get with water in it from condensation. There is also an algae that can grow in heating oil / diesel fuel.
Most everyone knows it's against the law to run heating oil in an on road application. We also know how angry the.gov gets when you don't pay your taxes. So don't get caught.
Diesel engines manufactured after 2007 are required to use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. Running heating oil in them will damage them. Depending on what you're going to do with the fuel I guess you need to ask yourself the following question. Is the potential financial benefits worth the risk of having some kind of problem that might end up being costly? It might be worth trying to use it as heating oil but putting it in a diesel engine is probably not worth the risk in my opinion.
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Current home heating oil is low-sulfur
Old heating oil was a different mix, but current heating oil delivered in New England is much closer to the sulfur content of road diesel.
Poorly stored oil/diesel can end up with bacteria growth, but this is the easiest contaminant to filter out. If the old stuff is looking really nasty, see if you can find somebody who runs a "waste oil" heater in their garage, those can burn pretty much anything as long as it's mixed with used engine oil in a reasonable ratio.
Old heating oil was a different mix, but current heating oil delivered in New England is much closer to the sulfur content of road diesel.
Poorly stored oil/diesel can end up with bacteria growth, but this is the easiest contaminant to filter out. If the old stuff is looking really nasty, see if you can find somebody who runs a "waste oil" heater in their garage, those can burn pretty much anything as long as it's mixed with used engine oil in a reasonable ratio.
Filter it and then add a 1/3 can of PRIST then dump it in your tank and burn it.
