There are currently investigations going on in different parts of the world about the feasibility of using recycled cooking oil as fuel to heat buildings. Scientists in Boston University in USA are working at the moment to try create biofuel from recycled cooking oil and hope to use this biofuel as a fuel to heat the university. Because the current consumption of oil in the university is 5000 gallons of oil per year they are trying to find a substitute source of fuel. Alternative cheap heating sources are always in demand so there is a lot of excitement surrounding this possibility.
But do not make the mistake of just getting a bottle of vegetable oil and pouring it straight into your heating oil tank as it is not as simple as that. Cooking oil just has not been created for home heating and would need to be optimised. It would be necessary to alter the jets in a boiler so that they could deal with cooking oil as they work to turn heating oil into a mist. Another issue would be the fact that cooking oil is currently more expensive than normal oil. Used cooking oil would offer cost savings but this would need to be specially filtered before it could be used. If you were to stick used heating oil into your tank you would likely end up with one big mess.
The reality of using used cooking oil for home heating is probably going to be a long way off for most of us. But it makes sense to try to develop a way to use up all the used cooking oil that otherwise just gets wasted. The average restaurant would probably easily use enough cooking oil to cover its heating needs. And a school canteen could also provide enough oil for the heating needs of more than a few classrooms. Biofuel is better for the environment as well. It is hoped that these developments will be in the UK before too long.
Some people spend a lot of money heating their homes in the winter. Electricity and gas prices are very high and show no signs of coming down any time soon. Many individuals are now changing over to cheaper home heating oil though. And when this happens they have to ensure the tanks re always full of heating oil to ensure they never run out.
Tags: cheap heating oil, cheapest heating oil, heating oil, home heating oil