Those that run diesel vehicles.

[Burgerman]

Those that run diesel vehicles.

In the UK diesel is around £1.70 per litre! At the moment.
Kerosine C2 is very very similar. But just like red diesel used to be, is cheaper. At todays going rate of 71pence per litre on a DELIVERED to your house 400 litre load. So you need to either have an oil tank or know a man that does.

That makes it a hugely cheaper option. It is almost 71p at the moment but its demand in summer is far lower as this s used as a heting fuel. In summer it was 55p per litre. Some 3.5x cheaper tan official "legal" diesel.

Is it actually legal? No.
People used to get caught using red diesel in road vehicles because the police had many "police check" areas where they had a small thimble on a wire to "dip" your tank. If it was red or pink then you got prosecuted for tax evasion. But unknown to many is that your vehicle will run fine on C2 "heating oil" or C2 Kerosine, or whatever it is refered to.

Theres several types of kerosene. But only one that is great in a diesel engine.
Theres what most refer to as "light oil", "lamp oil", or paraffin. This is actually called C1 Kerosene in the industry. It has almost no lubricating property, and very low sulfur content. It will damage your engines. Not because of the way it burns, they run great! But because that low sulfur and its lighter thinner viscosity can cause rapid wear of pumps and injectors. You can use it as a degreaser in fact. It IS possible to use this but maybe 50 to 1 two stroke oil should be added.
Theres C2 Kerosene. This is very similar to diesel. Its high in sulfur and is more oily than C1. It is referred to as: Heating oil, or kero in the UK. It is a 28 second oil. Regular diesel is a 35 second oil. That refers to a redwood guage. Its a measure of viscosity. This is basically a slightly thinner version of the diesel you normally use. It actually burns a little cleaner in engines and in heaters than diesel. This is the one you want.

Other kerosines incliude aircraft grades like Jet-A or JP4, JP8 etc. Those will also run in your car, but like the paraffin are more refined. And lighter. So beware of lack of oiliness and add some!

So basically theres 2 worth looking at.

In the picture below I have some regular fuel station diesel fuel. Thats 35 second white diesel. And I have some UK Heating oil, or C2 kerosene. Thats a 28 second oil. If I dont lable these two, I cant tel them apart. They feel the same between your fingers. They look identical. They APPEAR to be the same viscosity (but are in fact slightly different) and the C2 kero smells a tiny it stronger/different. But not enough that you can tell which is which without some guesswork! So whats the real difference here? The C2 much less than half the price. Think about that every time you fill up...

Me? I have a petrol car. But I have a diesel (or C2 kero) 5kW truck cab heater in my house... So guess what I am using.

This is a quick comparison on my bed...

[Burgerman]

For you americans that almost 10 dollars a gallon diesel. Or. 4 dollars C2 kero.

[Dan]

I know someone who ran a van on a mixture of heating oil and red diesel. Tax free diesel is easy to get. Some people here run their diesel cars on straight heating oil.

[Burgerman]

If by straight heating oil (can be red diesel which is the same as white diesel but more sulfur - not an issue) then yes you can.

If by heating oil you mean white 28 second oil (kerasene C2) as in my picture then it will RUN perfectly. It will even run perfectly on C1 but dont! But these both lack the lubrication qualities needed by the injection pump (diesel pump), it will wear out quite fast. Its fine with say 50/50 or less diesel. Or with the addition of some veg oil like cooking oil etc, but most add a little two stroke oil, or something similar at very low levelsto kerosene. Like 100 to 1 to run it in an engine safely.

Or it *might* work out a bit expensive. Although the higher sulfur in heating oils adds a little extra lubrication properties. Compared to road diesel which is ultra low sulfur as dictated by the EU and their regulations. And that is one of the reasons its more expensive... The rest is heavy subsidies for other green nonsense like windmills. Net zero taxation nonsense.

When working as a heating engineer 30 years ago, I waited for the oil delivery into the new tank I just installed, to top up my diesel transit... Kero C2 or red diesel didnt much care. Both worked great.

[martin007]

In Spain the diesel of heating has a problem.
Lots of sludge and particles in solution.

[Burgerman]

Well there shouldnt be. It has to be to a specific standard. And super clean.

If its got anything in it then you should be able to sue the supplier. For cost of repair or replacement or cleaning tanks and lines etc.

And of course you should be using a inline filter and watertrap anyway.

[martin007]

Diesel for heating is like that in Spain.

[martin007]

There are methods to remove the red dye from diesel...

[Burgerman]

The easiest way and cheaper is just o buy kerosene. It has no dye. Looks like diesel, smells like diesel, works like diesel...

[martin007]

Is this the same fuel that airplanes use?

[Burgerman]

Noits very similar but thats a more heavily refined paraffin type of kero. A lighter and narrow fraction grade. Called Jet-A used by airliners with anti foam, anti static additives and high prity and consistency etc, JP4 used by military fighters, and so called millitary kerosene JP8 used in planes, trucks, generators, tanks etc. All very similar. And theres RP1 which is a highly refined light keroene/paraffin used in rocket engines by people like spacex and the millitary.

I run my small gas turbine hobby engines on Jet-A or paraffin. They will run on diesel, or kerosene C2, but smells more and slower transition from idle to full power. So best with Jet-A.

There are many types of kero. Much the same but different additves, different viscosities and different lubrication capabilities. The oiliest one and close to diesel is C2 (common heating oil) and it has sulfur in it too. Not a bad thing as it helps lubrication. You wouldnt use this heating oul say indoors in a lamp. It will give soot and smell. That needs C1 kerosene which is also known as paraffin, lamp oil, or kero in the US. In he US its K1 and K2 as far as I know.

[Burgerman]

If you are STUCK. A jet plane, airliner rocket, heating system, your car or truck, or your oil lamp WILL run on any of these. Or even diesel. They are all similar enough even if not perfect.

[Jayde1976]

will add here that heating oil in older diesels will make a bit more diesel knock and defiantly on bcc 1.5 Diesel engines they will not hot start on heating oil compared to diesel.. how do I know well my boat has a 1.5 bcc and when I run it on straight heating oil (C2) it won't hot start unless you let it cool down for 20 mins.. this could be because of looser tolerances in the injection pump compared to a common rail Diesel engine. still runs the same as well and the diesel heater burns much cleaner on heating oil I think it ran a year and I decided to remove the heater to see if it needed cleaning and it was pretty clean inside.. Rosa or whoever it is now drains 5ml of fuel from fuel filter but generally only on commercials now as a car isn't worth there time.

[Burgerman]

Did you add a drop of oil to the kero c2? Because the stuff is thinner and will wear out the pump and leak from the injectors too. Then it will probably not hot start! It leaks past the pistons in the injector pump. A drop of oil both stops it getting that way, and seals it too. It also reduces the "knock" and clatter that you get on both kero or diesel.

[Jayde1976]

yes we add a litre of 2 stroke to each tank (50 litre twin tanks) but it is a old Diesel engine and they are known for cold start issues but this ones pretty good but hot start the fuels a bit to thin for the old rotary pump, we just leave the hatch cover off for 20 mins and it will start right up otherwise it will just spin over.modern Diesel engine will be ok just like u said. I have oil heating at home in 1500 litre tank

[Burgerman]

Whats bcc ?

[Jayde1976]

that was meant to be BMC British motor company. the engine is a 30hp when new low revving unit and probably only 20hp by now but will sit at idle all day long with no smoke issues or flat out at 2500rpm with no issues as well and still return real good river fuel consumption