Oil Temperature.

Floyd_2

can save you a world of frustration....

Seems to me they are from Sweden?????

Might they know a bit about cold weather???

Steve Luciani

Cold oil.

When the oil tank is located above ground outside, how does the low temperature of the oil, on a cold day, affect performance? Someone told me that oil consumption could actually increase due to larger droplets of oil as it leaves the nozzle. Any comments?

John@Reliable_2

Outside tank

You should be treating tank with chemical to avoid gelling.A drain on bottom to remove water and top feed from tank to avoid water in oil line. Two filters in building, the time that oil is in filters should give it time to warm up to room temp. hope this helps John@Reliable

Dave Palmer

and

a nozzle line heater to help it along, Dave

[Deleted User]

The answer to

your question is a very qualified yes.

As #2 fuel oil gets colder, the viscosity increases. It gets thicker. This thicker oil leaves the nozzle in larger droplets, which increases the flow rate through the nozzle. How much more flow? How much more air passes through the eye of a needle on a 70 degree day vs. a 90 degree day? Ask the folks @ MIT.

We do know that the cold oil causes combustion problems. The flame tries to burn off the rear of the combustion chamber. It becomes noisy and lights hard. It smokes. It stinks. And, it will normally cause the burner to trip on safety.

The solution is relatively simple. Reduce the nozzle size and increase the nozzle line oil pressure. The increased pressure reduces the droplet size. The smaller nozzle compensates for the increased higher pressure oil flow. The nozzle line heater works, too. Increased pressure + heater = almost perfect.

Bet you don't know the #2 you buy in September is not the same #2 you buy in January. The refiners supply different formulations of product based on geography and seasonal temperatures. September's #2 could cause problems in the dead of a 10 degree January night. January's #2 will probably burn without a burp.

So the answer is yes, but not much, and then only for short periods of time. And. No oil folks that I know, & I know a few, count on cold oil to increase their bottom line.

Happy oil heating.

Steve Luciani

nozzle line heater

What is the aprox. temperature across a nozzle line heater with a 1 gph nozzle? Just curious.
Also, is it worth the loss of basement space to put the tank in the basement? This will be a new install.

Unknown

It is SO MUCH more better,

That I wouldn't consider putting one outside. It can cost 30 to 60 cents more a gallon to put it outside in cold climates, because it needs to be mixed 50/50 with #1 (kerosene) to burn cleanly. Water condenses in the air space above the oil constantly in cold weather, which feeds oil bacteria, as well as freezes in cold weather.

Some of your fuel is used to bring the mixture to ignition temperature. If all of your fuel is 15° F, less heat goes to the house, as some is used to preheat the air and fuel that you burn.


Your burner adjustments are set under certain conditions of fuel and air temperature, and as these change, so does your efficiency. Colder= lower.

That space that you save comes at a pretty sooty cost.

Noel

Dave Palmer

about

125* at the nozzle,Carlin EZ1's come thru with them standard and you can get one to fit Becketts.It helps,Dave

Firedragon_4

That Beckett heater is very

slick and I've put it on almost everything including a Riello.

John@Reliable_2

Inside vs outside?

If you can put it inside DO IT. The amount of lost space is really nothing,vs the benifits. This past Jan. I had 47 calls in one week all outside and frozen oil supply lines. Ten of these were set-up the proper way but still had problems. Hope this helps John@Reliable

Steve Eayrs

inside or outside.??

Its interesting that most oil tanks up here in Alaska, are outside above ground tanks, don't have nozzle line heaters, and..........in the winter we automatically use #1 oil. The cost is not that much more here than #2, (10-15 cents?), but its not really an option. Most new houses don't want to give up the indoor space, and the standard stocked tanks are 300 or 500 gal. round tanks, that don't fit thru doors.
The way up north guys can't always get away with it, but the lower 1/2 of the State I would say is above ground and outside, except for those remaining old buried ones, or a few double wall newer buried ones.
Very few problems on hundreds of systems we have installed, but we do use a lot of tierloops, single line from the tank, good filters, etc. and they are all installed inside by the boiler, where the volume from these devises seems to warm the oil up some.
Steve

[Deleted User]

If you are

concerned about taking up too much basement space w/ an oil tank, the industry has some answers for that.

The standard 275 tank is 27"W X 60"L X 44"H. There are numerous tanks available w/ quantities from 150 to 275 gallons w/ smaller footprints. Some are double walled. One of those 275 gallon double wall tanks is only 28"W X 43"L.

So, if you decide to install the tank inside; and it is preferable. Ask your contractor for the available options. One tank manufacturer is @ www.roth-usa.com.