Oil Boiler conversion to Biofuel / Bioethanol E85

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
Hi all,

We are looking into renovating our house, and a suggestion from the architect was that we might consider converting the Oil fired boiler into an Ethanol / Biofuel one.

This, he suggests has the advantage that the ducting can be much simpler (we'd be able to remove an ugly false wall hiding the current pipes) and better environmentally as it burns to CO2 and Water.

Has anyone done this? How easy is it to get deliveries of fuel - I seem to be struggling to google prices and availability, but maybe it's as easy as asking the local petrol station!?

Any info gratefully received,

BritS

2

You can DIY
https://www.motherearthnews.com/sust…-zm0z15aszmar/

https://biotechhealth.com/home-biogas/

3
CO2 is CO2. Can’t you get a heat pump?

The cynic in me asks why an architect would suggest a conversion that would require his services? I’d get a second opinion.

4
I'm sure we could, but I am not sure how much sense a ~30k investment would be at the moment, when we have a fairly new oil boiler in the place, doing all the underfloor heating. From what I understand, the Wärmepumpe can be fairly loud too. If we were building from scratch, I think I would go with it though.

As Rob mentions above, I don't know how much he'd really make out of suggesting this as the conversion is fairly quick and cheap, when compared to the renovation as a whole.

5
I'm sure a competent grown up could, but I think I would enlist someone a bit better at these things to get it done

6

Biodiesel is not Bioethanol.

Biodiesel is basically filtered old cooking oil.

Bioethanol is distilled alcohol... you need a still license to make this at home in CH

Also costs are quite different. Bioethanol costs roughly as much as heizoel (just bought 200l for the bioethanol fireplace). Biodiesel CAN be cheaper, but only if you take the trouble of recycling cooking oil...

7
I presume you need to chose your exact fuel source to convert to? So you can't then use E85 and HVO and and etc? Would assume everything has slightly different ignition points?

8

While I'm sure there are things that will burn "anything" (after all, diesel engines were originally designed on vegetable oil; and the truck I drove during my year in service would happily burn engine oil, diesel, petrol, ethanol, cooking oil or pretty much anything with the word "oil" in the name as long as it was moderately fluid) - I think there's a question of efficiency vs. calorific content of hte fuel, and safety to be considered.

E85 is closer to normal petrol that you think (that's what's in my car right now, as I drove through France); and so are prices. You get a (tax/duties related) discount if buying for your house heating, and I guess you have some advantage to being able to (illegally) fill up your car in an emergency...

That said, I wouldn't go E85 as it's VERY flammable, and the fumes are explosive. Diesel/Heizoel/HVO is relatively difficult to ignite... which is a plus in my book (less chance of an accident happening).

At the end of the day, you need to consider "why do I want this". Is it to hide the fuel pipes? They all have fuel pipes... so unless you go heat pump, that's not a benefit.

Is it for eco-reasons? Then bioethanol is probably best (but honestly I haven't checked); as the byproduct of BURNING is water mainly... but there are massive byproducts in production (it's basically intensive farming + fermentation + distillation).

Is it for self-reliance? In that case, I would look at something that can burn pellets + wood.

You say you have a nearly new boiler - so if I were you... I would keep that, and set aside some money every year. When it breaks, use that pot to replace it with a heat pump or a new boiler.

As much as I like heizoel (it's a 5000l reservoir of diesel in a worst case scenario); I expect that in the next 20-30years, it'll get harder and harder to find as cars move towards electric/hydrogen.

EDIT: Forgot to say, I'm renovating a house in Italy - we're going with gas there. Huge tank buried in the garden, but in a worst case scenario, will run short term from a normal cylinder you can pickup at the petrol station.

9
Excellent, many thanks for the in-depth post.

10
Just to add our oil burner will run on diesel if need be. The manufacturer suggested it once when we had a shortage and needed a solution. Not sure if it's the most efficient or would have issues in the long run, but if you're ever stuck, you can probably run on diesel. Check your manufacturer specs though.

11
Also consider the respective caloric content, it takes roughly 1/3 more E85 than heating oil to produce the same heat. If price per unit is the same, your fuel cost would increase proportionally. On top of that, this will require either a larger tank or more frequent refills.

And, it looks like biofuels may either require more frequent tank maintenance, or the addition of biocides to kill the microbes it may contain.

12
We're in the process of renovating as well - we have plans solid enough with our architect to have secured the loan from the bank.

One sticking point is the Wärmepumpe. I do not want a Luftwärmepumpe, at all. Besides the fact that they're loud and ugly, they quickly become ineffective the further below freezing the air temperatures go.

I'm trying to see if it's possible to install Wärmepumpe using ground or ground water to collect heat is economically feasible. They're not perfect either, but at least on cold winter nights they will keep working effectively.

13

https://www.imaginfires.co.uk/faq/do…s-produce-heat

"While biofires are not intended as a primary heat source for your home, your bioethanol fireplace gives off plenty of heat, with much better fuel efficiency than a wood-burning stove (which loses around 40% of its heat up the chimney).

However, we don’t recommend replacing your central heating system with a bioethanol fireplace as it will not produce enough heat and will be expensive to run. But for supplementary heat, you’ll love the comfortable warmth produced by your bioethanol flame."

14
If my architect suggested that, I'd simply fire him.

15
With Oil or Ethanol?

16
Think you potentially have the wrong end of the stick here - we aren't talking about replacing a fireplace, or using a fireplace to hear our entire house, but rather converting an oil boiler to a something else boiler to heat the house & water.

17
'Old Boiler converting to Bio Fuel'?

I thought... is the Wife going vegi?

Enjoy the Sow y'all

GREG