Oil versus Kerosene

[ITD]

Originally Posted by hazmatmedic

Bigdog,

I'm glad to see people helping, but every post so far has had erroneous information. I really suggest you talk to any number of suppliers in your area. They are more than willing to offer information regarding HVAC. And, if you are buying a house, your "future" supplier will inspect your heating service and let you know how efficient it is. Just because it's "new" doesn't mean it's any good.
The techs see thousands of homes and they know what works and what doesn't work. Home inspectors are normally not as well versed in home heating as they think they are.

Here are the corrections:
Current difference in price in k-1 and #2 = @ $0.75
k-1 is @ 142,000 btus and #2 is 138,000 btus (averages)
k-1 can be stored inside, it is used for fuel specific appliances and for its lower cloud point or flow and higher btu's.
usage and appliance type determines whether k-1 will be less maintenance. Cleanings will still be needed for both fuels.
k-1 or #2 are not 100% combustible.

Sorry haz, but just about every chart I can find shows Fuel oil #2 with more btus per gallon than kerosene. Of course kerosene can be stored indoors but paying more money for less energy doesn't make sense to me. The money saved with the "dirtier" fuel could easily pay for additional cleanings. (500 gals per season X $0.70 = $350.00)

Here is a link to a Cornell paper that has a pretty good explanation on how to compare different fuels.

http://housing.cce.cornell.edu/f-sht...at%20fuels.pdf

[bigdog]

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback and links to additional resources.
Much appreciated !

Bigdog