Dominokat"Hi" Premium Member join:2002-08-06 Boothbay, ME |
K1 Oil "shelf life"Hi everyone. I have a Monitor "Ventless" heater. It uses K1 oil which at the moment, is $4.09. Next spring I am hoping to swap it out for an LP version. ($2.73) I am looking at Rinnai, instead of Monitor.
A couple questions.
I was told LP isn't as "efficient" as the K1. If this is true, is it even worth considering switching?
I have a back up "hot air" furnace. It used to be my only heat until I installed the Monitor. It isn't used much at all except the occasional very cold days. It is also using the oil from the same K1 oil tank the Monitor is using. If I switch to LP, I obviously won't be using "tanks" of K1 any more. So I am wondering how long will K1 stay usable if unused? Should I just remove the oil and tank?
I can't remove the furnace, as my A/C it attached to it for summer cooling.
Thanks for your thoughts. |
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LazMan Premium Member join:2003-03-26 Beverly Hills, CA |
LazMan
Premium Member
2012-Nov-28 4:12 pm
Ventless heaters scare the crap out of me...
You do have sufficent make-up air and venting, right?
As for K1 storage - it does store well, but not indefinately... Starts to break down after about 30 days, but remains usable for a year, easily, and often longer...
If it's your backup heat source, I'd suggest switching the furnace to LP as well; or maybe downsizing the amount of kerosene you store to a few gallons and suppliment as required. I'd also use the furnace on a regular basis, and top up your supply after, to keep the fuel fresh... |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada MikroTik RB450G Cisco DPC3008 Cisco SPA112
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to Dominokat
said by Dominokat:I was told LP isn't as "efficient" as the K1. If this is true, is it even worth considering switching? That would be correct. The energy density is not the same. In other words, LPG has less BTU of thermal energy in each gallon than the heating oil does. Therefore, the BTU/gal has to be considered when making a cost comparison between different types of fuel. LPG has around 91,500 BTU per gallon. K1 kerosene has about 135,000 BTU in a gallon. Therefore, using the prices you have given, the final cost is: $2.98 per 100,000 BTU for LPG $3.03 per 100,000 BTU for K1 So it works out to roughly the same cost. This assumes the efficiency of the heaters/furnaces is the same. |
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Dominokat"Hi" Premium Member join:2002-08-06 Boothbay, ME |
to LazMan
said by LazMan:Ventless heaters scare the crap out of me...
You do have sufficent make-up air and venting, right?
Why does it scare you? It has a vent that goes outside to get air for the burners, and vent the gases. No in room air is ever used for burring. It does use in room air to push out the heat. |
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Dominokat |
to TheMG
said by TheMG:said by Dominokat:I was told LP isn't as "efficient" as the K1. If this is true, is it even worth considering switching? LPG has around 91,500 BTU per gallon. K1 kerosene has about 135,000 BTU in a gallon. Therefore, using the prices you have given, the final cost is: $2.98 per 100,000 BTU for LPG $3.03 per 100,000 BTU for K1 So it works out to roughly the same cost. This assumes the efficiency of the heaters/furnaces is the same. Good way to look at it. Thats what I was looking for. In a nutshell, it really doesn't matter LP and K1 are going to cost about the same in the long run? |
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LazMan Premium Member join:2003-03-26 Beverly Hills, CA
1 recommendation |
to Dominokat
said by Dominokat:Why does it scare you? It has a vent that goes outside to get air for the burners, and vent the gases. No in room air is ever used for burring. It does use in room air to push out the heat. That's not a ventless heater, then... » www.ehow.com/how-does_50 ··· ork.htmlVentless heaters both use room air for combustion, and exhaust the products of combustion back into the room... What you've got is a direct vent heater, a much safer way to go! |
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Dominokat"Hi" Premium Member join:2002-08-06 Boothbay, ME |
Oops! My bad for using the wrong terminology! |
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to Dominokat
could add a fuel stabilizer to the tank. I'd highly recommend topping it off if the K1 tank is going to be left unused for a while. |
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cdruGo Colts MVM join:2003-05-14 Fort Wayne, IN |
to Dominokat
said by Dominokat:In a nutshell, it really doesn't matter LP and K1 are going to cost about the same in the long run? If you are just looking at the cost of the fuel per BTU, then no it doesn't matter much. However you may want to include other factors such as convenience, bulk discounts, storage, can other appliances use the fuel, etc. Personally, just not having to refuel the heater periodically would make propane more attractive then kerosene. You'll have to refill the tank outside, but much less frequently. |
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Dominokat"Hi" Premium Member join:2002-08-06 Boothbay, ME |
Dominokat
Premium Member
2012-Nov-29 10:56 am
I have my cooking stove and tankless water heater using LP. I have a small 200 (?) gallon tank. With only those two items, I have the tank filled once per year. If I add an LP heater, I will get a bigger tank. I go through about 2 1/2 tanks of K1 a year. (275 gallon tank) |
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LazMan Premium Member join:2003-03-26 Beverly Hills, CA |
to Dominokat
said by Dominokat:Oops! My bad for using the wrong terminology! No worries - kerosene and LP ventless heaters do exist; so that's where the confusion came in... |
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Dominokat"Hi" Premium Member join:2002-08-06 Boothbay, ME |
Dominokat
Premium Member
2012-Dec-10 11:49 am
Despite LP not being as efficient as K1, and thus probably won't save as much money as I hoped to by switching, I think I am going to switch anyway. But not until mid next year sometime. I'll definitely need a much bigger propane tank then my current one or I'd have to get filled up once a week. (Maybe not that often, but a lot!) |
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