One of the best "inflation fighters" we've seen is a revolutionary heater that burns waste oil you've been throwing away.
Even the dirtiest oil drained from your cars, trucks and tractor burns clean -- without any processing or treatment -- in the new "smokeless, odorless and soot-free" Kutrieb heater, introduced by Self Sufficiency products.
Rated at 85,000 btu's, the heater delivers thermostatically-controlled heat from a wide variety of petroleum-based fuels -- from waste transmission, crankcase, brake or hydraulic oils to No. 1 fuel oil. "It doesn't matter if waste oils are mixed together," explains Jim Cook, president. "The thicker the mixture, however, the more btu's it generates." Except for a box-type strainer at the top of the fuel tank to screen out leaves, dead mice or other debris, waste oil goes into the heater's fuel tank "as is".
Cook notes that a gallon of waste oil will produce about the same, or up to twice as much heating value, as a gallon of No. 1 grade fuel oil. "If you don't have enough waste oil of your own, you can buy it by the barrel at most garages and filling stations for little or nothing. In addition to heating farm shops, our new heater can be adapted for use as a tank heater, or for heating livestock, machinery or other buildings."
Could it be fired with waste oil and used in the home?
"We're not recommending it for home use, but only because we don't feel we have enough experience with a wide variety of waste oils. So far, however, we've encountered no problems with odor, soot or smoke," explains Cook.
Other key features of this first-of-its kind heater, according to Cook, include:
Safe operation: A special thermostat element within the heater's electrical circuit turns off the pump and cuts off the fuel supply in case of flame failure.
Simple to operate: A specially-designed piston pump provides positive, trouble-free fuel metering.
Easy to clean: It only takes about two minutes every other day to clean ash residues from the burner's vaporizer pan.
The all-welded
heater is 39.5 in. high, 19 in. wide and weighs 142 lbs. Its top is made of a 1-in. thick steel plate, the sides of 14 ga. steel.