Oil Heating without electric

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A friend just bought a Neston Martin oil stove which burns #2 oil. It pumps out those btus liike there's no tomorrow and is really quite remarkable, though expensive ($1300+) and 'finicky' to get started. But when we had problems with out oil-fired furnace recently, it made me realize the importance of alternatives that don't rely on anything but the fuel itself.

Does anyone know of other 'simple' oil-burning heaters? I also purchased a Petromax oil lantern with is super, but really not suited for producing large volumes of heat over a period of time.

-- lou (lanny1@ix.netcom.com), October 14, 1999

Answers

It's funny this was posted today. I rolled some thoughts around in my heard all day about a simple oil-burning heater that may be available.

In my experience, older tobacco barns used oil-burning heaters to dry and cure the tobacco leaves after harvest. These were simple, gravity feed oil-burners. No electric fans and blowers required for operation.

Over the last ten to fifteen years the old "classic" tobacco barns and oil burning heaters have been replaced with modular, propane burning bulk barns. When I visit home I see the old, oil burners just sitting in falling-down tobacco barns all along the backroads of Virginia and North Carolina.

If you are in the southeastern US, or know someone there you might be able to get ahold of one of these old beasts to fill your need. And I'm seriously considering adding one to my shopping list of last- minute goodies during our Thanksgiving visit home.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), October 15, 1999.


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