Hi everyone It’s been a long time since I’ve had to buy paraffin. But a few years ago I bought tons of Bartoline. Today I bought a brand new jug and it smells horrible like the stuff you would use to heat your house. I assume they changed the formula. What do you all use?
I use to use home-washed kerosene ( heating oil ) and that worked ok, I then picked up two jugs of french heater fuel and that stuff was very good, not real paraffin but didn't smell bad and worked good. I have just received 20 liters of this stuff that is very similar to the french stuff but I cant find the link for it. I've heard paraffin extra is rather good as well. I shall get the name of the drum I have tomorrow. Josh.
The paraffin which comes in 4 litre drums in the UK., is modern heating oil and pressure lamps operate okay on it, but it's expensive and a bit odorous. Perhaps there is an ironmonger or a garage in your area which sells paraffin in bulk. Barbecue fluid is pure paraffin and some large stores sell it off cheaply at the end of the season.
Any brand they happen to sell in the petrol station I will go to when in need of paraffin. Generally a Statoil station, so it will be the one called "Campingparaffin" I also often use charcoal lighter fluid. Just as Jeff mentioned, it works for our purposes.
Here in South Africa it is called Illumination Paraffin and the price is set by Government on a monthly basis along with the petrol price. It is still used widely in stoves and industrial furnaces. About twice a year when the price seems lowest I buy in bulk from the pump at a local diesel depot. The quality is very good and I seldom even have to use the prickers on lamps or stoves.
20 Litre drums of Gleaner Heating Oil or end of season sale BBQ lighter fluid. The Gleaner has a mild odour to it, but it's not bad, I sort of like it. BBQ lighter fluid is odourless. Bartoline is vile odourous overpriced rubbish which cokes up everything it comes into contact with. HD
Tomitoyo is the brand I bought and it works brilliant, no Oder whatso ever, not very expenisive aswell, 38 euro for 20 litres
Not sure if Klean Strip brand products are available in Europe but i use Klean Heat in my inside use lanterns, its pricey around $14 canadian a gallon but has no odor what so ever when used in my pressure lamps or my wick lamps. Outside I use regular clear 1k kerosene and have used Jet A in the past.
Fortunately I live close to Caldo oils in St Helens where.i can buy reasonably priced paraffin in 4 litre containers, 4 X 4 l boxes or even fill my own containers from the pump.
I use Barrettine at £7.99 for four litres but the hardware shop is a two minute walk away, some of the more heavily worn lamps smell but in general it seems ok in use, There was some Paraffin similarly priced to this on ebay which i was going to try but i can't seem to find it now ⭐️KEROSENE 20 LITRE HEATING OIL Class 2 20 L⭐️ FIVE STAR RATED PRODUCT | eBay
I mainly use * "Paraffin oil" C10-C13, * Charcoal lighter fluid * Shellsol D60 (Aliphatic mineral spirits) whatever is available and does not cost too much. Erik
Trying to wake up an old thread. This winter I plan to use a Paraffin heater (sorry, not light...) extensively and looking for reasonably priced fuel. End-of-season BBQ lighting fluid seems much more interesting than the 2+£/Litre premium paraffin drums, any idea if it could work indoors? An example datasheet says BP-range 190-280°C. FP 72-80°C. Boiling point range is about the same, flashpoint is higher. https://www.bartoline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Barbecue-Lighting-Fluid-TDS.pdf
might work, might not work. The contents of charcoal lighter fluid can vary from batch to batch, the contents are not defined exactly. The companies buy cheap what they think will work for lighting charcoal. Next batch - different concoction. Years ago, I asked at a refinery if they can give me the contacts of a local dealer who sells small containers. I bought a 180 litre drum for around 1€/litre including delivery. But that was years ago and only worked as a neighbour made it evaporate in his books to avoid some sales- and other taxes. Other thing: I did not have and I do not have an authorized dangerous goods storage so the container and the amount was against a number of laws for sure. Have to invoke the statute of limitations for this issue. Erik
You still might be able to get a deal buying a 20L drum of Paraffin. Many dealers will only charge you VAT at 5% if you tell them it is for heating use.
Thank you Erik. I certainly can't stock hundreds of liters as I don't have space . Thought about 1L bottles, sold by the dozen. I am surprised that it's lesser quality, as it is normally sold more expensive as premium paraffin.
This sheet does not say anything about sulfur and cyclos, the smelly things in the bottle :-( Density should be around 0,75 kg/ltr c10 ... C13 would be fine, all alkanes. Erik
20L here costs 45£ cheapest while 4x4L drums around 32£. All @5% VAT. Ain't cheap, compared to 1£/L leftover BBQ fluid offers.
Here Lidl sells charcoal lighter fluid which is really great. I use it a lot for the (paraffin-run) fridge in the shed. No smells at all. But also: no date given, next batch can be stinky as hell.
I’ve used barbecue lighting fluid and it’s been fine.. for a pound you can’t go wrong You might try a local fuel depot? They usually do 20L (emergency) containers of 28 sec heating oil for a reasonable amount (less than £45) ... folks on here use it a lot
Brands might count. I'd go with more established ones if available. I am not sure about 28sec indoors (smell, health issues compared to premium paraffin). Heater also means more flue.
The flash point of Kerosene is around 38 deg C . A FP of 72 deg C sounds too high to me. Its more like lamp oil for wick lanterns. New Petromax HK500
It is important to check the specifications for the paraffin/kerosene you are going to use. Kerosene sold as "solvent cleaner" often has a higher flash point than lighting or jet kerosene. The Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) will provide information on the product you are interested in. For example the kerosene that I use, which is Jet Aircraft Fuel, Jet-A1, has a flash point of ~38 Degrees C. It is the same kerosene (not dyed) that is sold as blue dyed kerosene in Australia. The Jet-A1 available to me at the moment does not have "antifreeze" added, so is pure kerosene. Cheers Tony
@Oaktree83 The suitability of any paraffin also depends on the heater you intend to use there. Some heaters(especially larger ones) have no issues burning those with higher flash and boiling points ranges. It might help if you could post a picture of the heater. There working principles of different heaters can differ from each other. Some work by vaporizing like those of pressurized lamps with radiating elements/mesh. Some work using luminuous flames alone as means of radiant heat sources.
BBQ and charcoal lighting fluids/fuels are usually mostly paraffinic. They would contain very little aromatic hydrocarbons. The presence if aromatics usually makes them burn with relatively more soot when lit as a simple flame without a special burner. Sulphur contents can vary greatly. These fluids usually have slightly higher flash and boiling points than regular kerosene. If your heater uses the same basic principles as pressure lamps, they can be less than ideal in winter. However, I'd assume your greatest priority is the economics of operation? Sinçe its going to be used indoors, I'd say complete combustion should also be of prime importance to avoid too much Carbon monoxide generation.
It's a wick-based camping heater, dimensions: ~30cm diameter, 50cm tall: Thank you. I have one CO alarm installed ATM, planning a second one. Indeed, economy is vital as it will run hundreds of hours this winter. Besides the heater above, I'll get at least one other, similar sized, likely also wick-using specimen.
Then BBQ lighting fluids should work well too. Any slightly heavier ones too, as long as they're purely paraffinic and do not tend to burn with sooty flames. You can then focus on the most economical options out there. Not sure what you'd get in the UK but there're plenty of members here from the UK that can advise better.
Clean burning is very important. Got one interesting offer on Bartoline's fluid, the sds says less than 2% aromatics, wich sounds good: Barbecue Lighting Fluid – Bartoline , c11-c14 also sounds good. I'll check the others as they are begining to show up. Missed a pack last week at 1£/litre .
You can always test it out in an actual burn in the heater by purchasing just one small bottle first. You need to ensure that it really suits the purpose desirably, before buying larger quantities of it. Also important, you'd want to know if its easily and reliably available to you at all times.
