I have been shopping around locally today for reasonably priced paraffin and finding it harder to source and more expensive, I suppose as food and all types of fuel at service stations have also increased. Gone are the days when you could take a can along and buy it loose. The option of Esso Blue or Pink Paraffin and I remember buying paraffin pettle to give it a fragrant smell. I was lucky to get the last one in an old fashioned hardware shop this morning ( Barrentine) for £7.20. He assured me the next consignment would be between £10.00 and £12 .00 I am now thinking of one of these 20ltr Drums with free delivery as the next course of action. What do you think ?
20L of PREMIUM HEATING OIL / KEROSENE Class 2 kerosene £31.25 on ebay. I'm not sure the differance of class 1 and class 2
Hello There. I saw some class 1 paraffin in 20 ltrs roughly same price on Amazon that claimed to be less sooty than kerosene. It seem Kerosene is same as petrol in the USA. Kerosene in UK is heating oil and paraffin Is more refined for what most of our uses are and smell less than kerosene. It will take a while to get through 20ltrs but do not see it in 4ltr packaging coming down in price any time soon. Thank you for your reply
In the uk C2 - is heating oil - also known here as 28 second oil. C1 is domestic paraffin also sometimes called class 1 or premium. Further complications arise when manufacturers say "low odour". C1 is a minimum measure standard so there are super deodourised versions of C1 that do not work so well in our lanterns. This thread has lots of info: Low odour kero in a Coleman 249
Lots of folks use the oil from their central heating tanks If you do go down that route you may find your local supplier will already stock pre filled 20ltr containers or fill one for you? All a matter of a phone call or two Not sure what the prices are now but Wirral Fuels were doing those for around £27 just before Christmas
Hello steptoe, seeing as your in Norfolk there is a petrol station on the b1150 going out of Norwich on the left that sells paraffin from the pump, I bought some before Christmas at 92p per litre, it may have gone up a little by now but it's a lot cheaper than buying pre pack. Regards Ian.
Podbros thank you. I thought using heating oil was a wee bit smelley in the home. Thanks for your input
Hi Ian cheers for the heads up on the garage selling the paraffin. Next time I am that way I will take a container with me and get some. Very handy thanks again.
I believe there is a thread somewhere about fuel terminology and how it varies from country to country. 'Petrol' in the USA is gasoline, not kerosene, it would be a mistake to confuse the two. In France 'petrole' (with an 'e' on the end) is what we in the UK call paraffin. Petrol, (petroleum spirit) is what drives petrol fuelled vehicles, is 'essence' in France. Diesel fuel is Gazole. When we get a delivery of heating oil, it is often called kerosene but sometimes paraffin. It's 28 second heating oil, and our last delivery of just over a thousand litres was 52p per litre. (Earlier last year it dipped down to less than 40p per litre). It is a slightly different grade than shop bought paraffin and reputedly smellier. However, we use it not only in the Rayburn, which has a separate flue to the outside world, but also in two 'Inverter', electronically controlled indoor heaters (no external flues) with no problems at all. The instructions with the Inverter heaters tells of dire consequences if anything other than 'proper' paraffin is used, and that any warrantee is null and void if so used. The instructions also say that upon start-up and shut down, there will be a 'paraffin' smell, but once lit there should be none. I can say that during our several years of burning 28 second heating oil in both Inverters; my low use in Tilleys, Vapalux,, kerosene Baby Coleman, an incandescent Aladdin along with a variety of wick lamps both indoors and out, I cannot detect any detrimental effects with the lamps or heaters, and while there may be a slightly 'more' pungent smell than 'paraffin' in the 'wickies', it is not something that bothers either of us - and my wife is very sensitive to any kind of 'stink'. The Inverters do get stripped down every couple of years and like the Rayburn burner, there is a small build up of black carbon deposit from the burner well which gets chipped away. Whilst the Inverters are running, no smell at all. One of the endearing features of a visit to Grans house as a child, was a combination of lavender water - and paraffin smells. 'Pink Paraffin' was her choice, decanted from 'Oily's' mobile van.
Hi Derek. Thank you for your input and explanations of various fuels etc. It is nice to get ideas as to what can be used as a substitute for the lamps other than prepacked plastic 4ltr containers. Ian ( Mr Cod ) mentioned about a garage that sold paraffin from a pump in Norfolk not to far from his or my location which I was unaware of. After a phone call to the garage this morning I found that they did have it in stock and current price is £1.09 per litre which I am happy with that. The garage is approx 20 miles from my location but I will purchase 20 litres as well as another stop to collect logs for my woodburner while that way. This giving me a day out and something to do. Yes the smells of yester years. My Grand father always had a tilley R1 going for heat in the scullery and a very small coal fire in the living room. The smell of paraffin from the tilley and mince pattie being cooked in the old GEC oven was a lovely mixture.
