Oil/Kerosene & Biofuels ~ Water Heaters

Radiant Floor Company pioneered the use of on- demand, tank-less water heaters for radiant floor heating nearly 20 years ago when many in the heating industry believed that “on-demand water heaters would never work for radiant heat”…we disagreed! We’ve been doing this longer than anyone, with great success!

EVERY heating unit that Radiant Floor company recommends and offers is “DESIGNED & RATED FOR SPACE HEATING”! These units are not your “typical” water heaters, so don’t let the compact size fool you! All of our heating units are manufactured to an industry standard of quality and reliability.

These highly efficient heaters are built with Radiant heating in mind. We offer units that will heat both your Radiant (space heating) and domestic hot water.

Regardless of which radiant heating system you choose, be it Open, Closed Or heat exchanger, or type of fuel source you require, Propane, Natural gas, Electric or Oil,…Radiant Floor company has you covered!!!

FYI: One gallon of heating oil/kerosene will produce (approx.) 135,000 BTUs.

 

Toyotomi oil/kerosene fired water heaters are on-demand, which means there is no costly storage of hot water until it is needed. Toyotomi products are versatile, safe, reliable, compact, efficient and easy to install. These units will supply Radiant heating and domestic hot water. As illustrated, the direct vent installation kit for Toyotomi Oil fired units may be vented “Through the wall” which allows fresh air intake & exhaust within a single termination.

Bock water heater

Bock water heater

Very few water heaters use oil as a fuel source. One of the best is the Bock water heater. If oil is your only or preferred fuel option, check out the Bock line at www.bockwaterheaters.com.

Fuel oil contains more BTU’s than either natural gas or propane and with a well engineered unit like a Bock, oil can be an excellent fuel source.

Bock also manufactures a variety of gas water heaters, all with great recovery rates, good efficiency, power venting capabilities, and some models with BTU/hr. ratings of up to 600,000!

Heat source efficiency is calculated by taking the heating unit’s BTU input, multiply that number by it’s efficiency,…This equals the unit’s BTU output. Example: 199,000 BTU unit with a 95% efficiency has an output of 189,050 BTUs. (199,000 X 95% = 189.050). This number will change and must be re-figured (derated) for higher altitudes (above 5,000′). Contact a Technician for details.

A note about alternate fuels

This information doesn’t apply to oil-fired Bock water heaters, but Biodiesel, a product made from virgin soy or waste vegetable oil, is now commonly processed into a fuel that in many cases can outperform petroleum products. Biodiesel is cleaner, renewable, contains no sulphur and would be well worth investigating for use in a heating appliance.

In fact, as a real world example of how effective even pure vegetable oil can be, our web designer collects used fryer grease from restaurants, filters it, and then pours the straight oil directly into the fuel tank of her diesel Volkswagen Jetta! She estimates her fuel costs at $.10 per gallon (the filters cost a few pennies each).

Actual biodiesel is vegetable oil processed to more closely resemble the No.2 heating oil used in oil-fired water heaters and boilers and could very well serve as an alternative to a petroleum based fuel source. Several “waste oil” boilers currently on the market would happily burn biodiesel and so would many conventional oil-fired boilers and water heaters.

But needlessly to say, always check with the manufacturer of your chosen heat source before using biodiesel and, should you go that route, always use a biodiesel blend that carries the ASTM certification.

For more details about biodiesel, follow this biodiesel link.