kerosene Frozen?

steamjetjoe

Hello all,

Quick one for you. Can Kerosene freeze. I had the heating on timer for this morning but it didnt come on. Is it possibe that the pipe froze It hit -8 or more in my area last night.

Xcellor

No not at that temperature.

Most likely the pipes bringing the water into the house (heated + cold) have frozen.

This happened to one of my neighbour... You could try manually kicking off the boiler from outside but id say you are now going to be depending on open fires and electric heaters for a while..

You can try and pour some boiling water around where you think the pipes travel... In my case I know where they are coz the ice is always melted in that area... ...

We ran out of oil the other day I am just hoping by the time I turn my heating back on it isn't the same..................

X

suitseir

No harm to cover any exposed pipework leading from the oil tank to the boiler. I cover mine with an old piece of wool rag. I notice that a lot of people keep their oil tanks a good distance from the house, or had them moved in order to build patios, decking over the years. Ours is where the builder put it and while it is shaded being outside the utility room door, as the boiler is room sealed in that room, and close enough to the house, it has meant that that all pipework is kept reasonably ` warm`. My plumber has told me that kerosene that we have been getting into this country over the past few years IS liable to freeze. This guy is an EXPERT in his field. He told me this during the summer when he was servicing my oil stove and it prompted me to cover any exposed pipes as above. So I wouldn't write of that it could be the kerosene.

steamjetjoe wrote: »

Hello all,

Quick one for you. Can Kerosene freeze. I had the heating on timer for this morning but it didnt come on. Is it possibe that the pipe froze It hit -8 or more in my area last night.

steamjetjoe

Thanks for the info guys

yoshytoshy

Lads ,you should try and leave your pump running if your worried about freezing heating pipes.

cnocbui

The freezing point of kerosene is -30.

Kashkai

I had my kerosene burner moved from outside my bedroom window to a point 10ft from the house for noise and exhaust reasons. When I was moving the burner, I noticed that the pipes leading to and from the burner were qualplex which weren't even lagged (a$$hole builder and plumber - long story). So I bought an insulated pipe to run from the burner to the point where the pipes enter the house. These insulated pipes are supposed to retain practically all the heat put out by the burner and was worth the investment imo, especially as I'm sure the previous arrangement would have meant that the exposed qualplex pipes would have frozen and burst by now.

vivastar

Temps hit - 12 here in the northwest two nights ago, and our oil has stopped working! Had a plumber in to look at it and there was nothing he could do ... waiting on the thaw to see if something was frozen. Didn't think kerosene froze at those temps - supposed to be - 30C ... Really afraid that the severe frost has done damage underground. Our housing estate is still being built and talking to the men working on the houses, they were even having problems digging down with their JCBs! The ground in the area in general would be very damp - could this be having a worse effect? Any ideas or opinions anyone???

suitseir

vivastar wrote: »

Temps hit - 12 here in the northwest two nights ago, and our oil has stopped working! Had a plumber in to look at it and there was nothing he could do ... waiting on the thaw to see if something was frozen. Didn't think kerosene froze at those temps - supposed to be - 30C ... Really afraid that the severe frost has done damage underground. Our housing estate is still being built and talking to the men working on the houses, they were even having problems digging down with their JCBs! The ground in the area in general would be very damp - could this be having a worse effect? Any ideas or opinions anyone???

Is it oil or kerosene? Seemingly, oil freezes at a less lower temperature!

alibabba

Woke up this morning, oil set to come on but nothing happening.
There is plenty of oil in the tank.
I didnt get time to fire up the outside boiler manually but i am wondering ....
if the water pipes from boiler to house are prozen, would the boiler still not fire up somewhat or does it know/detect that there is no flow of water and stop from firing up or what ?

Any help is grateful.

AMHRASACH

The water feed to the heating system is a subsidiary tank in the attic? Check that. Keep attic trapdoor open in these Siberian conditions.

tommycahir

also check pipes to and from the tank in the attic as they could be frozen either. I had to thaw mine out yesterday evening with a hairdryer!!

alibabba

Thanks for the replies.
I must check that small tank this evening alright.
I was checking the big tank alright at the weekend but forgot about the wee one. I have a bulb up there to keep the frost at bay.

The boiler is up and firing already, it seems I had it set too high (85) and it tripped out. Very handy to have a useful brother in law near home.

Buford T Justice

My tank is about 5 meters from the house and the insulated pipe is running overground. I don't have any issues with the oil freezing.... Boiler is on a wall outside the house though ,so I have no probs with my heating thankfully.

Sparkpea

if the boiler is firing and then cutting out but the red light is not coming on then its likely the pipes are frozen

if the boiler isnt firing or is cutting out and the red light is lit up then its likely the problem is in the oil line. the oil should not freeze in the tank but it could do in the pipe if any water/wax is mixed with it, its likely to be frozen at the oil filter which has gathered water/gunk that has froze. take the oil filter off and clean it then refit.