Hi.
Well its been a while since i posted here,Nice to see there are still lots of familiar contributors.
Last weeks cold snap was particularly severe here in the IOW. with temperatures in normally frost free Ventnor and St Lawrence recorded at almost -10! one night and between -4 and -6 most of the week.
Paraffin supplies were short,with my usual suppliers saying that "nothing to do with the cold weather" but that their normal suppliers were not handling paraffin anymore due to refining costs? In a week the best price jumped from £3.80 per 4 ltrs to £5.40, the worst price I saw was £7.20!!!!!!!!
any thoughts on this? where does this leave us gardeners?(apart from out of pocket) as some people were saying they just wouldnt stock it any more.
Anyone got any ideas of an alternative fuel? just going along the lines of cooking oil worked ok in my pick up truck.
Paul.
paraffin.
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vivienz
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Hi Paul,
Even here in Bournemouth it's not easy to get hold of paraffin - I paid about £6.80 a couple of weeks ago for a 4l container. Mind you, it's easier to get paraffin that trying to get a new wick from a shop - that has proved near impossible!
Best wishes,
Vivien
Even here in Bournemouth it's not easy to get hold of paraffin - I paid about £6.80 a couple of weeks ago for a 4l container. Mind you, it's easier to get paraffin that trying to get a new wick from a shop - that has proved near impossible!
Best wishes,
Vivien
I'm in the same position. However when we had some heating oil delivered a few weeks ago I asked the driver about paraffin for greenhouse heaters and he said you could use central heating oil. In fact at some deliveries he makes customers leave out a few cans next to their main tank for him to fill. This stuff is only about 40p per litre now. As long as your not running your car on it I don't see any tax problems.
Anyone use heating oil as a substitute for paraffin?
John
Anyone use heating oil as a substitute for paraffin?
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
Hi all
I found parrafin expensive aswell. £4.99 for 4 litres not even a gallon. They put the price up and lowered the amount of fuel purchased. I have some of those mini greenhouses in my main greenhouse that I cover with the plastic provided and I put one of those small parasene heaters in there that you get 2 weeks running at night from. I shut them off in the morning and ventilate the minis. Ithink using heating oil is a good idea. But what fumes are given off? at 40p a litre it's got to be worth a look. The tax can't be much after all you are using for heating so what's the prob.
I found parrafin expensive aswell. £4.99 for 4 litres not even a gallon. They put the price up and lowered the amount of fuel purchased. I have some of those mini greenhouses in my main greenhouse that I cover with the plastic provided and I put one of those small parasene heaters in there that you get 2 weeks running at night from. I shut them off in the morning and ventilate the minis. Ithink using heating oil is a good idea. But what fumes are given off? at 40p a litre it's got to be worth a look. The tax can't be much after all you are using for heating so what's the prob.
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strawberry tart
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Well heating oil certainly looks an option at that price.next question.....where do i get heatng oil in reasonable quantities for my needs? thanks for the replies so far.....hi Vivien hows the gariguette???
funnily enough i just moved my strawbs and was thinking i need to pot up the cifflorrette you sent
paul......
re the paraffin situation i am going to contact a couple of heater manufacturers and maybe try some cooking oil..i'll keep you posted
ps Vivien if you have trouble finding wicks, i can (well last time i needed some)buy it by the metre here in the local ironmongers.
funnily enough i just moved my strawbs and was thinking i need to pot up the cifflorrette you sent
paul......
re the paraffin situation i am going to contact a couple of heater manufacturers and maybe try some cooking oil..i'll keep you posted
ps Vivien if you have trouble finding wicks, i can (well last time i needed some)buy it by the metre here in the local ironmongers.
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Geoff
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Availability of Paraffin : B&Q stock it and if you can get the 10% off it is about what you have been paying.
If you are not familiar with heating oil it is called Kerosene 28. I use electricity to heat the greenhouse but using some of my heating oil in a small sump heater as a background with the electric thermostat taking over when needed is an interesting idea. I should know if they are the same, I was a Chemical Engineer once, but I am afraid I don't. I have so far tried unsuccessfully to use Google to check it. There are two things to find out, are Kerosene 28 and Paraffin the same fraction (petroleum fractions refer to the different end products, which can be split up, or refined, from crude oil) and are they the same purity. As the fumes from Paraffin heaters can be a problem this second point is important. I'll keep searching and post if I find anything.
If you are not familiar with heating oil it is called Kerosene 28. I use electricity to heat the greenhouse but using some of my heating oil in a small sump heater as a background with the electric thermostat taking over when needed is an interesting idea. I should know if they are the same, I was a Chemical Engineer once, but I am afraid I don't. I have so far tried unsuccessfully to use Google to check it. There are two things to find out, are Kerosene 28 and Paraffin the same fraction (petroleum fractions refer to the different end products, which can be split up, or refined, from crude oil) and are they the same purity. As the fumes from Paraffin heaters can be a problem this second point is important. I'll keep searching and post if I find anything.