| The recent spikes in oil and natural gas prices have put | | | | biodiesel burns much cleaner than traditional heating oil, |
| the topic of alternative fuels for home heating at the | | | | but has its own problems (for one thing, biodiesel tends |
| forefront of discussions around the country. Alternative | | | | to cause rubber gaskets to erode), so be sure to |
| fuels that in the past were seen as marginal, odd, or | | | | check with your furnace servicer or manufacturer |
| strictly for rural use are getting a second look.Wood | | | | before you opt for B100.If you choose to use B100, |
| heat has been used for generations in the rural U.S., | | | | and your furnace will handle it, you have a couple of |
| but has been replaced in the past fifty years or so by | | | | options. B100 is becoming more available around the |
| central heating provided by oil- or gas-fired furnaces. | | | | country; check on the Internet to find a supplier near |
| However, in recent years, wood stoves have been | | | | you. Also, waste oil - that is, used vegetable oil |
| making a comeback. Attractive stoves by Jotul and | | | | discarded by restaurants - can be filtered and used in |
| other manufacturers have taken their place in | | | | some furnaces. Several furnaces on the market are |
| communal living areas like kitchens and living rooms to | | | | designed to burn waste oil. Commercially |
| supplement heating while providing a cozy ambiance to | | | | manufactured B100 has an additive that keeps it liquid |
| the rooms. Wood furnaces, both internal and external | | | | at low temperatures, which recycled vegetable doesn't |
| and in many new designs based on the latest | | | | contain, so do your research - and check again with |
| technology, provide the ability to load the furnace so | | | | your furnace servicer - before you attempt burning |
| as to provide hours of central heating before needing | | | | used vegetable oil.We're facing a new world with lots |
| re-stoking. An advantage of burning wood, at least in | | | | of challenges in terms of how to heat our homes, |
| rural areas, is that it can be locally obtained; people with | | | | especially in colder winter climates. Luckily there are |
| a wood lot can get it with "sweat equity", and can | | | | technologies like wood gasification and biodeisel, |
| supplement their income by supplying their neighbors | | | | available today which can help us move away from |
| as well.New plant-based fuels like wood pellets and | | | | our decades-old dependence on fossil fuels.Aldene |
| corn pellets can also provide heat when used in | | | | Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern |
| specially designed, clean-burning furnaces and stoves. | | | | New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and |
| In addition, more and more people are taking a new | | | | Topics. She has published numerous articles in local |
| look at biodiesel, a fuel manufactured from vegetable | | | | and regional publications on a wide range of topics, |
| oils, primarily soybean oil. Most furnaces can use B20, | | | | including business, education, the arts, and local events. |
| a fuel made of 80 percent traditional heating oil and 20 | | | | Her feature articles include an interview with |
| percent biodiesel, without any adjustments; some | | | | independent documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and a |
| people are getting their furnaces adapted to be able to | | | | feature on prisoners at the New Hampshire State |
| burn B100, a fuel made entirely of vegetable oils. The | | | | Prison in Concord. |