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