Mother's Waste Oil Heater

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UPDATE & ANNOUNCEMENT, March 2006:

I read with interest and some concern the letter from Mary Hammersmith in the February/March 2004 issue regarding the waste oil heater from the September/October 1978 issue. I helped build that heater in 1978. I used it in my home and wrote the original article about it.

Here's why the fly in the ointment: When this stove was designed and built, most motor oil was formulated for larger-displacement, precatalytic-era vehicles. As demands of fuel economy and federal emission standards began to affect auto manufacturers, they had to make smaller, harder-working engines that operated at higher temperatures than the older engines, especially with the introduction of catalytic-converter systems in the mid-1970s. Subsequently, motor oil sometimes flashed in the crankcases of vehicles, and in the early 1980s, an anti-flashing agent was added to motor oils for safety reasons. This raised the oil's combustion temperature significantly. Naturally, the performance of the waste oil heater was affected, and the original Mother stopped selling plans when complaints brought the problems to light.

Modern waste oil shop heaters use a different technology than Mother's old drip-style burner. The new UL- and EPA-approved models have special pre-heaters and pumped-injection systems that vaporize fuel for efficient combustion at high temperatures. The difference between Mother's waste oil burner and the commercial models is vast, and I can say with a fair degree of confidence that the EPA would never approve Mother's technology if it were a manufactured unit.

Richard Freudenberger
Hendersonville, North Carolina

What's that, bunky? You say the skyrocketing cost of oil, electricity, coal, and other fuels has you scratching for a less expensive way to heat your shop, garage, or home this coming winter?

Well scratch no further! Because MOTHER is here to tell you about a dandy little furnace that her researchers have developed . . . which costs next to nothing to build and is even less expensive to operate (since it burns the used motor oil that tens of thousands of service stations across the country will still give away free to anyone who'll haul it off).

IT'S CHEAP, CLEAN, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND!

Yep. We're sure that you've probably already cringed at the idea of burning "dirty old" crankcase oil in a space heater set up right there in, say your nice clean living room. But extensive tests conducted by MOTHER's research department have confirmed two things: [1] drain oil-when used as a fuel-can produce a considerable amount of heat, and [2] if fed to a properly designed burner, crankcase oil burns both clean and without any detectable odor.

And you certainly can't beat the price! Old motor oil is still available (by the 55-gallon drum) for the asking from at least three out of four of the service stations on the North American Continent. And—while it is true that a sprinkling of automotive garages and filling stations now charge a few cents a gallon for their waste oil—it's just as true that an equal sprinkling will pay to have you tote the crankcase drainings away. It all averages out.