OT..Fuel oil/kerosene

[truck]

There is clear fuel oil and there is red fuel oil.
There is clear kerosene and there is red kerosene.
What is the difference between these four?
I think the red fuel oil is desiel fuel and the clear stuff is heating oil, is that right?
But the red kerosene and clear kerosene, I don't have a clue.

[marc]

Yup...You have red and green diesel...Green diesel is not taxed and used by farmers and commercial fisherman...Every now and then the cops set up stops where I live to check for green diesel...If ya get cought yer skrewed...

Never seen red kerosene...

[ULTRADOG]

same deal with the red farmers use it down here in florida

[specialx1]

may not be the real reason but i know you can get various colors of kerosene for old fashioned oil lamps just for decorations when you have a clear oil lamp thatyou can see the oil in.
Specialx1

[codyshop]

Same here.  Red is untaxed and for agriculture.  Getting caught with red on the streets is a five-digit fine.  Ray

[smokey3644]

Same here in MT, but all the ranchers around have red diesel tanks for their equipment and diesel pickups and well you know the rest.  I was cruising around last fall and came on an interesting stand off, there was a DOT inspector sitting on the state highway waiting for a couple of ranchers to drive off their private road onto the highway with their pickup pulling a stock trailer.  I pulled over and watched for a few minutes and neither one was moving, guess the rancher might have had some of that red gas in his rig.

[Phu Cat]

The colors are dyes.  For instance, kerosene is clear when it comes off the first fractionating tower in the refinery.

PC

[truck]

Why is there colored kero being sold at gas stations? For oil lamps I can see the colors being sold a quart at a time in shops, but I'm talking about the stuff I buy in bulk (5 or 10 gallons for the torpedo heater), why is it red? Is it possibly #1 fuel oil?

[deltafarmer]

Smokey, Mt farmers may  be able run  "no tax diesel--red" but here in ms they are tough, at least in  my area,  A couple of years ago I  filled from the wrong tank,  a truly honest mistake, and I  sweated for a while. That dye is hard to get out,  During Katrina farmers were allowed  to use "no tax--red" in farm trucks.

[longrider1951]

The red Kerosene is untaxed and not for use as a motor fuel.  In winter a lot of diesel owners mix Kero in with the Diesel fuel to prevent gelling in real cold weather.  Also Kerosene is #1 fuel oil.

[76shuvlinoff]

In my hometown in MI you get red kerosene at the gas station for you home space heater. I run it in my torpedo heater in the shop. I have not bought any this year yet but what I don't get is the price is usually way above road diesel.  Is it cleaner?  What happens if you run the cheaper diesel in a torpedo heater?

[Ryder]

In central Florida I worked part time for a independent oil company. The owner said K1 was dyed because some people use to to make their own blend of gasoline. The red dye will allow them to be checked by the government. Any fuel with red dye does not have road taxes in the price per gallon.

You can tell a difference between the smell on Kerosene and diesel. Diesel will smoke more when used in place of K1 for heating purposes.