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Fanman
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# Posted: 17 Jan 2026 06:22pm
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Quoting: utherjorge Interested to know how the drip works, as it suggests gravity and that suggest the oil has to be above.
Yes. If it's not above you need a pump... which means you're back to needing electricity.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jan 2026 10:09pm
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There are also diy 'waste oil heaters; Im sure you can find info online.
Last I knew though was that for fuel oil a class A chimney was required, not sure about the clearances.
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Fanman
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2026 09:20am
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Somewhere I have an old copy of a Mother Earth News alternative energy book that has a chapter on how to build a waste oil burner using 4" pipe welded into an old propane tank laying horizontally. I built something like that but using an old oil burner from a water heater and burned kerosene in it. Certainly not to any kind of code and not terribly efficient, but it did "OK" for heating a drafty 2 car garage. Venting was through single wall pipe going through a multi wall thimble in the roof, as was the fuel oil/kerosene (we used kerosene because the tank was above ground and oil would gel in cold weather) burning furnace in the main house. The latter, at least, was to code, at least when it was installed sometime in the early 1980s.
For a few years I had a Toyo kerosene burning DV heater in a small shed/office. That worked quite well, fed from a 55 gallon drum, until it died, but did require electricity.
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utherjorge
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2026 11:09am
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I appreciate these replies. Thanks so much to everyone thus far.
I didn't mention, because I already chose to avoid, an option like radiant heat flooring; my floor won't be insulated (insulated well, at least) and obviously, that would need electricity as I can't really build up enough for a liquid radiant floor.
So, at this point, I want to stay with some sorts of A/C, whether mini-split or through the wall, that can heat.
I am also going to abandon pellet/wood stoves and look into the oil-drip or DV propane. I don't find a lot about the oil-drip stoves and I know propane much better, so I'm leaning that way, but still on the fence.
All of your feedback has been wonderful, and I continue to appreciate the forum here and the people on it.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2026 12:38pm
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We have a wood stove in a 10x14. With heat shield it really lowers the clearance to combustibles. However with no floor insulation your always fighting a loosing battle. If you want heat and AC and are willing to put in a large solar system or run a generator then a mini split is the way to go.
I toyed with the idea of getting a hybrid solar mini split and glad I didnt do that.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2026 03:25pm - Edited by: gcrank1
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With grid electric there is always electric heat, it is 100% efficient. We have a tower infrared 1500 watt unit that feels like sitting in front of a wood stove and has a built in 'stat. Being portable we put it where we want it as infrared heats the objects, including people, in front of it rather than just the air. With elec heat as primary and a Back-Up/supplemental, say a kero burner or even a small non-vented lp unit you'd be covered (as long as you follow the safety precautions for non-vented fuel burning heaters of any type).
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2026 04:07pm
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If you have grid power and for a weekend cabin electric heat makes alot of sence. Stone axle simple, cheap, easy to install and easy to replace.
I re did the HVAC system in a rental cottage. It needed a new boiler, baseboard heaters and the through the wall AC was shot. It was cheaper to pull all that out and put a mini split in with electric line voltage baseboard heaters.
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