Hello,
Could anyone kindly enlighten me on the legal position for storing (or not storing) small quantities of deisel on domestic premises ? What I have in mind is 2 or 3 five gallon, well sealed cans, in a garden shed, well away from any house, road, habitation etc. I know, and understand, the requirements re petrol, ie no more than three galls I believe, in a special can or cans, at a minimum distace from a public road or a dwelling etc. Do the same restrictions apply to deisel ?
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My father has a 750 gallon steel tank next to the house for central heating oil. Central heating oil is diesel. You could run your car on it just as farmers run tractors or yachtsmen run boats, but DERV ("diesel engined road vehicle") fuel is tax paid whereas the others are not.
Why don't you call your diesel store "central heating oil". I can't think that it's illegal to pay extra tax if you want to!!!
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If diesel is the same as heating oil, what's to stop people using the latter in their cars?
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It hasn't had the duty paid on it - that's what. It comes in the same category as 'red' agricultural diesel.
it may also be of slightly different spec.
regards
john
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John,
As a farmer I store up to 1000 gallons at a time - the only regulations that apply to us are anti-pollution regs i.e. the tank must be bunded to retain spillage and the delivery hose must be locked within this bund.If you apply common sense I doubt that you will have too many problems.
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I believe that the regulations for diesel in a domestic situation are the same as for petrol. From memory I think that is not more than two gallons in metal containers holding no more than a gallon or five litres each. I can't lay my hands on the exact quote at the moment, but will try to come back if no-one else can be more specific.
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Be careful here. There are rules about fuel storage, but if you did have a fire at your house it may seriously compromise your chances of getting a payout if you had several gallons of diesel in a garage, especially if it's attached to the house!
Regards
john
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There appear to be no rules at all about storing 10 gallons of petrol in a rusty old wreck parked in one's garden
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Thanks to all who have taken the trouble to enlighten me on this. Yes, with the somewhat careful way the insurance people look at a situation, storage, near to a house could, possibly, nullify my house insurance. (I wonder how the oil fired boiler people get on ?). However, in my case, my pre-war, long garden, with the shed at the bottom, might be the answer. Thanks again
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There is nothing to stop you using it, the temptation is there, but it is illegal. They are both what is known as 28 second Redwood, the Redwood scale being based on the amount of time it takes a given quantity of a liquid to go through a certain sized hole, thus indicating the viscocity.
Gas oil is the same thing with a red dye added to indicate that it has come out of bond without road fuel duty having been paid.
I think that diesel has probably got a few additives to enhance its' performance, at least with the major companies such as BP, Shell and Esso, etc., but in an older car that may not be a worry. Supermarket diesel is reputedly not to such a high quality as it is generally purchased on the Rotterdam bulk wholesale market. Having said that, I have run a car almost exclusively on supermarket (British and French) diesel for over 100,000 miles with no apparent ill effects.
During the fuel protest last year it was permissible to use red gas oil in road vehicles, provided you declared it to Customs and excise and paid the duty. However, this was not well publicised and I only spotted an item in the paper, after the protest finished and supplies were back to normal, saying that the concession was coming to an end. Interesting point is that if you get stopped by Customs and they find traces of red dye in your fuel system you are normally deep in the brown smelly stuff. Would you get away with saying that you used the concession, what paperwork/proof would they need?.
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Re: Oil Tanks for central heating.
Building regs dictate a certain distance from the house ---I think from memory about 6 meters
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