Philocrites: Massachusetts diner heats with fry grease.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006

Massachusetts diner heats with fry grease.

Here's a great recycling story: The owner of a Watertown, Mass., diner has cut the restaurant's heating costs dramatically — and not simply because we've been enjoying a warm spell this week. The Boston Globe reports:

The owner of Deluxe Town Diner found a way to slash his fuel bill for heating and hot water to $0 during some weeks this winter: a new system that runs on the 30 or 40 gallons of vegetable oil he uses every week for cooking fries, plus oil he collects from a nearby pizzeria and a pair of Chinese restaurants.

That's cool. ("From tasty to toasty: Used cooking oil heats a diner," Peter J. Howe, Boston Globe 1.21.06, reg req'd)

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4 comments:

Kevin McCulloch:

January 21, 2006 09:55 PM | Permalink for this comment

Neat idea, but wouldn't it be smelly?

Kim:

January 23, 2006 05:00 PM | Permalink for this comment

That's great that he's doing it, but if it requires more than just his own oil, it wouldn't work for it to become too popular.

a:

January 24, 2006 08:37 AM | Permalink for this comment

hi. i've been bloghopping and landed here at your weblog. i am a long time member of clf and recently joined a bricks and mortar fellowship. you have a great blog!

regarding the restaurant heating with vegetable oil...i enjoyed learning about it. i have heard of cars running on used vegetable oil, but never any other things.

TheCSO:

January 27, 2006 12:26 AM | Permalink for this comment

Google "waste oil burner" for lots of info. Basically, a potentially good idea if you already have the waste oil anyway (especially if the alternative is paying disposal fees), but waste oil doesn't burn as clean as, say, #2 fuel oil. That means more frequent burner cleanings and more air pollution - not a big deal unless you're in a smog-prone area, but a potential concern if you are.