Fuel Price Survey Results

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Fuel Price Survey Results

Postby Hikin_Jim » Wed Dec 28, 2011 2:34 pm

I have conducted my own survey of fuel prices. I thought people might find the results interesting.

I don't list a lot of stores for alcohol for the simple reason that every Tom, Dick, and Harry hardware, paint, and building supply store carries it. To try to list every possible source would require an army of data gatherers that I simply don't have. I have listed some popular low cost sources such as that renowned outdoor supplier, Home Depot. :wink:

Fuel Price Survey Results (as of Dec 2011)

Please let me know if this is useful.

Thanks,

HJ
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Postby phydeux » Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:10 pm

You can probably find 'deodorized' kerosene in hardware stores and painting supply stores. It might have been banned at the start of 2011 in updated L.A. area air quality regulations due to its high VOC content/high vapor pressure.

Add Bacardi's 150 and 180 proof 'rums? :wink: Bacardi calls them rum, I call them 'rebranded lighter fluid'. Yuck, that stuff is horrible as a mixer in drinks. :oops: If it can't be used as a fuel (probably too expensive), its shouldn't be marketed as a liquor.
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Postby Hikin_Jim » Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:03 pm

phydeux wrote:You can probably find 'deodorized' kerosene in hardware stores and painting supply stores. It might have been banned at the start of 2011 in updated L.A. area air quality regulations due to its high VOC content/high vapor pressure.
Yipes. Hope not. I still saw kero at WalMart last I went. How is "deodorized" different from K-1?

phydeux wrote:Add Bacardi's 150 and 180 proof 'rums? :wink: Bacardi calls them rum, I call them 'rebranded lighter fluid'. Yuck, that stuff is horrible as a mixer in drinks. :oops: If it can't be used as a fuel (probably too expensive), its shouldn't be marketed as a liquor.
Do they sell 180 here? I thought 150 was the max in Calif. I usually have a friend send me some Everclear from out of state.

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Postby phydeux » Sat Dec 31, 2011 6:47 pm

AQMD air pollution regulations restricted retail sale of any cleaning solvent with a VOC content over 25 mg/l (0.21 lbs/gal) as of the middle of 2011 in the Los Angeles basin. Businesses don't get an exemption - they were required to meet similar restrictions in mid-2010. Paints and other coatings were also required to change their formulas to reduce their air-pollution-contributing VOC content in past years. Look on the label of the product and you should find a "VOC Content" value.

Deodorized kerosene has an additive in it that helps absorb and mask the distinctive odor that pure kerosene has (I always likened it to the smell of jet engine exhaust). Its usually an alcohol, or a light petroleum product like paraffin oil or some type of generic mineral spirits.

I looked in Home Depot today and couldn't find kerosene (pure or deodorized) or any other high VOC solvent; looks like the air pollutions regulatory requirements are being implemented. The only recogizable solvent on the shelf was denatured alcohol, the rest of the products were were pretty obscure as to what they contained, so not really sure whats in them (mostly petroleum distillates, an alcohol, or acetone). Haven't been in the local Wal-Mart in a while, so not sure what they have on the shelf.

Not sure about the high-proof crud that Bacardi tries to pass off as rum; I know tey sell the 150 proof stuff at a liquor store near me, but I haven't bought any in a few years. There's plenty of rums on liquor store shelves that are a lot better for drinking at a lot cheaper price.

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Postby Hikin_Jim » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:56 pm

What you're saying makes sense. I wanted to pick up some Sunnyside brand denat. alcohol at the hardware store near me. The guy said they don't carry it any more and that they had had to take it off of their shelves. I was wondering what he meant by that. Now all they have is SLX which burns cleanly but doesn't have the heat content per gram as Sunnyside.

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Postby phydeux » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:59 am

A little caveat: The SCAQMD air pollution regulations that nix'd kerosene and other high-VOC solvents apply only to the Los Angeles air basin - L.A., Orange Counties and the metro/western parts of San Berdoo & Riverside counties, including northern Coachella Valley. But don't be surprised if they are adopted by other air pollution districts in California in the coming years, including those surrounding the Sierra Nevada Mtns.
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Postby Hikin_Jim » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:51 am

A little silly to be regulating every last drop. I can see going after ships, trucks, cars, etc, but a gallon of denatured alcohol? Please. :roll:

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