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I would like to build "MOTHER's Waste Oil Heater", a design which has been around since about 1980 but has since been vastly improved upon, mainly by Roger Sanders.
The original plan is located at:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html#mwoh
and Roger's improvement page is located at:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me11.html
Since I have been living on an income of $350 per month for about 5 years now (it's a long story), several amenities have fallen by the wayside... such as natural gas. NG is the commonly supplied form of energy for heating and cooking here in the southern U.S., and when its price suddenly jumped a few years ago, I was forced to just do without. Fortunately my home is paid for so I just have to pay for utilities and the small amount of food I consume. Anything else is gravy.
Instead of NG, I have been heating with (mainly dead, fallen) wood from a neighbor's wooded lot and cooking on a hot plate and microwave. I have a small Scandinavian style wood burner that I bought back in 1971 that I set up in my living room and use a fan to circulate the air.
Mother/Roger's WOH sounds like a lot less hassle if I can duplicate it, especially since I have been living with a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder for the last 6 months now. Being old and toothless doesn't help me get work either. I have a piece of property for sale which, someday, should get me out of this slump, but until then, I'm living hand-to-mouth.
This page will document this poor man's attempt to replicate the waste oil heater, using parts from my junkpile, very little cash, and my brain... which ain't what it used to be but still gets me by.
Right now, the hold up is the acquisition of a defunct, non-galvanized electric water heater for me to turn my tools loose on. My old water heater was NG fired and is standing unused but if you read the article, they advise against using a NG heater. Another amenity which is being done without is the use of my truck. I have a very nice Ford crew cab pick up which I cannot at present afford insurance, tag and gas for. Otherwise, the used water heater should be easy to aquire.
Once I have a heater to work with, I will start the project in earnest and document it here.