Dr. Dan’s will be offering a WEATHER APPROPRIATE FUEL BLEND during the winter months, to ensure that there are not problems with cold-weather gelling of the fuel.

We have been blending our fuel since Tuesday (11-16) for the winter weather. The Fuel we have in our station should be okay down to 20 deg. F. Before Tuesday it was good down to 30 deg. It is also important to remember that 24-hour average temperature is usually what to take into consideration. When you drive your car regularly or it warms up enough during the day it is far less likely you will have problems.

Adding a mix of petroleum diesel and winter additives to your fuel will reduce the gelling temperature and reduce the risk of your having problems.  Keep in mind that typical Seattle winter weather does not typically see cold enough weather for long enough for there to be serious issues with this method, despite the fact that forecasters tell us to expect a particularly cold winter this year.

Our supplier tells us that the recycled-oil biodiesel we have available at this time is good down to 30 deg. F.  It is always good advice to keep track of temperatures during cold snaps, if you park your car outside for any long periods of time and use B99.  One trick is to keep a small sample in a re-used plastic drink bottle inside your car.  If the small sample has gelled, chances are the fuel in the tank has too.

Canola/camelina biodiesel we have had in the past is good down to 18 deg. F, according to our supplier; but Dan himself will testify to its cold-start abilities down to single-digit temperatures!

Some B99 users have problems with running a blend during the winter, and this is mainly a problem due to using dirty petroleum diesel.

Last winter, we had no breakdowns as a result of people using our fuel!