A waste oil furnace is a forced-air shop heater that burns used crankcase oil, transmission fluid, and similar petroleum fuels, then blows that heat into your building through a stainless steel heat exchanger. "Waste oil furnace" and "waste oil heater" describe the same machine — the word that actually changes the equipment is boiler, which heats water instead of air. NuEra Heat is the exclusive Pacific Northwest distributor for EnergyLogic and stocks 100% of the parts for both.
Furnace and heater are the same thing. EnergyLogic and NuEra Heat use both words for the EL-140H, EL-200H, and EL-350H forced-air units. If you are shopping for a "waste oil heater" and a "used oil furnace," you are shopping for the same three models. Our waste oil heaters guide covers the same lineup from the heater angle.
A boiler is genuinely different equipment. Instead of a stainless steel air-to-air heat exchanger and a blower, an EnergyLogic boiler fires into an ASME-certified, water-cooled carbon steel vessel. The water-cooled exchanger prevents hot spots and deterioration, and the unit produces water up to 230°F at low pressure (30 psi) for in-floor radiant heat, ice melt, car wash water, or potable water through an optional domestic hot water coil. A boiler can run open and closed loops at the same time; a furnace cannot make hot water at all.
The rule of thumb: if you want warm air moving through an open shop, buy a furnace. If you need hot water, radiant slab heat, or heat distributed to several separated spaces, buy a boiler.
Sizing starts with square footage. Each furnace is designated by its total BTU input, which corresponds to the size of the space it can heat. All three models produce a 100–120°F heat rise over the incoming air temperature and use a 15" x 15" warm air outlet.
140,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 1.0 gal/hr
Air flow: 1,000 CFM
Heats up to 3,500 sq ft
View the EnergyLogic EL-140H200,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 1.4 gal/hr
Air flow: 1,500 CFM
Heats up to 5,000 sq ft
View the EnergyLogic EL-200H350,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 2.5 gal/hr
Air flow: 2,600 CFM
Heats up to 9,000 sq ft
View the EnergyLogic EL-350HEnergyLogic also builds the EL-75H, an upright unit with a small footprint sized for a home shop or garage up to 1,500 sq ft. If one furnace is not enough, multiple units can be combined to cover any size building. Browse the whole catalog in the NuEra Heat store.
For comparison, here is the boiler line. All three run at low pressure (30 psi), take 140°F minimum inlet water, and produce up to 230°F output water.
200,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 1.4 gal/hr
Capacity: 30 gallon vessel
4 gal/min domestic hot water at 100°F rise
375,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 2.7 gal/hr
Capacity: 43 gallon vessel
6 gal/min domestic hot water at 100°F rise
499,000 BTU/hr input
Fuel use: 3.6 gal/hr
Capacity: 52 gallon vessel
8 gal/min domestic hot water at 100°F rise (single coil)
See the full boiler lineup under EnergyLogic boilers.
Approved fuels are used crankcase oils, automatic transmission fluid, ASTM D396 No. 2 fuel oil, gear oil up to 90 weight, and diesel fuel. Fuel mixtures must have a minimum flash point of 140°F (60°C) and a maximum of approximately 400°F (204°C), and the UL listing holds only when approved fuels are used. Note that used crankcase oil is specified — new motor oil will not burn. The full list, including what must never go in the tank, is on the used oil heater fuel guide.
Electrically, the furnace needs a dedicated, hard-wired 115 VAC / 60 Hz circuit with a 25 amp maximum breaker and copper conductors only. Installation must follow NFPA 31, NFPA 30, and NFPA 70 (National Electric Code) along with state and local codes; in Canada, CSA B139 and the Canadian Electrical Code Part I apply. In the United States, CFR Title 40 Part 279 governs how used oil is managed. Wiring should be completed by a qualified electrician — see the furnace wiring diagram guide for the electrical overview and the schematic PDF.
EnergyLogic and BlackGold heaters and boilers must be serviced annually or every 1,000 hours, whichever comes first. NuEra Heat stocks 100% of the parts — nozzles, electrodes, preheaters, metering pumps, burner assemblies, filters, gauges, and complete service kits — and offers free phone tech support at 1-800-347-9575. Ship us your burner and we will return it to factory specs, or if you are in Alaska, Washington, or Oregon, we will come service the machine on site.
Not sure which part you need? The interactive explosion charts let you find the component on a diagram and jump straight to the matching product, and the support library holds every manual, spec sheet, and troubleshooting document we publish.
Nothing — they are two names for the same appliance. A waste oil furnace, sometimes called a waste oil heater or used oil heater, burns used crankcase oil and similar petroleum fuels and blows the resulting heat into your shop as warm air. EnergyLogic and NuEra Heat use "furnace" and "heater" interchangeably for the EL-140H, EL-200H, and EL-350H forced-air units.
A furnace is forced air: it moves heat through a stainless steel heat exchanger and pushes warm air into the space with a blower, at 1,000 to 2,600 CFM depending on the model. A boiler heats water instead. EnergyLogic boilers use an ASME-certified, water-cooled vessel that produces water up to 230°F at low pressure (30 psi), which then feeds in-floor radiant heat, ice melt, car wash water, or potable water through an optional domestic hot water coil. Pick a furnace if you want to heat shop air; pick a boiler if you need hot water or radiant floor heat.
Start with the square footage of the space. Each EnergyLogic furnace is designated by its total BTU output, which corresponds to the size of the space. The EL-140H puts out roughly 140,000 BTU/hr and heats up to 3,500 sq ft of open shop space. The EL-200H produces 200,000 BTU/hr for spaces up to 5,000 sq ft. The EL-350H pushes 350,000 BTU/hr and upwards of 2,600 CFM for spaces up to 9,000 sq ft. You can also combine more than one unit for larger buildings. Call NuEra Heat at 1-800-347-9575 to talk through ceiling height, insulation, and door openings before you buy.
EnergyLogic furnaces run on a dedicated, hard-wired 115 VAC / 60 Hz circuit with a 25 amp maximum circuit breaker, using copper conductors only. Wiring must be done by a qualified electrician in accordance with the National Electric Code and local codes, or the Canadian Electrical Code Part I in Canada.
EnergyLogic and BlackGold heaters and boilers must be serviced annually or every 1,000 hours, whichever comes first. Service the machine completely on that schedule and you should get trouble-free operation through the heating season. NuEra Heat stocks 100% of the parts for these units and offers free phone tech support, in-house burner rebuilds, and on-site service in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.
