Fuel tanks. Metal or plastic?

[einstein]

Whats the best ?im looking to replace a small tank in a residential situation.
Bunded metal seems a lot cheaper than the equivalent plastic .Would it have the same life span?
I suppose it depends on the thickness of the steel to some degree.?
I have a metal tank housed in a shed installed in the early 70s still going strong.
And ive had single skin plastic develop leaks within 10 years.

 

[nick...]

Only trouble with steel is that I doubt they are painted inside and rust soon starts and collects in bottom of tank.have seen 3/4inches of rusty sludge.obviously more secure but condensation is an issue.plastic is great.dont know if condensation is such an issue but security is poor.my plastic bunder tank is locked but a child could no doubt pull the door of it With out too much effort.
nick...

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

I assume heating oil as opposed to red diesel?

Metal if possible for heating oil situation.

I have cause to help out installing residential tanks occasionally.

There is, without fail sludge and crap in the bottom of all the plastic tanks we take out. Every single one has to be cut up to be taken away and recycled. So get to see inside them all. Barely anything in the metal ones.

Also depends if going under cover or being sited outside?

 

[Bald n Grumpy]

Think you've answered your own question
Steel everytime
Just grudgingly bought a plastic fuel station because of stupid Welsh regs
Had a small steel tank before that which was great and would have lasted longer than plastic the tank before lasted at least 40 years and only started to leak because we moved it

 

[Suffolksucklers]

We put our plastic tank in a shipping container, best of both worlds

 

[Kevm]

Steel, and give it a good wash out inside, dry and use POR15 inside (you just pour it in and roll the tank about) then red oxide and paint the outside and it will last forever without you worrying about it.

 

[GeorgeK]

Plastic is supposed to be worse for biofuels because the contoured bottoms for strength means inaccessible areas for water to build up. Water means microbes which make sludge

 

[rollestonpark]

We've had 3 plastic tanks split, did about 6 years.
Warranty was for 10 years.
But when we went back to the manufacture (Balmoral) they said, ah you 4 years left of warranty, that's 4/10th money towards a new one, which you have to buy from us.
I told them to shove it up there ##!!!##?

But I now realise, that if you must go for plastic (which I'm not sure I would) have it in a shed or something, because the sun destroys them.
I know they claim they are UV stable, but they are not, not for any length of time.
Chris

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Can you actually put a heating oil tank in a shed now? Maybe you could get away with replacing a tank on the QT but I think it's a very big NO NO for a new installation unfortunately.

 

[rollestonpark]

Can you actually put a heating oil tank in a shed now? Maybe you could get away with replacing a tank on the QT but I think it's a very big NO NO for a new installation unfortunately.

I suppose if you just had a lean to with a roof over it, it would be in the shade, that might work?
I don't have a great deal of faith in plastic tanks, but maybe in the shade it would be OK?

 

[robs1]

Filled our heating tank up when fuel was dirty cheap in the summer, walked by one day and noticed it was splitting pumped it all out pdq, its 14 years old, got some steel ones far older with no issues

 

[dudders]

Built this for my single-skin steel fuel tank over 20 years ago - the tank is still like new inside. Roof is offcuts of insulated composite and wooden walls, so there's never any condensation. Brickwork is waterproof rendered inside.

The plastic domestic tank has split after only 11 years, so I'll do another of these, this time making the top half lift-offable with the tele for checking.

Single-skin steel is fine, because when its time is up, it starts to weep gently. You soon smell it. Never heard of one splitting, but I guess if you could buy a Chinese tank, it might...

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Only trouble with steel is that I doubt they are painted inside and rust soon starts and collects in bottom of tank.have seen 3/4inches of rusty sludge.obviously more secure but condensation is an issue.plastic is great.dont know if condensation is such an issue but security is poor.my plastic bunder tank is locked but a child could no doubt pull the door of it With out too much effort.
nick...

tbh if they are going to pinch fuel then it doesn’t really matter how many skins it has.

just removed a plastic tank installed in 1998 and it’s still fine

 

[Widgetone]

Can you actually put a heating oil tank in a shed now? Maybe you could get away with replacing a tank on the QT but I think it's a very big NO NO for a new installation unfortunately.

Don't you have to have the bloody things as a garden feature now?
Our steel tank is 18 years old, doesn't look pretty externally but sound.
Its behind the shed on the boundary, don't think we could replace it there now?

 

[B'o'B]

You can still fit a tank inside, but it must vent outside amongst quite a few other things that I can’t remember now.

 

[yellow belly]

Is your tank leaking if not
look in with a bright light to see the condition
Steel tanks kept in side Last for years we have ones that are over 50 years old with no rust on the inside

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Is your tank leaking if not
look in with a bright light to see the condition
Steel tanks kept in side Last for years we have ones that are over 50 years old with no rust on the inside

They wont fill single skin tanks in Wales since 1st of March this year. And that includes domestic heating tanks, they were doing domestic heating but not business premises but it's everything now. We had to change parents tank to bunded and build a concrete stage for it to replace the ahhhheeeeeem railway sleepers under the old steel one!!!

 

[Gone Shooting]

Mmmm - my Balmoral split as well

 

[jd6420s]

I had a single skin plastic tank which lasted 11 years before it split. Got another tank and although that didn't split it was definitely changing shape and looked like it was going the same way as the last tank. That was after 8 years. I've had enough of plastic tanks and got a steel bunded tank. It even has a nice simple gauge which the plastic ones really don't have.

 

[robs1]

Also when the pikies try and drill into a plastic one it makes very little noise drilling into a steel one is noisy