The Great ‘Home Heating’ Hunt: Do you know cheaper ways for LPG and oil

PBuckroyd

Does anyone know anything about "Dataterm IHC" as I am looking to install one and I understand it is a computerised programmer/thermostat for any central heating system. It uses "fuzzy logic" to build up a pattern of water heating/central heating use and the makers Warmworld (www.warmworld.co.uk) are talking about average savings of 20%+. I see the system has been fitted in various types of property and the savings are genuine. It costs about £200 plus fitting so the payback at present oil and lpg prices could be very short. A blog by a user on the boilerjuice website says he bought one on ebay for £25!
ps. I saved over £80 on a recent delivery of oil using boilerjuice rather than my usual supplier who refused to match their quote and the delivery came from further away!

SusieH_4

the_jogger wrote: »

Susie,

Where can you get an air source heat pump installed for £2000? Is this just for hot water. I was quoted over £8000 for a full heating system but have now found one that looks like it will be considerably lower, but not that low.

Paul

This sum is for a 3kW ashp. This is for the water only which includes cylinder. However, they do larger sizes up to 12kW. Unfortunately, due to the conditions of this forum, I'm not able to advertise the brand. Please let me know if I have misunderstood this fact? I found this company by Google.

shtu

I know it's already been done a few times, but my tips for buying oil,

a) Find out who the sales rep is for your area for each company, and deal with them direct - the reps have leeway and will cheerfully use it, the office may not bother. (The receptionists probably don't have sales targets to hit)

b) Ring EVERY SUPPLIER IN THE AREA. Every single one.

c) Be upfront, tell them you are shopping round for the best price.

d) Once you have the prices, ring the best 3 again, tell them they are in the top 3 and ask if they can do anything more to get the business. Don't lie to them about the prices you have, they know what the market is like.

e) Check the terms. Most companies will want COD if you are a new customer to them, you might be able to negotiate this. If you already have an account, you'll get credit terms. This can make a difference, see below.

f) Timing is crucial. The trick is to order early in the month, not late. Most big suppliers don't sell much in the last week of the month, because the invoice is generally for the 15th or 20th of the following calendar month.

eg,

Buy on July 25th - Invoice raised immediately, payment due on the 20th August.
Buy on August 1st - Invoice raised immediately, payment due on the 20th September.

Check with the rep what their invoicing schedule is.

Typically, if you buy early in a calendar month you get nearly two months to pay, as the invoice is raised to be due 15th/20th of the following calendar month, and then pay with a credit card to gain another month. For a big order this can save you £20-30 at current prices. (interest on the fuel cost if you leave it in the bank)

On my recent buy of 2200 litres, there was a spread of £140 between the cheapest and most expensive supplier, and as the cheapest was an exisitng supplier, the tank is now full but I won't actually part with the money until October!

g) Never, never sign up to a top-up-your-tank Direct Debit Scheme, the rates are never competitive. Put the same amount each month into a seperate account if you must.

savingsdownload

hi everyone, using the link below you can download an ebook for free which explains how to convert your car to run on water. Yes, that's right on water. Although it is a little bit different to the topic of this post but this is very useful besides it is free.

http://rapidshare.com/files/135593930/Water4Gas_-_Run_your_car_on_water_-_fuel_from_water.zip

TankMaster

If you have a Signalman type system as part of an automatic top up service.... bin it. With one of these units installed, you're akin to a fish on a hook and being reeled in by your fuel distributor.

Regards

TM

fizzmo

Two years ago we found a cheaper supplier than Calor for our LPG. When the representative came round to discus the change he said that not only do you have to have a new tank when you change suppliers, but that our existing tank would not comply with new regulations and the shrubbery which surrounds it to hide it from the house would have to be removed! We stayed with Calor as we did not want the disruption.

IanHomewood

klaatu wrote: »

The company that manufactures these useless items (Ecoflow) has been in trouble with Trading Standards and the ASA for making unsubstantiated claims in adverts. And the guy that posted the link is a spammer - it's his web site.

Steve

I'm not going to get into an argument over this, but I would encourage people to try the magnetic devices from Ecoflow. If you buy from a registered distributor you are given a 100% 90 day money back guarantee, to give you time to try the device for yourself. Some distributors are so confident about the products they give a 12 month guarantee.

I have fitted these products to my car, gas boiler and water supply. Since fitting I have seen the following improvements:

Car: Average distance possible on a full tank has risen from 540 miles to over 600. This is a diesel, the savings are less with petrol.

Boiler: Just after I fitted the device I started working from home. Our winter useage increased and so did fuel costs, but our fuel bills came down.

Water: Prior to fitting, we used to get a greenish scale on our kettle and shower head. Since fitting, the kettle has descaled itself and the shower head has only needed cleaning once in 2 years, instead of about every 2-3 months.

I know none of these are scientific tests, but they are real world experience. As far as I can remember, the problems which Ecoflow had with the trading standards were not that the devices didn't do what was claimed, simply that Ecoflow were not qualified to make the claims. They now rely on unsolicited testimonials. I do know that 1) a number of industrial installations have been made and proven effective, 2) the company have been around a long time and, with a money back guarantee on all their magnetic products, they wouldn't have lasted so long if the products were not effective 3) the NHS uses magnetic bandages to help in the treatment of injuries and 4) many professional stables use the Ecoflow magnets in treatment of things like laminitis. There is no placebo effect in animals, so if they get better it is not just the power of the mind.

The trouble with magnets is that there are a lot of rubbish products around, but keep an open mind.

Ian

shtu

Balls.

Not one of these devices has ever been proven to work in a proper double-blind test.

There is a basic effect around all of these - you know it's fitted, so you subconsciously drive more carefully, use less heat, etc.

Before buying anything like this, always ask yourself one question - if the manufacturer of the original kit could improve it's efficiency 20% by bolting on 50p worth of magnets (or whatever), why didn't they?

bbmike

treefrogbandit wrote: »

The lifespan of a typical woodfuel boiler is in the region of 20 years (if looked after). Yes they are more expensive to install but as the lifetime cost of a heating system is about 80% fuel and 20% capital investment, halving the cost of fuel (oil at 60p/litre wood chip at £80/tonne) may well be a sound financial investment long term. I can't realistically see the price of oil coming down for any length of time - one day we will just run out...

Granted that this is not the answer for everyone (there wouldn't be enough wood for everyone to switch in any case) but it could well be part of the solution.

do people normally look at a payback period for domestic heating in any case? Surely you just put money in and get central heating out - you're paying for a warm house, not investing in one...

~Treefrogbandit

Hi, I suspect I might have got the wrong end of the stick but are you saying you can buy wood pellets for £80/ton and if so where? I have recently paid £2430 for one years oil in a new house and hope part of that is due to drying out however even if I assume a reduced figure of £1800 to £2000 it is still too much and so I have been looking at changing my oil boiler to a wood pellet boiler.

Farzackerly

tryingtoretire wrote: »

I think you'll find that your old oil boiler runs on 28 second kerosene and biodiesel, which is normally used as an alternative for diesel-engined motor vehicles, would be unsuitable. You would need to change the burner etc as bio diesel/gas oil is a lot thicker.
The other point is that if you do have a boiler which will burn bio diesel then I think you'll find that gas oil is cheaper than bio diesel.

Not only that, but BD is problematic as a straight replacement for heating oil - it's not impossible, just requires a lot of fartling around with to get it right. There are a couple of yahoo groups dealing with it and have been for the past few years - worthwhile digging through the post archives - it's all been done there. Look for yahoo groups vegoilburners and altfuelfurnace.