help ??? oil heating

pink-lint_2

hi we are wanting to rent a bungalow and are going to view it on Wednesday , but the only thing which I'm a bit worried about is that it has oil central heating ??

we have always had a combi boiler and currently pay £72 a month to npower by DD.

is oil more expensive or cheaper?

and how do you go about paying for it? and how long does it last?

we are in end of terrace 3 beds
and the bungalow in a semi with 2 beds
(just for comparisons)

i will ask the tenant these questions on viewing but just to get myself prepared .

thanks in advance

milliemonster

It's about the same as gas really, we have always had gas CH but last year bought a house in the back of beyond that is oil fired, I tend to use www.heatingoil.co.uk to order my oil and you order it in litres (normally the least they will deliver is 500litres) you need to find out the size of the oil tank the bungalow has and also it will be worth asking where they get their oil from.

You still need to have the boiler serviced once a year like you do with a gas boiler. It is a clean form of energy like gas and heats the house well, the biggest issue I have is paying for the stuff as I have to pay on order which depending on the price of oil at the time can cost me anything from £150-£300 which is a lot to be paying out in one go, so you have to be strict and put some money away each month to save for when you need to purchase it.

Some companies will allow you to set up a DD and pay monthly but I would rather put the money away each month myself and earn interest on it.

On our system we have an electric plug thingie called a signalman that indicates from 0-10 to let us know how full the tank is (10 being full) during the summer months we don't tend to use much oil, we have a 3 bed house and since April when I switched the heating off the signalman hasn't dropped from 5 (it also heats our domestic water) but once you switch the heating on I find if I have my heating on for an hour in the morning and 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon it will drop by 1 every 2-3 weeks, so you really go through the oil over the winter months.

Over the year it probably evens itself out but it's worth ensuring your tank is full by autumn and having some cash in the bank ready to refill during the winter

hope that helps!

Contessa

Thanks, I've been researching properties for sale in Cornwall and have ruled out some lovely ones which have oil heating (following the experience of a friend whosehouse was always chilly and who said the oil was very expensive). I'll reconsider.

Cardew

Contessa wrote: »

Thanks, I've been researching properties for sale in Cornwall and have ruled out some lovely ones which have oil heating (following the experience of a friend whosehouse was always chilly and who said the oil was very expensive). I'll reconsider.

The trouble with oil CH is the price of oil has been so volatile over the past couple of years.

You can follow the price of oil in the 'sticky' thread at the top of this section.

In the last year it has gone from over twice the price(per kWh) of gas to considerably cheaper than gas, and is now going up in price again.

A litre of oil is the equivalent of 10.2kWh. So oil at around 35p a litre is roughly the same as gas.

twiglet98

Although oil is horribly, painfully, frighteningly expensive, especially with my 'kids' in their 20s who refuse to understand about turning thermostats down and wearing another layer - or, perish the thought, moving vigorously - I think the main advantage is that is paid for before it is used. Worrying about the size of the next gas bill used to scare me a lot more, and I haven't even had gas for 20 years.

AnxiousMum

Hi - our last oil delivery was at the end of December. We had 500 litres delivered, at a cost of about £205.00 We have oil heating - large 4 bedroom detached house. Downstairs is all wooden floors, no heating upstairs - but heat rises and upstairs is always warm. We also have oil hot water - and there are six of us in the house most times, 7 when son home from uni.
I think more than what type of fuel you use, it's more the efficiency of the furnace that you need to look at. At our old place - a 500 litre delivery used to last about two months when heating on, or from June till September with just hot water - that too was oil heat and hot water. It was a 3 bedroom semi detached. We do find our boiler here alot more efficient and cost effective.

manda1205

milliemonster wrote: »

On our system we have an electric plug thingie called a signalman that indicates from 0-10 to let us know how full the tank is (10 being full) during the summer months we don't tend to use much oil, we have a 3 bed house and since April when I switched the heating off the signalman hasn't dropped from 5 (it also heats our domestic water) but once you switch the heating on I find if I have my heating on for an hour in the morning and 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon it will drop by 1 every 2-3 weeks, so you really go through the oil over the winter months.

Over the year it probably evens itself out but it's worth ensuring your tank is full by autumn and having some cash in the bank ready to refill during the winter

hope that helps!

Sorry to hyjack, we've just had oil central heating put in and we also have one of those signalman thingys, we're trying to work out how much it equates to. How big is your tank? Ours is 1225l, we were supposed to have had 500l put in when they fitted and its on 2 pips. which if there are 10 doesn't seem to add up right??? Annoying cos I have no idea how much to order now. I keep getting quotes for 800l in the hope it will all get in there.

downshifter

manda1205 wrote: »

Sorry to hyjack, we've just had oil central heating put in and we also have one of those signalman thingys, we're trying to work out how much it equates to. How big is your tank? Ours is 1225l, we were supposed to have had 500l put in when they fitted and its on 2 pips. which if there are 10 doesn't seem to add up right??? Annoying cos I have no idea how much to order now. I keep getting quotes for 800l in the hope it will all get in there.

I don't think you need worry about ordering (and paying) for too much. I ask them just to fill it up to the top and as the delivery tanker has a meter on it, they just put in whatever fills it. You don't pay more just because you've over ordered. I then get a printout direct from the tanker driver with the amount that's gone in.

Remember too that 500 litres will often cost more per litre than 1000. Not everywhere though (mine doesn't but I've had that experience in the past)

Can't help with signalman thingie, I've got a transparent pipe down the side but it's discoloured so difficult to read. Have occasionally been found hanging over the top of the tank with a clean stick to measure the amount dipstick-like!! Still it works.

DS

Cardew

twiglet98 wrote: »

Although oil is horribly, painfully, frighteningly expensive, .

At the moment it is not that expensive.

Today's price is between 35p and 36p a litre so is roughly comparable with gas.

noseyparkar

boilerjuice.com/suppliers.php

Having read this page on the boilerjuice I am slightly worried about the fact they advise their suppliers to:

"Setting the best price – You set prices and can quickly change the price at any time to suit trading conditions."

Set the price quickly according to trading conditions? So am I being ripped off when they get a bit busy??

I have used boilerjuice a couple of times and have had quite varying prices but I this has made me a bit dubious about ordering from them.

Has anyone else experienced this???

Steve

uberalles

manda1205 wrote: »

Sorry to hyjack, we've just had oil central heating put in and we also have one of those signalman thingys, we're trying to work out how much it equates to. How big is your tank? Ours is 1225l, we were supposed to have had 500l put in when they fitted and its on 2 pips. which if there are 10 doesn't seem to add up right??? Annoying cos I have no idea how much to order now. I keep getting quotes for 800l in the hope it will all get in there.

With the Signalman monitor, I think the fact you say that the display has pips (or rather lines/dashes) means you have one of the newer monitors. This is instead of the previous type that has numbers 1 to 10.

So, with the newer monitors there is a series of dip switches on your plug-in receiver that must be set to relate to the size of the tank to give a correct reading.

For example, switches 1-7 down, with 8-9 up, would tell your monitor that your tank when full holds 2000 litres. (Please note these are examples and not corrrect).

So it might be worth checking your dip switches settings actually correctly represent the tank size.