How much heating oil do you use?

keelni

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I hope you don't mind me asking but would anyone be able to tell me how much heating oil they use?
We used to have coal but in june had everything taken out and a new oil system put in. We filled up with 1000 litres I have no idea how long this will last and how much we are likely to need throughout the year. So if anybody could give me an idea of how much they use I would be grateful.
Thanks.

milliemonster

It really depends on how often you have your heating on. We have a 1300L tank, during the summer months we hardly use any (probably 300 litres since April) as we don't have the heating on at all and it is just used for hot water.

during the winter months though its a totally different matter, I usually put my heating on sometime in October and it is then on around 6 hrs a day (3 in the morning, 3 in the evening) until April and will go through around 300 litres a month on that usage.

Cardew

Long thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/508485

The average gas consumption in UK is 20,500kWh for heating and hot water.

A litre of oil contains 10.2kWh so the equivalent would be approx 2,000 litres.

Obviously a 1 bed property with a single occupant will use a lot less than a mansion with a tribe!!!!

keelni

Thank you for the reply it's a great help. I understand nobodies is going to be the same because of various factors but it's just interesting to see how other people use there heating and how much it costs.

We haven't used much yet because the heating hasn't been on over the summer.
We now have an amazing electric shower so haven't had many baths so this saves with heating the water.

I'm so looking forward to having heat at the flick of a switch over the winter. We lived with the old system for 13 years and it was a nightmare, always freezing.

dogshome

Hi keelni - The first thing to do with Oil Fired heating, is to do your homework when buying oil
DO NOT get it any deals with suppliers that offer an automatic Top-up sevice or any other blandishments that tie you to them for supplies.
Establish a list of local suppliers, I have 5, and phone every single one for their price on the same day, as even a difference of just a penny a litre is £10 on a 1000 litre fill-up.

Your boiler controls should allow you to select Hot Water only, Heating only or Both at Once. When set on Both at Once, it's efficiency for each job is reduced. So depending on your family lifestyle, try to have the timer set to produce Hot Water only to fill the storage tank - Mine will do this in just 40 mins which is enough for 2 showers and a washing up

keelni

Thanks Cardew for that link just what I was looking for.

keelni

Thanks dogshome. I did phone all the local suppliers and got the cheapest when I got our first delivery so will do that again in the future.
Just trying to work out how much I need to budget for oil as it's a big outlay everytime you fill up. The water comes on before we get up then I turn it off at 7.30am and I find its enough for us to wash in the morning and for dishes throughout the day. We shower in the evening and use the dishwasher.

home-heating-oil

Not convinced that shopping around is a great idea.. 9 times out of 10 you may be fine but then if you search the forum for "go locate" you will find that the cheapest oil may mean you lose all your money to a scam.

To save £10 on a fill which you will do 2-3 times a year versus building up a relationship with a supplier who will look after you when you need it i.e. low tank, snowing and the road conditions are bad etc is probably worth £20 a year extra.