Cheaper Oil for Fuel?

bobmedley

oilbaron wrote: »

Most kind, thank you.

I suppose effectively we are slightly stuffed (unless we move)

That figure is also based on only a few radiators on in the house (6,500sq ft) - by no means all of them, and the heating runs for 2 hours, twice a day. The rest of the time it's off! Hot water likewise.

So, something is seriously wrong. Ground Source Heat Pump is apparently not an option according to the Worcester Bosch online 'checker'.

I think we therefore need to review our boiler, pronto, (yes it's 20+ years old) but, I'm nervous about ripping something out at great cost and replacing it with something that's no more efficient, or something that might take 10 years to see a benefit! There's an AGA of course that's getting switched off at the earliest opportunity too!

Your oil consumption does not seem totally outlandish - we use 2,400 litres per year for a 2,100 sq ft house (and this is a modern well insulated property) - yours is over three times as big:rolleyes: and obviously older, so the least you could expect would be c7,200+ litres.

Time to downsize from your massive house to something a little smaller:D

brambleman

We are now in need of a new boiler and tank. We currently have a 20+ year old Myson and probably use 2000 litres of oil a year. With oil now at 60p and LPG down at around 40p should LPG be still classed as the more expensive option?

If possible could anyone give me an idea of the cost comparsion as most info on the net is related to oil/lpg companies and therefore heavily biased.

bobmedley

LPG (propane) gives you 7.1kw per litre, oil 10.2kw - for a fair comparison, add 44% to the LPG price, so your 40p litre cost is 57.6p for LPG i.e. pretty much the same as oil, but you will need a new boiler and tank (which will not belong to you).

Usable kilowattage from either fuel will depend on the efficiency of your boiler.

Note that there seems to be dubious practices in the LPG arena - do a search of the forums.

Cornish_Pasty

does anyone know of a good heating oil comparison site for the south west. I'm actually in Cornwall, but near to Plymouth devon, so either is good.
I've tried the usual - boilerjuice etc, but they seem to be more expensive than anyone.

I usually use keltic, but just because that save me ringing around, but lately i get the feeling there may be cheaper options about and would like to compare the prices. it's got really expensive - help!!!!

tim441

Do people feel its better to use elec for heating hot water in the summer .. rather than oil? From my research it looks similar but I may be missing something or have got my numbers wrong!!!

I believe that one litre of heating oil provides between 10 and 12kwh at 100% efficiency (depends on source of information). So on a comparison with electricity can be said to cost around 5.5 to 6.5p per unit (Jun 2008. Heating oil around 60p per litre).

On this basis it is still cheaper than electricity - typical tariff around 9p (compare that with natural gas (not available in our village) at around 3p).

However in terms of a full comparison the extra heat loss in heating water from boiler to tank in pipe runs etc probably mean that the comparison between oil and electricity is very close?

zarazara

its arbout 64p a litre now and my friend is quoted 67p a litre ,she lives nr manchester

Moonbeam39

It is getting really scary - I only installed oil heating at the turn of this year as I was advised it was a cheaper option from electricity "Total Heating with No Control" :rotfl: . (Live in a village with no access to gas)

It was only after installing that I realised we were in a situation where the oil suppliers are completely unregulated and can effectively charge what they want.

The increases in the cost of a litre of kerosene is obscene 64.54p per litre if I order over 900 as at today's prices :mad: - while I moan about it now it is not until winter is here and I cannot afford to heat my house for my family that it will really be felt and I am sure I will not be alone!! God only knows what the price will be sitting at then:eek:

Damart here I come!!

Paulyp_2

I moved in to a house last summer and acquired Oil Heating for the first time. Had a shock over the winter with the amount of oil we were using (Best part of 4000 litres between October and March!!) so decided to invest in a new boiler and hot water tank and added t-valves to the rads. Also had the system flushed.

The old boiler was a 12 year old Potterton. The new one is a Grant Condensing Boiler (You can only install a condensing boiler now). The change is dramatic. The oil flow appears to have gone from a constant flow to a small sip. The old boiler ran non-stop. The new one hardly runs.

I figure at current costs that it will pay for itself well inside 2 years...

BeeUK

zarazara wrote: »

its arbout 64p a litre now and my friend is quoted 67p a litre ,she lives nr manchester

I've just had a delivery at 62p a litre in East Yorkshire, but 67p...yikes!

Altho...give it a few days!

amtrakuk

How many litres do you buy at a time and roughly how long does that last you?