How can I reduce our oil bill?

Louisa_2

My husband has just had a look at the oil tank and reckons we have used about 195 litres in the last 7 or 8 days which means approx £10/£11.50 per day. We can't afford to keep heating the house when it costs this much. We have lived in our drafty Victorian/Edwardian house for 1 year, and I also can't face the thought of going through another winter like last year when we were always worried that we were going to run out of oil and that the water would be cold as per the radiators.

We only have a couple of double glazed rooms (2 of the bedrooms upstairs)- these are secondary glazed and we have had a quote for the rest of them upstairs but this was for nearly £3k.

Downstairs all the windows are the original single glazed sash windows and we haven't even bothered getting a quote to have these replaced with brand new double glazed ones as the little bit of research we've done suggests they will be about £1000 EACH (there are 9 of them).

We keep the internal shutters in the living room closed pretty much 24x7 which isn't nice but does prevent warmth escaping. Same with curtains, unless we have visitors these stay closed mainly.

Blanket linings- how would I go about lining curtains with eyelets at the top? The linings I have seen in Dunelm are for normal pencil pleat type curtains whereby you can hang the linings along the header tape with normal curtain hooks. Not sure how I could attach blanket linings to eyelet style curtains without sewing them on- would ruin how the curtains look but if that's the only way then that'll have to be that.

I'd be so grateful of any advice, it's such a shock to be cold and if I'm honest, although was our dream house I feel like a terrible mum when I have to put our children to bed in thermal vests and long johns, brushed cotton pj's, fleecey snuggle suits, their normal duvets plus extra blankets on top just so they are warm enough.

rachbc

I don't know about oil heating I'm afraid but some tips on other stuff - does the oil run a boiler for the ehat/ water - if so coudl you look at getting a more efficient boiler - our condensing one has nade a big difference - we used no more gas last year despite the remps than we had for the previous much milder one

Re sash windows - have you had a look at the getting them draught proofed rather than double glazed - we are having a quote on monday to look at getting ours done with new parting beads and special brushes fitted on the moving parts to stop the draughts - we are single glazed and find its the draughts aound the windows than the singel glazing that is the problem - when the windows were painted shut we obv had no draughts its just since we unstuck them!

My dunhelm had linings for eyelet curtians that fitted on the rail behind and between the eyelets of the mian curtain if that makes sense?

The kids - well you'd only be a 'bad' mum if you didn't bother to put things on them to keep them warm!

bryanb

Loft insulation?

seafarers_wife

my parents live in an old victorian house and whilst they dont have oil heating their gas and electric bills are in the £300 a month range :eek: it used to be worse but they have done the below and its helped reduce the cost.

what they have done to reduce the cost is to "floor" the loft and put old carpet down on it and also lots and lots and lots of loft insulation and then plyboard nailed to the joists to keep more heat in.

they have removed all carpet from the house which is more fool them but they prefer it that way, but as its original floorboards which are draughty dad nailed polestyrene underneath the floor and the difference that has made is amazing.

they have all single glazed windows and havent even considered secondary glazing or double glazing due to the cost, but they have put rollar blinds on each window and have proper heavy curtains on all windows so even using the blinds makes a difference. the curtains are expensive to buy as needs to be custom made due to the size of the drop and the width needed but mum is handy with a sewing machine and has made all the curtains herself which saved a fortune and makes a difference especially in the winter.

theyve properly blocked off all the old fireplaces in the house so a hooley no longer blows into the bedrooms at night and they have also replaced the basement door and put draught excluders on all doors. a curtain has been put above the front door since it is mainly all glass and they keep the storm doors closed most of the time, and also keep all internal doors closed where possible so as to allow heat not to escape.

dont worry about your kids being cold and being a bad mum. i grew up in that house and prefer a cold house because of it as new houses seem stuffy to me. i had a double duvet on a single bed and that was enough to keep me toasty warm most nights, there was the odd night when i needed an extra duvet on top but that was rare. kids will adapt and get used to it, but large bills are one of the pitfalls of old houses.

zarazara

we installed 2 multifuel [woodburning] stoves and only use the oil for hot water and very occasional central heating. my sitting room and kitchen are kept at 24 oC all day and they fall to 18 oC overnight. i am in all day, oil would be unaffordable
re single glazed windows, i put fleeces up on a thin wire thing thats for net curtains,or you could drawing pin the fleece to the wooden frame. you canreally keep it toasty by putting 2 fleeces up and or bubble wrap too.

ChocClare

For the lining of the eyelet curtains, your best bet is either fleeces or proper bump (sometimes called domett) which is the "proper" stuff you interline curtains with - it's like blanket but you usually costs about £5-7 per metre for 54" wide, so you might be better off with a fleece or charity shop blanket if you can get it cheaper.

As neither of these frays, then you can just lay your curtain on top of your chosen lining, lining up the top edges (or having the lining an inch or so further down if you are worried it will show), and mark the lining by pushing a felt-tip pen through the eyelets. You can then make holes in the lining which will line up with the eyelets in your curtains by either stabbing through the felt-tip marks with a stiletto or awl or just with a pair of sharp scissors. This should then move and hang with your curtains without the need to be fixed to them - and you can remove the lining and clean and put it away in the summer.

seraphina

Consider shutting up as many rooms as possible over winter - my parents' house is of a similar age and is also oil fired. My mum would always close off the spare room and, once my sister and I moved out, our bedrooms as well for winter. Close the doors tightly and turn off the radiators but check occasionally for damp etc.

If things get really bad, consider moving your kids into one room. Hot water bottles are a godsend!

The difference that good loft insulation made to my parents' house was amazing - you can pick up insulation quite cheaply at B&Q.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, dont have any great suggestions, but we are in the same position as you. We have oil heating and really need new windows and doors. Just cant afford them.

When we moved into our house there was a horrible 1960s fireplace in the kitchen. Our initial plan was to block it up but in the end we replaced in with a multi-fuel stove which is a godsend. I am at home all the time and use this for heating during the day. We are going through about £13 of coal a week at the moment though, but this also keeps the open fire in the lounge going in the evening.

Its a nightmare isnt it? I hate putting the heating on because the oil is so expensive. We have just had our boiler serviced and although its old it is working well according to the engineer. Couldnt afford to replace it anyway!!

I have got some new lounge curtains with eyelets and I am going to explore different linings, will come back and let you know if I have any inspiration.

zippychick

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thanks
Zip

Gigervamp

Do you have fireplaces that you can use? If so, get the chimney swept and use them.

If not, a portable calor gas fire is great for heating a room and a halogen heater is good for more localised heat.

Also, keep an eye on the Best price for heating oil prices thread, especially the recent posts about go locate.
Heating oil prices have risen in some places by 80%! This rise doesn't reflect the rise in oil price.

G_M

Gigervamp wrote: »

Do you have fireplaces that you can use? If so, get the chimney swept and use them.

Hmmmm. Maybe. But fires are very inefficient. Most of the heat just goes up the chimney.

And unused chimney can be a HUGE source of loss of heat. Block up the chimney opening: cardboard and gaffer tape.