Oil CH - Why are we using so much?

rachaelv_2

We moved into our rented property at the end of November 2010 and we are really struggling with our oil.

Our hot water and Central heating is run off the oil.

At the moment we are averagely using about 200-250L a month. We have brought 500L in Jan and are looking at having to buy some more again next month. So with current prices of oil we are spending £160 on oil a month, which is crippling us.

Our hot water was initially set on continuous. Now I have turned it off and we are turning it on for an hour when we need it. So this is being done once a day. We can't set the hot water on a timer because the timer we have is linked to the heating and if we set it to come on with the timer it would follow the heating and be on for too long.
We have no bath, it is a shower, but it is a power shower so we have to just be quick. As it is a rented property we have no choice about it.

Our heating is on timer and comes on 1 hour in the morning and 4 in the evening.

We live in a three bedroom bungalow, the lounge/diner being a large room and also the bedrooms. The walls are not brick, but they are concrete. The place is a pre-fab initially built for military 60 years ago.

Does it really cost that much money/oil to heat a place of this size?

There is a thermostat which is set to 19 degrees.

There are 9 radiators in the property. I have turned the one in the hallway/kitchen/porch/bathroom down to half (they were on full) as we arent in these rooms for long periods of time.

The landlord told us the loft was insulated.

There is damp in some of the rooms. Living room being the main room, where I think the damp proof has gone in one wall because there is a brown tide mark going all up the wall, but that wouldn't effect usage that much would it?
Other rooms do have damp and black mould growing in places, but not as much as the first room.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cardew

Welcome to the Forum.

200 to 250 litres a month(2,000 to 2500kWh) in a old 3 bed bungalow, with what sounds like poor insulation, through a very cold winter is not excessive I am afraid.

The problem is the high price of heating oil which has increased dramatically recently. The same amount of kWh with gas would cost £60 to £70 a month which would be excellent.

By 'power shower' do you mean hot water from a Hot water tank boosted by a pump, or an electric shower? There is much confusion over that term.

Mould is often a ventilation problem, but with concrete wall it could be the damp course could be the problem.

rachaelv_2

Thanks for replying.

It is hard at the moment. I really under budgeted with the oil for just £50 a month, and now its going to be 3x as much. Eek :eek:

I did read that gas was costing about 60% less to run.........oh how I wish we could have gas. lol.

Oh I really don't know about the shower. It was the landlord that said thats what it was :-S

It is run off the hot water tank and it is much more powerful than my electric shower I used to have at my previous address.

Would the damp have much of an effect on the heating? Like working harder to dry the walls or the damp in the air?

I read on another post that it 1 L of oil is used per hour.......is that right? Or would we be using more because of the poor insulation?

Also, will turning the hot water to come on just once a day rather than continuous make a difference to our usage? Before I could not calculate how much we used because it would just heat when we had used some.

Cardew

Switching the hot water on and off will be cheaper but, assuming tank is well lagged, not a huge difference. In any case at this time of year any heat lost from the HW tank heats the house, so heat isn't really lost - think of it as a small radiator.

Damp walls can affect the heating, but to repeat what was stated above, your oil consumption is not excessive, it is the price of oil that is the problem.

suki1964

It is the shear cost of oil thats crippling.

When my MIL got the oil put in - was 9p a ltr
When I moved here it was 29p a ltr
5 years on and its 50p a litre

Dont forget that you will be saving on the oil come the summer months, but this is when you still need to put your money aside to buy fill.
I would get through around 2000ltrs a year. I get a fill of about 1200 ltrs in October then get a top up of around 8-900 ltrs in Feb.
But then I use stoves as heating as well so have the cost of coal and logs on top
I budget for 35quid a week for heating and hot water

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi

We have lived in our house for 9 years and have never spent so much on oil as we did this winter. We had 700 litres delivered on 10th December and this only lasted us until 26th January!! And thats being careful with the central heating and using a stove and coal fire as well. This means that we have paid out £900 for heating oil in 2 months.

The reason for this was the combination of high oil prices and exceptionally cold weather. We had many days in December where daytime temperatures didnt get above -5. I am at home all day with a child with health problems and our house needs better insulation which adds to the problem.

So on average through December we were using £65 worth of oil a week.

However, last year we switched the heating off during the summer and used the immersion heater for the small amount of hot water than we need. (We have an electric shower and dont have baths during the summer). This meant that we didnt buy any oil between May and December so I am hoping we can do the same again. I am also hoping that the January delivery lasts as long as possible.

We have started to use a couple of electric heaters so we dont need the heating on as much during the evenings. I know electric heaters arent very economical but with oil prices as they are it must be saving us something.

I reckon Sukis estimate of 2000l a year is pretty spot on, thats about the same as us in an "average" year.

macman

Why not start by fitting a proper modern digital programmer that will allow you to control the DHW independently of the CH? Around the £50 mark depending on model.

peat

Using electric heaters to save oil makes no sense. Oil at 60p per litre equates to about 6p per kWh, electricity is likely to be nearer 10p per kWh.

Johnhowell

macman wrote: »

Why not start by fitting a proper modern digital programmer that will allow you to control the DHW independently of the CH? Around the £50 mark depending on model.

Surely this will only work if the plumbing has the port valves arranged to allow a distinction between Hot Water and Central Heating?

John

suki1964

Johnhowell wrote: »

Surely this will only work if the plumbing has the port valves arranged to allow a distinction between Hot Water and Central Heating?

John

Ive no idea what that means. I know for me I can time the hot water and heating to come on together - or one or the other

So in the summer ( 3 whole months )we dont have the heating on so I can have the hot water come on morning and night - hour each time( 4 adults) and 30 mins at lunch

But in the winter I cant have the heating come on for say 5 hours and the hot water on for two - they both have to be on the five hours - or no hot water at all

Those on mains gas, you dont know how lucky you are

Johnhowell

suki1964 wrote: »

Ive no idea what that means. I know for me I can time the hot water and heating to come on together - or one or the other

So in the summer ( 3 whole months )we dont have the heating on so I can have the hot water come on morning and night - hour each time( 4 adults) and 30 mins at lunch

But in the winter I cant have the heating come on for say 5 hours and the hot water on for two - they both have to be on the five hours - or no hot water at all

Those on mains gas, you dont know how lucky you are

It has nothing to do with the type of fuel - oil or gas - it is purely down to the boiler controls (the electronics) and the port valves on the pipework.

From what you discribe you have distinct port valves the same as us and could change the timer controller to a newer one which can set different times for each circuit (DHW or CH). I understand they can even have different temperature settings for the CH at different times, but I have no experience of such units.

John