Would anyone still buy a house with oil central heating?

CloudCuckooLand

The price of oil fluctuates throughout the year, so time it right and it can be reasonably well priced.

Some villages have schemes which bulk deliver, to improve affordability.

I wouldn't discount altogether.

Get the house for £10k less and put it in the bank for "eventualities"...

Contessa

Thanks, Woodsey and Pasturesnew. Those are some of the factors which put me off.
Rhino, lucky you! I agree about the South Hams. We may end up neighbours.

gooner63_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

I am turned off by houses with oil, I've never used/experienced it and would find it all a bit "scarey". There's an ugly tank in the garden. You have to keep an eye on the levels, order it, get it delivered and pay a big chunk right then. And then there's the risk of theft.

We lay our washing on that ugly tank to dry so don't really notice it .....got a level alarm indicator ....so know if it's getting low......and quite like paying up front..... makes you more frugal with it.....and haven't got a massive bill shooting through my letter box every 3 months....that I wasn't budgeting for ......because I forgot how expensive gas/electricity was for heating:eek:

adg1

MobileSaver wrote: »

No offence but I think this has to be one of the daftest reasons I've heard for discounting a house in a long time. :rotfl:

Because of what? Very good friends of mine have just moved from London to a stunning countryside barn conversion. The property in london was a draughty, high ceilinged conversion flat with gas central heating.

Currently they have oil fired in the countryside and no gas supply. Due to the current level of oil prices their heating bill is astronomical compared to the (larger) (and draughtier) 2 bed conversion in london. By almost a factor of 5.

So, with a small retirement income, it is something I would definitely consider.

Geenie

adg1 wrote: »

Because of what? Very good friends of mine have just moved from London to a stunning countryside barn conversion. The property in london was a draughty, high ceilinged conversion flat with gas central heating.

Currently they have oil fired in the countryside and no gas supply. Due to the current level of oil prices their heating bill is astronomical compared to the (larger) (and draughtier) 2 bed conversion in london. By almost a factor of 5.

So, with a small retirement income, it is something I would definitely consider.

Agree. It is quite right to query using oil. The Middle East is quite unstable at times, and prices are only going to go up long term as resources dwindle in my opinion. Delivery in extreme winter conditions has been a problem of late.

That said, I don't think gas is a safer bet long term either. All it takes is for the Russians to fall out with neighbours, shut pipe lines etc and we are held hostage.

Neither of these fuels are a safe bet long term, so I would look at alternative energy and see if there is a way of producing your own. Ground source, wood, PV are just a few I have seen used instead of the oil prior seen in rural properties. The initial cost might be scary, but knowing you are not dependant on anyone else to heat your home, whatever the conditions around the world, is a great thing.

Good luck OP.

LillythePink

When we were looking for a house last year, I would have discounted one with gas c/h (but only would have considered it if it could be converted to oil)

I have had gas c/h in the past and it was expensive and rubbish - we converted from solid fuel and our bills were in the region of £300 per quarter - this was 11 years ago!

We have oil and it's fine.

all of our gas is imported anyway so even if it is mains, it is is still imported to the island so that makes it expensive and we only have one provider.

Rhino666

Contessa

If you move to the South Hams, you could always do what everyone else seems to be doing nowadays - get a wood burner. One of the jobs I am considering is supplying wood to people with wood burners in that area :-)

Contessa

Rhino666 wrote: »

Contessa

If you move to the South Hams, you could always do what everyone else seems to be doing nowadays - get a wood burner. One of the jobs I am considering is supplying wood to people with wood burners in that area :-)

I'll remember that-hope you'll give me a discount as a fellow MSE'er!

bristol_pilot

I would always choose mains gas if available, but if there is no mains gas I would go for oil. It is no trouble at all, lived in a house for many years with oil-fired heating until mains gas was laid on. Electric heating is far too expensive and inflexiable and pressurised gas containers scare me.

G_M

Get a decent sized tank so you can choose when to top up rather than having to do so every few months whatever the price. Mine lasts a year or more, so I top it up when prices are lower. It's running low now but I reckon I can last till the warmer weather means switching off the heating and refill in the summer when a) prices usually drop anyway and b) Libya gets sorted out.

ps - I see world oil prices are dropping because of expected lower demand from Japan as their economy shuts down. Mind you, as reliance on nuclear power reduces they might start importing more oil..... Tricky business.