How much can I expect to pay for oil heating?

helena83

I am trying to move house at the moment and have seen properties which I like but have oil fired heating. Previously I have disregarded these completely but seriously need to move so would like to weigh up the costs.

The house I'm looking at is a 2 bed mid terrace cottage. Any ideas on typical costs?

bernithebiker

Depends on lots of things like;

- how well insulated is it?

Whereabouts is it? SW UK versus NE Scotland will be very different!

How warm do you like to have your house?

How old is the boiler

etc.

Assuming average values like say Birmingham and 20'C inside, and 10 years, then I would estimate £500 per year, but this could be out by as much as 50%.

helena83

I'd assume that the boiler is pretty old since it's a rented house and it's pretty old so not brilliantly insulated. Don't have the house very warm and I am in north Yorkshire.

Just after a general idea really so I can compare to what I pay now

justjohn

running costs???

we have a 5 bed and we spend aprox 2 k per annum ish(its a big house,new boiler bosch)
next door stays in a mansion 1k per month lol

Also depends on the oil heating type eg. some oil based aga's will burn more than just kero. kero is aprox 52p per litre last time i bought....
We also have a woodburner we buy hardwood for 45-55 pound for builders bag(use aprox 4 bags per year). So if you can suffer the mess dont discount woodburners.(reckon i could run the house on 8-10 bags per annum)

We had wood burner central heating, it would be cheaper too run our house on wood.(oil was installed due to the ease of use)

If i could do it all again and we had a bigger kitchen i would install aga and burn kero,diesel,chip oil.(or any other oil based fuel i could get a hold off)

btw we are in an old house with 2ft+ thick walls

justjohn

helena83 wrote: »

I'd assume that the boiler is pretty old since it's a rented house and it's pretty old so not brilliantly insulated. Don't have the house very warm and I am in north Yorkshire.

Just after a general idea really so I can compare to what I pay now

Some older boilers can run on more than just kero...depends on the jets

Its also slightly cheaper too install a new oil boiler compared too gas.

kkgree1

We're in a 3 bed 1970's semi-detached house in East Anglia. We have an oil combi boiler. We budget close to £850 per year and this is adequate (especially how much oil has risen in the last 6 months!).

If you're used to mains gas you will get a shock at the price of oil. When we moved we knew oil was more expensive but for us it was more than 3 times what we paid with gas for an equivalent size house.

G_M

As an aside, if you move into a rented property with oil, make sure you measure the oil level in the tank when you move in and get it noted (and signed!) on the inventory.

When you move out, the chances of the oil level being the same are minimul, so you don't want arguements with the landlord about whether he owes you for additional oil you leave, or whether you owe him (which he'll deduct from your deposit!).