Oil Heating Idiot Help!

Mazzawa

Hello!

We have just sold our house and have found another that we love out in the back of beyond. It has oil heating and we have never known anything but gas before! The owners say it costs 1500-1600 per year (three fills) to heat a house with 4 people but has low ceilings (4 bed, no aga) Boiler is reasonably old (about 13-14 yrs) so could this be a problem? Can you get maintenance contracts like you get with Scottish gas? No heating on Xmas day was not much fun so appreciate the 365 day callout!

How could we make the house more efficient? On these bills we'll be running close to our limit per month if business is slow...eek! What can we do to help? There is one log/coal burning fire we can use in the lounge. If we buy this house we don't have a lot spare to make it more efficient so thrifty ways would be best!

If we decided to change from oil, what are our options?

Not as important - I love agas (and other similar branded workhorses!) but are they more or less efficient than a separate boiler?

Thanks in advance!

w50nky

Hi, I have a 4 bedroom bungalow in the sticks too (quite well insulated now) and fill my 1200 litre oil tank once every 16 months. This has been as a result of insulation and removing open fire and replacing with a multifuel stove which only provides heat not hot water. The stove provides the heating most of the time with top up via the boiler.
I burn around 5 bags of smokeless fuel per month in winter @ £14-£15 per bag depending on time of year you buy. I also burn logs when I feel like it too. To be fair there is only 2 bedrooms in use now as kids are up and gone.

You can get oil boiler cover from various providers. There will be no doubt oil providers in your area that will be more than happy to take your cash. I do not bother with a contract as I am lucky to have an independent engineer who will attend in a reasonable time anyway. I have only had one breakdown in 8 years and find my boiler to be very reliable overall. It is approx 11 years old.
I can not really comment on the new generation of oil boilers save to say that if they are like the equivalent gas condensing boilers they will be more prone to failure. I would recommend that you spend your hard earned cash first on insulation where you can as this will reduce your costs overall. If you can get in touch with your potential new neighbours and see if they can recommend a reliable service engineer who can comment on the condition of the boiler etc.

If the fire in your new property is an open fire I would consider fitting a multifuel stove as they are much more efficient than an open fire. You can also close the vents to the stove when not using it which will prevent your precious heat from escaping via the open flue like it would with an open fire. (although you could obtain a chimney “balloon” which you inflate to block the flue when not in use @ approx £20)


You will no doubt receive replies as to the merits (or not) of LPG and Air and ground source heating but these will require high initial investment in boilers etc.

This is just my experience and hope it helps somewhat...Good luck.

Oldernotwiser

Have you asked them how much they use the heating? Some people will have it on all the time in the winter whereas you may not.

I second the suggestion of a multi fuel fire; they really throw the heat out and you may only need the central heating in the coldest weather.

LittleVermin

The price of oil has risen somewhat - and fallen back rather less - so their running costs may not be reliable. Boilerjuice (a DCC operation which you might want to avoid) has charts for up to 2 years here. Also bernithebiker posted a link to a chart for 6 yrs for French heating oil - which he says will be similar to a UK chart - here. (He was an oil trader so knows these things!).

Multifuel - yes! Maybe read posts by crphillips - who instals them - based in Yorkshire, I believe, so no use to you (I believe you're in Scotland), but lots of useful stuff about makes and proper installation.

GSHP - lots of useful stuff from Geotherm - who instals them in Italy - so again won't be trying to sell you anything.

ASHP? All sorts of stuff on MSE - for and against! Might have problems in a Scottish winter.

LPG? Well, you had mains gas so LPG must be tempting! Hmmmm. Probably NOT a selling point when you come to move on: many of us with LPG won't be buying another place with LPG. Why not? The LPG market is totally opaque and highly concentrated (4 main suppliers, soon maybe just 2 so zilch real competition .. and one, Flogas, is in the DCC stable) ..and 2 yr contracts for rented bulk tanks. We hope the Office of Fair Trading will do something but we don't hold out much hope: OFT looking at off-grid energy (including oil) right now (link via here - with discussion from others)

Link to LPG price chart for vehicles (as a proxy for the wholesale LPG prices) - for up to last 6 years - and comments - here.

Boiler life? - my LPG boiler doing fine at 20 years old. Gets maintained as required by independent Gas Safe engineer. Less efficient than modern condensing ones - but they don't appear to last so not economic to change.

Comparative heating costs - for various fuels -and some discussion - check via here

Finally, lots of offers on insulation at present in sheds - if more is needed.

Good luck!
..

Mazzawa

That's wonderful everyone, thank you! Will certainly put a little aside over the next few months if we get the house to install a multi-fuel stove (been reading up on them) as I think you are right in saying that it will save us money/oil. Would also look to insulate more. Fingers crossed!!!!

bernithebiker

I would agree with everything mentioned above;

Insulation, although boring, and no 'gadget' value! is the best bang per buck - relatively inexpensive, it will pay for itself quickly.

Woodburners or MF stoves are a great idea, and allow you to only use the oil sparingly (or at lower temperature which helps efficiency).

Buying into oil means buying into price volatility, we are all at the mercy of worldwide events.

But you can protect yourself if you want to be proactive; there are several ways to do this, but all are best attempted when prices are in a dip (not so right now). Possibilities include;

Buying a selection of oil related shares; medium explorers/drillers, equipment suppliers, majors,

Buying oil futures using sites like IG Index.

Buying a big tank and filling it when prices are low.

None of these are applicable at the moment, and there is risk involved - they are not perfect 'hedges', but it may be worth revisiting this subject as and when (if) prices drop.

Mazzawa

Wonderful, thank you again! Yes being savvy about when to top up, like petrol, is a good plan.

What are your opinions on Agas/Range cookers for providing heating/hot water? Not just for this particular house we're looking at, just as info for the future. Have always wanted one but if a boiler is more efficient then it would always remain a fantasy!

w50nky

IMO Until you win the lottery I would put plans for an Aga on hold. I believe they are a bit of a beast to run and take some time to reach temps for cooking etc if you do not keep them on. I am sure other folk on this forum have posted regarding running costs etc. Mind, you can use a wood/multifuel stove to boil a kettle on and also heat a pan of soup, roast chestnuts, etc if its got a flat top (you can even get oven stoves). We get a few power cuts and it has been a great help being able to have a cuppa & hot meal without digging the camping stove out.

You should also look into the security/position of your oil storage tank as thefts of oil do occur in some regions.

As berniethebiker states if you have a large tank you can buy your oil when prices are not as high and help to avoid the winter stitch up. You can also group together with neighbours when you need to purchase oil and obtain a group discount.

Bigmoney2

Hi, i have a 2 bed detached house with oil boiler. The prices you've quoted seem a bit high to me.

I use approx 1.5 tanks fulls a year, this is for heating and water. Last year I filled up in august
1000 litres at 40.7p /litre, oil price peaked in November at 72p/L but dropped by my next fill to 55p a litre in February, as it was still quite high I only had 500L delivery which will take be to around august again (I hope) so total spend over the last 12 months was approx 720pounds. I am at home all day but do go away on hols quite a bit, house has cavity wall insulation plus an open coal fire.

My engineer has said that oil boilers are like deisel cars, go on for years, and are more reliable then gas ones.

Also most suppliers with have a minimum delivery of 500L, and buying 500 is bit more expensive per litre than getting 1000L. you can't just top up like you can a car, plus you pay on delivery so need to have the cash up front unlike gas direct debits. Some suppliers will do a DD scheme but you are then
locked in with them, I usually phone a few suppliers for price or check boilerjuice for cost trends. You do also need to keep checking the tank level but can get monitoring devices, I ran out when I first started using it, as like you was used to having gas on tap.

I wouldn't let it put you off the house.

Jules