Heating oil Costs

ELMATHUD

We are hoping to move into a large 3 bed detached house which has a heating oil boiler. The house has some double glazing.We have looked through all the forums and plan to try to use the boiler as economically as possible. We will be using draught excluders, cladding on the boiler, heavy curtains/blinds and loft hatch sealer and checking the insulation etc. Can anyone in a similar situation give us a hint as to how much oil they're using? We're pretty sure there's oil buying in the village. We've heard some horror stories, but we've heard some people say it's not too bad.
We have two small children who will be at school 9-3, and there are 2 adults - 1 of whom will be at home.
Thanks for all help advice!

p3pp3r5

There are lot's of threads on this topic but as everybody's heating needs differ through levels of insulation, type of house and lifestyle it is an impossible question to answer.

As an example there are two families near me. One lot has a small tank with an Aga [expensive to run] so they spend up to £400 a month over the worst of the winter on oil whereas the other family pay around £100 per month, large tank and efficient boiler. Both houses are large, modern and detached.

Briefly as the house is occupied during the day the heating will need to be on regularly especially as you have children but importantly to get warmth into the fabric of the building over a prolonged winter period therefore it will be much higher than mains gas.

NeverInDebt

Get insulated as much as possible heating oil is one of the most expensive fuels. Consider maybe getting a log burner to supplement it obviously it will costs more in short run as it can costs over 2k. I assume you can't get mains gas or it may be expensive to pipe to you home

A._Badger

NeverInDebt wrote: »

Get insulated as much as possible heating oil is one of the most expensive fuels. Consider maybe getting a log burner to supplement it obviously it will costs more in short run as it can costs over 2k. I assume you can get mains gas or it may be expensive to pipe to you home

Do your maths very carefully before leaping to conclusions about log burners. It's a popular mantra these days but unless you get your wood for free, it would take you years to amortise the cost of installing a wood burner and keeping it fed.

NeverInDebt

I have one so I know how much it costs, I agree its popular and for many it would take a long time to recoup costs but it may be cheaper in long run if you have expensive oil/LPG and or cheap source of wood. Yes even wood prices go up too

I never implied its a cheap thing to do hence why I said how much it costs to have installed and when I said short term I meant around 5 years.

A._Badger wrote: »

Do your maths very carefully before leaping to conclusions about log burners. It's a popular mantra these days but unless you get your wood for free, it would take you years to amortise the cost of installing a wood burner and keeping it fed.

p3pp3r5

Without heading off topic to much we bought two tipped trailers of seasoned hardwood (3 cubic metres each) at £150 each to get us through last winter (3 months ish) in addition to LPG. So no not cheap but as the stove was on all day every day during the winter it was cheaper than LPG on all the time. This year it is all free wood from our woodland, not paying £150 a load again! Just need to get out and cut it... This year no LPG either :cool:

Antispam

I hope you are not planning on burning green wood it needs to be seasoned otherwise you risk a chimney fire due to build up of tar, unless you mean you got it cut to season and then cut to smaller sizes

p3pp3r5 wrote: »

Without heading off topic to much we bought two tipped trailers of seasoned hardwood (3 cubic metres each) at £150 each to get us through last winter (3 months ish) in addition to LPG. So no not cheap but as the stove was on all day every day during the winter it was cheaper than LPG on all the time. This year it is all free wood from our woodland, not paying £150 a load again! Just need to get out and cut it... This year no LPG either :cool:

rhiwfield

At current prices of c55p per litre an 80% efficient oil boiler will produce energy at 7p per kWh . If boiler is an old clanker, or is badly maintained, and say 65% efficient, cost per Kwh will rise to 8.5p. Oil prices reached highs last winter, so if price per litre rose to say 80p, then kWh costs would be 10p and 13p for 80% and 65% efficient boilers.

Your space heating and water costs will come down to a mix of your lifestyle choices (3 hot baths a day or a cold shower!!) and the heat loss of your house. I'd guess that with young children and house occupied all day, your usage will be a little on the high side, maybe 20,000 kWh pa, but I stress this is only a guess. Multiply that by your cost per kWh, at the cheapest estimate that would be £1400 pa.

I'd not advise making any major heating source adjustments yet. Two things are paramount as we move into autumn:

1. Insulate (and use window film on any single glazed windows)
2. Ensure your boiler is well serviced

I echo A Badgers comments on a woodburner. Wood costs are shooting up and they are expensive to install. Lovely though, we've got one ourselves as well as the oil boiler.

The current owners should be able to give you service history and boiler manual, and also past oil usage. You mentioned boiler cladding, just take care not to create a fire risk, granny to suck eggs probably

And with all the bad weather of the past two winters dont let your tank approach empty before topping up. Might cost a penny or two more per litre that way but its worth it for the peace of mind.

p3pp3r5

There are lot's of old fallen tress I've started to cut up and have a moisture meter to check. Sometimes I collect recently felled stuff from friends which I stack and leave till ready. Lots of pallets too but cutting them up is a pain. If I cut down living trees the wife would cut me up...

Thanks for pointing this out as burning green wood is a very bad idea, the stove installer gave us the willies with what happens if you do this...

donnalou

ELMATHUD wrote: »

We are hoping to move into a large 3 bed detached house which has a heating oil boiler. The house has some double glazing.We have looked through all the forums and plan to try to use the boiler as economically as possible. We will be using draught excluders, cladding on the boiler, heavy curtains/blinds and loft hatch sealer and checking the insulation etc. Can anyone in a similar situation give us a hint as to how much oil they're using? We're pretty sure there's oil buying in the village. We've heard some horror stories, but we've heard some people say it's not too bad.
We have two small children who will be at school 9-3, and there are 2 adults - 1 of whom will be at home.
Thanks for all help advice!

We live a similar house to you 500 litres last a month during the winter at the most expensive we paid was £357! During Christmas we also has our coal fire on so it was a very expensive time for us.

highrisklowreturn

Personally with no experience of the issue I think it's a myth that you shouldn't burn unseasoned wood. How many times do you hear about chimney fires? Surely the sweep is supposed to spot tar and stuff. When I was kid me and my three brothers and sister used to burn literally everything in the fire and there was never any worry about what was getting burnt.