Oil newbie

rosscouk

Hi all,

I am just looking at buying a house in the country and it comes with a stanley range which provides the hot water, heating and oven duties. Its an end of terrace house (3 bed, approx 130 sq m) with an external 1000 litre tank. The house is in the country and there is no gas available.

This frightens the life out of me, I currently live in a victorian terrace with a combi boiler and currently pay about 55 pounds each on gas and electricity, so this oil malarky is all new to me. I am an oil newbie!

What questions should I be asking, how much should I budget for oil? In my budget currently I have £100 a month put aside, just for oil, I am trying to ascertain if this is enough. Will this stanley be a money pit for me?

So, any tips or help, would be much appreciated.
Rossco

malc_b

Why don't you ask the seller for details of his oil usage over the last year? Oil is not as cheap as was of course. You can get an idea of oil price and price history on boilerjuice (but always shop around when you buy oil).

If you can find the model then you could also get the range brochure on line and see what that quotes for oil usage and kWhr output. Some oil burners can be inefficient. Oil, 28sec, normal oil that is, is 10.35 kWhr/l. Form the figures my boiler gives for heat out and oil used I get 8.69 kWhr/l. For oil at 55p/l that is 6.33p/kWhr, more than night E7. Boilerjuice figures have oil as ~35p/l in sept 2009, ~40p/l in sept 2010, and ~55p/l in sept 2011. So oil users have seen a 38% rise which rather puts the 18% gas/elec rise in context. But oil users tend to be ignored.

rosscouk

Thanks for the reply malc_b, I have asked a few questions already but have slightly different answers.

The current owners have said they budget £100 per month for oil, they have also said that one tank will last all summer (they say they use an electric immersion heater in the summer and the stanley gets switched off) but the tank needs to be filled more "frequently" in winter. I am no great shakes at maths but if you fill a thousand litre tank up three times (I am taking "frequently" to mean two) and you pay 0.55ppl (forgetting VAT) then that is well over £1500, alot more than the £100 pm I am being quoted.

I have also asked for the model number, but was told it was a Stanley, hmmmm, I have emailed Stanley directly with a picture of the range and asking for the manual, perhaps they will come back with something.

Do you think oil prices will continue to rise at current rate? (Although I suppose that is the question everyone is asking!). Are Stanleys generally efficient, or should I think about a dedicated boiler? Are there other options?
Thanks so much for the help.
Rossco

G_M

Nothing scary about oil - it's just a different fuel!

I use about 2000 litres a year. Maybe a tad more last year cos it was cold! At current prices that's £1100 or £91 per month.

But mine's detached, not end terrace. It's 4 bed, not 3, so logically you'll use less. And of course by making good use of the oven you can reduce your (electricity?) cooking bill.

Main thing is to ensure you fill up at the right time and never get too low. Prices fluctuate so a tankful can vary in price almost daily.

Summer prices can be cheaper than winter, though world events/oil prices affect price more than the season. Having said that the last thing you want is to run low as Christmas bank holiday approaches, and the cold snap hits! A bigger tank gives more flexibility, but unless the tank needs upgrading anyway it's not worth changing - just start watching oil prices when you get down to 400 litres or so and if you think the price is right, top it up.

rosscouk

I have gone back to the current owner of the house to get some more info, I have asked the following;

• [FONT=&quot]Can you provide the model of the range[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]How many radiators are there?[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]When was the Stanley range last serviced and by whom?[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Is there a manual available? (if I know the model number I can track one down online)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]What type of oil does the Stanley take? is it 28 sec kerosene?[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]What is the oil usage over last year,[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]b[/FONT][FONT=&quot]y volume[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]number of fill ups[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Cost[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]On the last two fill-ups, what price did you pay[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]by the litre[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]overall[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]When fuel delivered, is the tank dry, or do the company just top it off?[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]How much is in the tank now?[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]How do you measure how full the tank is?[/FONT]

Hopefully that will give me all I need. One thing I forgot to say, there is an open fire in the living room, that will supplement the Stanley as well. Have I forgotten anything?

Cheers

rosscouk

Hi All,


I had the answers to my queries regarding the oil fired stanley range at my prospective new house and the associated costs.

• Can you provide the model of the range

It's an oil fired Stanley Superstar (Donard 60K)

• How many radiators are there?

There are 11 radiators.

• When was the Stanley range last serviced and by whom?

The Stanley was serviced on 8 February 2011 by a local oil and gas boiler service man.

• Is there a manual available? (if I know the model number I can track one down online)

There is a manual available.

• What type of oil does the Stanley take? is it 28 sec kerosene?

28 sec kerosene heating oil

• What is the oil usage over last year,
  • by volume
  2287 litres
  • number of fill ups
  Three
  • Cost
  £1476.98 (the year before the price per litre was between 41p and 49p, but this past year it has increased to 66p)
• On the last two fill-ups, what price did you pay
  
  • by the litre

66 pence per litre (Dec 2010), then 63.4 pence per litre (March 2011)

• • overall

£1133.94

• When fuel delivered, is the tank dry, or do the company just top it off?

The company just top it up until it's full - it never gets to empty before being refilled.

• • How much is in the tank now?

Approx 400 litres (it was last filled up in March)

• • How do you measure how full the tank is?

We have a sensor systems watchman. This is a wireless system whereby the fullness of the tank is transmitted to a small unit (the size of an electric plug) that is plugged into a socket in the kitchen. It counts down from F (full), then 9, 8 etc to 1 then 0 - when a small red light flashes. There is still enough to last a week or so in winter when it reaches 0.

This should help with my budgeting, although it will be a sharp increase when compared to my current £55pcm for gas!!

Any opinions? Is the range efficient? Would a new oil boiler be worth considering?

tori.k

In our case, 3 bed mid terrace, worcester combi ( no immersion) 6 rads.
we used just over 500L over the last year filled up end of October 2010 cost £233 (+vat)
filled up 12/9/2011 500L £296.52 (+vat)...shop about you can get a lot better price than 66p a litre we have saved around £350 over the last year from moving from electric to oil even with the price rise, i really wouldn't let the idea of oil put you off a house if it a house you really like. saving's can be made with oil just like with gas and electric.

The main reason we dont need that much oil is that we insultated the house the best we could, (i dont do cold) so we can run the heating a little less and switch it off a little earlier in the year...but then it also help's that we live down west

lancsman957

We have eight rads and a potterton oil fired boiler no cavity wall but loads of loft insulation and are just having double glazing fitted.previously our 1000 litre tank would do a winter with only a half top up so we'd use 1500 for a cold winter.Now with double glazing going in we'd hope to use less,do check more than boilerjuice for prices and when you've found the cheapest talk to your "local" supplier in 1000 snd litre speak and they will normally match your best price(ours does) got it in early September 2011 for £574 for a 1000 ltrs.we cook on electric and have a supplemental wood burner in the kitchen.Having more than one source of heating helps with choices we have used de longhi electric oil rads with sucess when at end/start of winter.We are in Lincolnshire so it gets blowy.Best of luck Rosscouk

rosscouk

Thanks lancsman957, I am a bit more optimistic now! I just need to sell my own house, so we can get moving.