Tips for running oil heating cheaply

ani*fan

Hi everyone

My OH has had oil central heating for a year and a half and is still trying to figure out the cheapest, most economical way to run it.

Should it be left on all the time? Or should she have the boiler on a timer? The question being does it use more oil switching the boiler on and off than just leaving it on all the time? She keeps getting conflicting advice from her neighbours with similar heating.

Can someone please help her out soon before I set fire to myself listening to this dilemma?

Thank you kind people.

Cardew

Without question it is cheaper to have both CH and HW on a timer; the longer it is off - the lower the bill.

There is an 'urban myth' that it cheaper to leave it on all the time as it takes more energy to heat up from cold than keeping it hot. That is without doubt wrong - see the Energy Saving Trust website and lots of web sites.

If it were true you would leave your kettle boiling all the time - same principle.

ani*fan

Thanks for the advice. It makes sense right enough.

Looks like she'll just need to get busy chopping logs then...'cos I ain't doing it

dogshome

As a retiree household of 2, we cut our oil bill by programming the boiler to produce hot water in the early hours of the morning - with the boiler output being entirely devoted to hot water, it heats the whole storage tank in an hour, which is enough for 2 showers, a bath and the washing up - but you must have a well insulated tank. The downside is that due to the limited options on the standard programmer, to get heating outside the ON/OFF hour that the heating is producing hot water only, the heating must be set on 'Constant' and controlled by the thermostat - turn it up to 21 when getting up in the morning then right down to 0 when going to bed.

greyteam1959

Apart from only having the boiler on when it is needed the only other way to save is to make sure everything is really really well insulated.
Other than that there is not a lot more you can do.
There was talk on here somewhere about fuel additives but I dont really think the saving would justify the cost of the additive.
The only other way to save money is to buy your oil when it is cheap / buy it in bulk ( the more you buy the cheaper it is ) or join a buying group maybe if there is one in your area.

divorcingjack

We did an experiment about that "it's cheaper leaving it on all the time" thing and found out, very expensively... IT'S NOT.

We used 1000 litres in about three months! :mad: I was NOT amused. During a recent loft conversion, we insulated the roof with industrial strength insulation and have managed to not have the heat on since March! Just for hot water!