Oil fired heating for dummies????

cslogg

Is there a one stop site for someone in my postition.
I am hoping to move into a property that had oil fired central heating.
I have no idea about what is involved.How much is the fuel,how do I know when I need to order,how long to deliver,what sort of boiler is best,etc.etc.I hsve been used to gas all my life.
I do not know the boiler type/ make ,just that it is around 3 years and fixed to an outside wall.Not much help I know.

Cardew

From the operation point of view oil CH is much like gas CH; same controllers timers etc.


A litre of oil 'contains' approx. 10kWh. Oil is currently the cheapest it has been for a long while at around 50p litre; so in the order of 5p/kWh which is in the order of 25% more than gas - less as you don't pay the Daily standing charge for gas.


Generally the more you order(say 1000 litres) it will be slightly cheaper than a smaller amount; most firms will not be happy with deliveries of less than 500 litres.


Your local area may have a collective where several houses take delivery on the same day and get it slightly cheaper.


A 3 year old boiler will have a similar high efficiency to a gas boiler of the same vintage.

thenudeone

cslogg wrote: »

I am hoping to move into a property that had oil fired central heating.

If you mean "had" rather than "have", then you should seriously consider alternatives to oil.

Getting a new oil boiler fitted will cost a lot more than a comparable gas boiler, perhaps costing £4-5k for a biggish size house.

If you can afford it and have the funds, it could be worth getting an Air Source Heat Pump instead (or Ground Source Heat Pump, or a "biomass" pellet boiler, although both of these are more expensive and more trouble to install).

With an Air Source Heat Pump (or the others I mentioned), the government will give you money for each unit of renewable heat generated for 7 years under the RHI scheme.

As long as the ASHP will be the only source of heat, the RHI payments are known and fixed at the outset, and based on your theoretical energy usage over the 7 years.

In my case, that payment over 7 years will cover the capital cost of the heat pump, and the ongoing running costs are similar to oil.

In addition, the oil price is much more variable (and, on average, rising faster) than electricity, with massive oil price rises in the last decade or two which have hardly created any protest at all in political circles, whereas much lower levels of increase in electricity costs have created panic and major changes in government policy in the last 12 months. So I would much rather be dependant on changes in electricity prices than in oil prices.

captainhindsight_2

A biomass boileer would be your best option, this would be just a straight swap from what you have got now and the rhi income will cover the capital cost in about 5 years but is paid over 7 so you end up in profit.

Depending on the type of boiler, and how big a delivery you can take biomass fuel will cost between 3p/kWh and 4.5p/kWh Which is much less the LPG and oil

cslogg

Thanks for the info.
I had better correct a typo from my first post.
It has oil fired heating,not had.
Sorry.
I have no idea yet what type/make.

gamston

when ordering your oil ring round to get a good price, we normally manage to save up to 1p per lt when we ring round
also what is your access to the oil tank like ?, I live down a dirt track so have to ask for a small truck to bring the oil

Ebe_Scrooge

gamston wrote: »

when ordering your oil ring round to get a good price, we normally manage to save up to 1p per lt when we ring round

I agree, this is the single most important thing to bear in mind with oil. Don't get sucked into these direct-debit plans that a lot of companies offer, ring around every time you need to fill up. The cheapest company one time will not necessarily be the cheapest next time. It takes 10 minutes to ring up half a dozen local suppliers and ask for quotes - many will offer to price-match their competitors.

I don't know about saving 1p a litre, the difference between my local suppliers can be up to 10p a litre, occasionally even more than that. When ordering 1000 litres, that makes a fair difference !

Better_Days

Also it may be worth exploring whether or not there is a community buying scheme in your area. As the scheme buys in bulk you should get a good price and it saves ringing around.

Our local scheme has 3 buying dates per month and when they email they give details for the previous month - highest and lowest prices in the area and then what they achieved. Here membership is £20 a year which I saved on my first purchase. Also it is not more expensive if you buy less than 1,000 litres, although you do have to buy a min of 500 litres.

drystonewaller

Hi there,I would suggest that you just get through winter first....you can then decided whether there are any alternatives that suit you. It'll all depend on your budget, the space you have and what you may or may not be allowed to do re planning. Just give yourself time to look into it all.
In our village we are all on oil and we have a co-ordinator who e-mails everyone re oil orders. This reduces the traffic into the village but it ensures we get a decent price. We even get better prices than the county buying consortium. Local oil sellers were sceptical at first until they realised that they were losing business...
We have a little radio device that is in the oil tank and sends a signal to a gadget about the size of a plug that plugs in and tells us how much oil we have left. They are very very easy to fit yourself.
Best investment we have made in the house was a log burner as we hardly use any oil now...
Good luck and take your time to research and read...oil can be a pain but it's OK...especially if there is no option!

Elsewhere

We run our tanks right down by late spring and then try to watch the oil price during the summer and buy it when it's low. (We use electric for hot water and cooking in the summer). I like that you have to pay up front for the oil so the bill doesn't come as a nasty shock after you've used the fuel!

If the house is isolated and your tank not secure be aware that heating oil sometimes gets stolen.

Richmc

Elsewhere wrote: »

If the house is isolated and your tank not secure be aware that heating oil sometimes gets stolen.

Alarms are available that monitor useage, a sudden drop in level set them off, plus a dummy (or real!) CCTV camera and sticker on the tank will deter theves. Some even have smart phone dialing.

On buying, ask your vendor who they use, do your reserch to find the best price, then call guy the last owner used (if you want to use them)and ask them to price match, they need your buisiness and will price match. I've even had one refuse to match then call me back the next day to do so.