Buying a house with oil central heating

graduate

We are considering a bungalow which has a oil tank. The tank looks like it is made of metal and is rusty on the outside. There is no gas supply. I have a few questions:

1. How much difference is there in energy costs between oil and gas?

2. Does having oil central heating effect property prices or the time it takes to sell? The reason I ask is that a few properties in this village have been on the market for a while and I was wondered if oil heating put people off or is it the fact the properties all need 'some work' / updating.

3. Would checking the condition of the tank be included in a survey or would you need a separate person to have a look?

4. If it did need replacing roughly how much would that cost?

Thanks
G
x-posted in House Buying forum

J_B

1. Compared to what?? maybe a bit dearer than mains gas, but cheaper than LPG and Electric??

2. Wouldn't have thought so

3. Survey??? :rotfl:

4. Couple of hundred quid??

x-posting is 'illegal' methinks

Silent_Dancer

1. Oil is about 50% more expensive than gas but is in most circumstances the lowest cost off mains fuel.

2. I suspect these properties are not selling because they are overpriced not the heating system.

3. If you're concerned get an OFTEC enigineer to inspect the boiler and tank.

4. Around a grand.

Ectophile

This http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/ is my favourite web site for comparing energy prices. Look in particular at the column marked "Pence per kWh (after boiler efficiency)".

Cardew

Silent_Dancer wrote: »

1. Oil is about 50% more expensive than gas but is in most circumstances the lowest cost off mains fuel.

That was a couple of months ago!! With the recent dramatic drop in oil prices, CH Oil currently is marginally cheaper than most mains gas tariffs.


People are quoting prices of about 33p/litre and a litre is just over 10kWh. so 3.3p/kWh and no Daily Standing Charge to pay.


That said oil prices are volatile and could just as easily dramatically increase.

iris

I have just paid 32.75p per litre (excl. VAT).

Silent_Dancer

iris wrote: »

I have just paid 32.75p per litre (excl. VAT).

That's good given we are in the middle of a cold snap.

iris

Silent_Dancer wrote: »

That's good given we are in the middle of a cold snap.

We ordered via BoilerJuice last weekend and they delivered on Wednesday. We thought the price was excellent and so was the delivery.


First time we have used BoilerJuice, but will definitely use them again.

Cardew

iris wrote: »

I have just paid 32.75p per litre (excl. VAT).

It is a pity private individuals, unlike gas/electricity companies, cannot fix contracts now for the next few years.;)

captainhindsight_2

If you need a new heating system, you won't be looking at oil you will be looking at biomass or heat pumps by far the cheapest off grid solutions.

snowscreamer

We had a rusty leaking old oil tank replaced and it cost us just over £1000. That was for providing and installing new tank, redirecting the feed to our new boiler, and taking away the old tank. We went for a steel single skinned tank 1360 litres. You may find if the current site is not up to new regulations it might cost a bit more to remedy this, there seem to be a lot of regulations around oil tank sites!

Would recommend the company we used but I see you are based in Hertfordshire which is probably a bit too far (they are based in Arundel, West Sussex).