New house with Oil Tank- any tips?

Hippyhop

Hello,
We are just about to move and we will have an oil tank, I’ve never had oil before, any tips or things we should consider?
Thanks
Rachel

dogshome

Welcome to Oil Fired heating and water
Ordering Oil
Make a list of local suppliers, ideally 4 or 5, and phone all of them on the day for their price. It's not unusual for them to ask you to phone back if you find a cheaper price - So haggle
Do this for every order, the cheapest for your first order will probably not be the next time.


Never, never sign up for an automatic delivery service, this makes you a captive customer and you'll be paying top dollar


The cost of oil is very volatile, but for heating oil it is always cheaper in July than in Winter months
Vital the boiler has an annual service, and for obvious reasons, this is best done in summer

G_M

If you change the tank (is it in good condition?), replace it with the biggest you can afford /fit into the space.

* minimises top-ups (mine is 2500 litres which lasts about a year)
* allows you to take advantage of price drops - eg when tank is half full. With a small tank you basically have to top up regularly whenever the level drops with little scope to time your top ups.

Make sure you can relatively accurately read the oil level.

* Is there a glass vieweing window? providing it does not get jammed these are accurate
* electronic wireless monitor? Depending how well set up these can be accurate or not- so check
* but I find the simplest way is a long bamboo pole. I marked the top after the tank was filled so can see where 'max' is. Then marked the half-way point, and quarters, and the bottom eigths. No working parts to go wrong!

Hippyhop

Thank you SO much for these tips, we are off to view the house tomorrow and I will take a good look at the tank and whether it has any gauges. Thank you

Davesnave

dogshome wrote: »

The cost of oil is very volatile, but for heating oil it is always cheaper in July than in Winter months

While this is usually true, I notice that today's price is fractionally below July's!


Try to find out if it's a bunded tank, which is better than a single-skin tank, and also how old it is.


Personally, I'd not trust a single-skin plastic tank that had been in bright sunshine for >10 years. Bunded tanks have a tank within a tank and are safer.

Niv

Don't let the oil level get very low as you risk getting air / sludge in the system.

FabFifty

Look around for a local heating oil syndicate (there are some charity-run ones out there without a membership fee or similar), which should be able to negotiate a much cheaper price per litre.