Oil central heating

have_faith

Hello! 
I currently have an offer accepted on a house which has oil central heating with storage tank in the garden, which is entirely new to me and I am completely clueless about as only ever had mains gas. Since mentioning this to family they have warned us that this could be a problem and they seem quite concerned about it.
The main concern seems to be with the potential costs involved and how we will be more than double our current costs, as well as there being ongoing regular and expensive maintenence?
The other concern is that we will have to get oil delivered every 2-3 weeks and how much of an inconvenience this is - I suspect this is not true, but how long on average do you go between deliveries (I'm assuming this varies just trying to get a rough idea really). 
The safety aspect - is there a safety a concern? I can't see much about this online but is having a huge tank of oil in your garden a cause for concern? 
Would really appreciate any pearls of wisdom anyone has to spare! 
Thank you

[Deleted User]

If you need to top up oil every two to three weeks, then the tank must be the size of a coke can.  Once of twice a year is more like it.

As long as you're not too flicking cigarette butts into it, it's perfectly safe.

JGB1955

My son has oil fired central heating - he gets the tank filled up annually at a cost of about £600.  If you fill it up in the summer it should be considerably cheaper than mid-winter. No safety concerns.

dunstonh

Since mentioning this to family they have warned us that this could be a problem and they seem quite concerned about it.

Can we assume that none of them have oil?   There is absolutely no reason to be concerned.  How do you think rural properties manage it?

The main concern seems to be with the potential costs involved and how we will be more than double our current costs, 

What makes you think it will be double your current costs?  Are you doubling your house size?

s, as well as there being ongoing regular and expensive maintenence?

Again, what makes you think that?    Oil boilers are very similar to gas boilers and require a similar maintenance standard and at the same cost. 
If you have a plastic bunded tank then it will likely last far longer than the time you live in the property.  If you have an old single skinned metal tank then you may need to replace it with a modern one at some point.  That isn't expensive if you meet modern safety standards.  it can be a bit more expensive if you need the tank to be moved.  If its pretty much like for like replacement of the tank then it's under £1000.   Indeed, a lot of people over the last year have replaced their tanks with a larger one or had a second one installed as oil was so cheap that it was cheaper, in the long run, to have a larger or second tank put in and fill it with cheap oil.

The other concern is that we will have to get oil delivered every 2-3 weeks and how much of an inconvenience this is - I suspect this is not true,

We have a tank that is too small for the size of the house. I suspect it goes back to when the servants quarters had the heating and hot water controlled by a woodburner and the rest of the house was using oil fired heating and open fires and therefore didn't use as much.  Plus, it would have originally been a rectangle metal tank then and not the bunded vertical cylinder it is now.    We use about 2800 litres a year which is much higher than the average.   We have to get it filled up 4 times a year.   It tends to be October, early December, late January, late March.     If you have a tank that needs filling up every 2-3 weeks then it must be the size of a teapot. 
Despite our current property being a much larger late medieval with victorian addons and with poor quality insulation, our oil use costs less than the gas bill we had before in a smaller modern well-insultated property.

The safety aspect - is there a safety a concern?

no more than any alternative.

 I can't see much about this online but is having a huge tank of oil in your garden a cause for concern? 

no.

The bottom line is that the only real concern you should have is learning how much oil you use and how much you have at any time.   That will take some time.   We use an Apollo sonic meter.  The 10 bar version not the smart screen version (tried that and it was not very good).  When it drops to 4 bars, we order 700 litres.

Over time, We have worked out how much each bar represents. So, we can order the appropriate amount.   As a fallback option, we also have an old broom handle where we have marked levels on it see we can do it manually if required.  In reality, we have never had to fall back to that method but it was handy to have it available if needed.    Some people don't have oil monitors and only use the cane method.    it doesn't matter as long as you have a method to read what you have and know from that, how much you need to order.

If the vendor doesn't have an apollo meter already then get one.   Then combine your learning and a cane/stick with markings.  i.e. see how many bars it is at and measure the depth and note the two.  Then order a complete refill.   The delivery driver will tell you how much you have filled up.  That gives your your first learning point.  i.e.  x bars on meter = y litres to order.   Or x cm on the stick = y litres to order.     The time after that, use a different number of bars or cm on in the stick and order another fill up and record that. 
I would recommend you use a local oil company for your first couple of fill ups.  Maybe an independent if you can.  You can tell them that you don't know how much is needed and it's your first time using oil and you dont know how much you need.  You will almost certainly find them really helpful and understanding to your lack of knowledge on how much you need.     They will be more expensive than alternative methods but that cost is worth the help it will give you.   Once you know your meter/stick readings you can then move to order x number of litres from cheaper sources if you wish.

comeandgo

As for having a huge tank of oil in your garden, you should have insurance cover in case it leaks or splits and you are left with contaminated land that needs to be decontaminated.

RG2015

We moved 18 months ago to a house with oil fired central heating  and have had no problems. Our floor area is 222 sq m and our consumption from Jan to Dec this year was 1,500 L at a cost of £700.

Oil prices can be very volatile and covid saw the price drop from 50p per L in May 2019 to 21p per L in May 2020. The Boilerjuice website is good for research although we buy from a trusted local company after using the Boilerjuice price to negotiate a better price. 

https://www.boilerjuice.com/heating-oil-prices/

Rodders53

How long is a piece of string?
Every 2-3 weeks for oil delivery is unlikely:  Oil suppliers have a delivery minimum of 500 litres of oil (which for heating is usually kerosene).  That's over 5,000 kWh of energy (5 MWh) and that's, roughly, the same as 447 cubic metres (the meter units) of natural gas, and 5000 units of electricity!  (Some  gas meters are 100s of cubic feet) Most homes would be going some to use oil or gas or electric at that rate every 2-3 weeks?

It is cheaper to fill in larger quantities than the minimum (the price decrements at 1000 litres and on each extra 500 l; depending on the supplier, but it's often fractions of pennies per litre.  Summer vs winter price is based on demand so the ideal time to order.  
Most tanks have electronic wireless level gauges (Kingspan Watchman is one brand).  Some have 'sight gauge pipes'.  Others just use a dip stick to estimate the level of oil in the tank.  You do need to monitor the oil level regularly (in winter especially) as delivery urgency affects price too, so never let the tank get too low when heating is needed!
Access to the house could mean that delivery tankers have problems in certain weather conditions.

Natural gas is what price? say around 3.5p per kWh and oil works out around the same cost, currently.  Prices for both do vary though.  Do ask the current owner how often they top up the tank, and how many litres they use.  Check if there's an 'oil club' the current owner uses or which suppliers they regularly use if not.
http://www.mychieveley.co.uk/chieveley-oil-club is  an example village club, with oil price history.   Avoid a 'monitored tank' where the oil supplier fills when they deem you need oil, they tie you in and may not give best value for money.  The best price on the day will often vary from one supplier to another.  (Just put cash aside monthly for the oil bills?).

Servicing a gas boiler is not expensive, and only very slightly more than gas (due to needing the burner jet and flexible oil pipes replacing regularly).  Most other heating parts are the same with gas or oil.

We have a 1225 litre double-skinned (bunded) tank (wish I'd gone bigger when I had to replace the 1300 l single skinned one that was letting water in, just to get more oil in when it's cheap).  Over the 4 years we've lived with oil we average around 1400 litres, costing £600 inc vat,  per annum.  (But we have paid between 31.3 p and 47.5 p a litre, plus 5% vat.  I missed the really cheap oil this summer - 25p or maybe less).  In the cold winter months my gauge drops 1/10 in around 3 weeks. 

When oil prices are high there is some risk of toe-rags stealing it, they say.

In your situation you may be wise to get an Oftec qualified technician to give the oil tank installation and the boiler a thorough 'once over' inspection and report.  That will allow you to budget for any imminent work needed?  Also, check if the owner is going to want payment for the oil in the tank on completion and that there will be a good few weeks, if not months worth left in it.  Some do.

dunstonh

 Also, check if the owner is going to want payment for the oil in the tank on completion and that there will be a good few weeks, if not months worth left in it.  Some do.

And on that point, do not trust the vendor.   We didn't pay for oil when we moved to our place but the vendor said there was several months of oil in the tank.      He lied.  The monitor was set to the wrong height and there was less than 1 bar left in December.   

JudgeDekker

Oil isn't a problem. It's very common in the countryside, and filling up is no bother. I'm surprised by some of the consumption figures given above, though: My oil usage is double those, and therefore my bill is double. Maybe I just like a warmer house. My total spend in this oil-powered house is about the same as when I lived in a house of similar size and vintage in the city which had gas central heating, ie switching to oil didn't incur any extra costs. I wouldn't agree to pay anything for oil in the tank when you complete. The vendor can't take it with them. If you're buying a new tank get a bunded one - in my personal opinion a single-skinned one might be a little on the environmentally reckless side, because an oil spillage is very damaging to the surrounding soil.

J_B

Our friends have oil heating - their cat got run over - have your family told you about this risk?

matelodave

J_B said:

Our friends have oil heating - their cat got run over - have your family told you about this risk?

Similar situation with out neighbour, never had a problem with their oil tank or boiler but they've managed to lose two cats to traffic