Anyone cutting back on the oil central heating usage?

motorguy

qwert_yuiop said:

Wastage level of 10% plus pipe losses seems a fair proportion in terms of cost at today’s prices. As you said at the start, turn the thing off. As hard core money savers, most people
on here have probably doing that for years.

If anyone is still running a non condensing boiler then they'd be wise to look at replacing it, but i dont know what percentage still would be.  Theres grants available, depending on age and income.  I helped my folks get theirs replaced a couple of years back and that was grant aided.  They also got a room thermostat installed, so no more "heat on, an hour later, oh its too hot.  Heat off, an hour later, oh its too cold". cycle which in hindsight was timely.  A couple of older family friends are changing theirs now too. 

I dont even think the non-condensing boilers can be legally installed any more and i dont think they're made new so any worn out old type ones are being replaced with condensing boilers anyway.

But yes over and above that, theres money to be saved in dropping the room temp by a couple of degrees, only heating the rooms needed, wearing a jumper, etc.  

I definitely think this winter is going to be very tough and very expensive for most.  We as a country have had relatively cheap energy and low interest rates for a very long time now and have become used to it and complacent.

qwert_yuiop

 relatively cheap energy and low interest rates for a very long time now and have become used to it and complacent.

Definitely. Enormous vehicles are everywhere these days, and it must be costing £200 and more to fill the tank.

qwert_yuiop

The Financial Times last week apparently had a tip on how to beat fuel price rises - invest in shell and bp shares. Fine advice if you’re not struggling and have loads of savings. 

and since then, Shell is up around 20%. Some people are doing well from others’ misfortune.

kah22

Yes I'm cutting back.  To be honest I can only see the price rising but I'm aiming to buy some in the middle of June as oil generally dips a little during hot weather. Though this year so far 🥶

kah22

Ticked said:

We fitted a Hive thermostat in the hall and thermostatic radiator valves in the rest of the rooms. Now that everything is set we just leave it alone and the system is doing a good job. Using circa 1000 litres annually, 3 bed detached in windy location. 

How do you find Hive - worth the outlay ?

Ticked

kah22 said:

Ticked said:

We fitted a Hive thermostat in the hall and thermostatic radiator valves in the rest of the rooms. Now that everything is set we just leave it alone and the system is doing a good job. Using circa 1000 litres annually, 3 bed detached in windy location. 

How do you find Hive - worth the outlay ?

That’s a good question. From the handiness point of view, it’s very good. For some years I had a home brew system for turning the boiler on and off from my phone but that was all it did. The Hive app allows on/off, temperature and time adjust and setting. We experimented with various sitings of the Hive thermostat, eventually settled on 16C in the hallway. The rest of the house is controlled with individual thermostatic radiator valves.
As we only have a two pipe system, we’re unable to use Hive to control the hot water. That benefit is wasted for us. 

Overall, I like the Hive, yes it was expensive but I wouldn’t want to go back to the home made system!