Prime Minister Truss announces help for heating oil

Spoonie_Turtle

Francis63 said:

I've no income at the moment, and not entitled to any benefits, just living off savings until they're gone.

Off topic but this is alarming to read - please, once your savings reach £16,000 or below, check entitlement to Universal Credit.  People often make the mistake of thinking they have to have no savings to qualify for help which is certainly not the case.

dunstonh

comeandgo said:

I’m waiting on a heating engineer to come and repair the water heating part of my oil boiler.  I’m having to use the immersion and it is using around 8 to 12 extra units a day, not a cheap way to heat water.

That is enormously high.   If you had a 125 litre tank and you want to take the water from 10c to 65c for the whole 125 litres (i.e. not previously warmed up) then that would be about 8kW over 1 hour.

8-12 Kwh per day suggests your tank has little or no lagging or your temperature is set to high or you are keeping the immersion turned on constantly (some people have no control/timer installed and forget to turn it off - fitting a control unit would help along with improved lagging)

Francis63

Still no news.

If we could just be told that anyone who buys their heating oil for the year now will get any payment restrospectively then I can go ahead and buy it.

Simple question requiring a simple answer - shouldn't take Prime Minister Truss long to make a decision.

comeandgo

dunstonh said:

comeandgo said:

I’m waiting on a heating engineer to come and repair the water heating part of my oil boiler.  I’m having to use the immersion and it is using around 8 to 12 extra units a day, not a cheap way to heat water.

That is enormously high.   If you had a 125 litre tank and you want to take the water from 10c to 65c for the whole 125 litres (i.e. not previously warmed up) then that would be about 8kW over 1 hour.

8-12 Kwh per day suggests your tank has little or no lagging or your temperature is set to high or you are keeping the immersion turned on constantly (some people have no control/timer installed and forget to turn it off - fitting a control unit would help along with improved lagging)

Our tank is enclosed in whatever it is as lagging.  It is on for an hour or less a day.  The water is nearly boiling but I’ve no idea how to reduce it as can’t see any temp control dials.

Apodemus

dunstonh said:

comeandgo said:

I’m waiting on a heating engineer to come and repair the water heating part of my oil boiler.  I’m having to use the immersion and it is using around 8 to 12 extra units a day, not a cheap way to heat water.

That is enormously high.   If you had a 125 litre tank and you want to take the water from 10c to 65c for the whole 125 litres (i.e. not previously warmed up) then that would be about 8kW over 1 hour.

8-12 Kwh per day suggests your tank has little or no lagging or your temperature is set to high or you are keeping the immersion turned on constantly (some people have no control/timer installed and forget to turn it off - fitting a control unit would help along with improved lagging)

I've not redone the maths, but if the tank was 210 litres (which is what mine is) and the incoming water was 6C (as mine is at present - it will drop to 3 or 4C in winter), then the 8-12kWh starts to look more realistic.

OP, the immersion is probably set at 60C, which will feel very hot and can be adjusted down by your heating engineer when he comes back if you ask him.  It's not difficult to do, but gets you close to high current electrics, so is perhaps not something that you want to tackle yourself, unless you are confident wih electrics.  Alternatively, the thermostat may be an old-style one which has failed - again you should get this checked by your heating engineer.  Older thermostats can fail, leaving the heating element powered up, which can lead to the water boiling in the tank - this is dangerous and should be checked.  Newer thermostats are fail-safe, so that no heating happens once it fails.

QrizB

comeandgo said:

Our tank is enclosed in whatever it is as lagging.  It is on for an hour or less a day.  The water is nearly boiling but I’ve no idea how to reduce it as can’t see any temp control dials.

If you have a normal 3kW immersion and it's on for less than an hour a day, there's no way for it to be using an extra 8-12 units of electricity.

What exactly makes you think it's the immersion using the power?

NedS

Francis63 said:

Still no news.

If we could just be told that anyone who buys their heating oil for the year now will get any payment restrospectively then I can go ahead and buy it.

Simple question requiring a simple answer - shouldn't take Prime Minister Truss long to make a decision.

As the new energy price cap operates from 1st October, and the Prime Minister pledged equivalent support, I wouldn't expect any support offered to take effect before 1st October (or to be backdated to before that date) so I wouldn't expect any support if you need to fill up now.

The price (here, at least) has actually dropped this week. The current price already looks at or below the "equivalent support" being offered to those on gas. I'm not expecting much support at current pricing levels, but if the price of oil were to increase substantially from here, then it is reassuring to know we may receive some help.

As is apparent from previous discussions on the thread, there are no easy answers to implementing equivalent support for heating oil users and it is likely to take some time to get it right. At current pricing levels, I see no reason for the Government to rush through any announcement - better to get it right.

comeandgo

Rdwill said:

8 to 12 units a day.

Blimey are you bathing everyday or does your tank have no insulation?

I have an immersun and regularly check the units put into the tank by it these average between 3 and 4 a day.  

Household is 2 adults and a teenager doing normal stuff, I would caveat the shower is electric.

We were 7 adults and a busy kitchen, it’s usually oil that heats the water and we do have everything insulated or else we would have a very warm house with heat leakage from the water tank.

comeandgo

QrizB said:

comeandgo said:

Our tank is enclosed in whatever it is as lagging.  It is on for an hour or less a day.  The water is nearly boiling but I’ve no idea how to reduce it as can’t see any temp control dials.

If you have a normal 3kW immersion and it's on for less than an hour a day, there's no way for it to be using an extra 8-12 units of electricity.

What exactly makes you think it's the immersion using the power?

Because I check my electricity daily and it’s only since I had to use it my electric units have risen from around 8 a day to 18 to 20 a day.  We were 7 adults and a fully functioning kitchen so I was happy with only an hour giving me enough hot water but not happy with the cost.

QrizB

comeandgo said:

QrizB said:

comeandgo said:

Our tank is enclosed in whatever it is as lagging.  It is on for an hour or less a day.  The water is nearly boiling but I’ve no idea how to reduce it as can’t see any temp control dials.

If you have a normal 3kW immersion and it's on for less than an hour a day, there's no way for it to be using an extra 8-12 units of electricity.

What exactly makes you think it's the immersion using the power?

Because I check my electricity daily and it’s only since I had to use it my electric units have risen from around 8 a day to 18 to 20 a day.  We were 7 adults and a fully functioning kitchen so I was happy with only an hour giving me enough hot water but not happy with the cost.

Whatever is using the extra electricity, it isn't the immersion heater *unless* you've got an unusual heating system with a 10kW immersion heater.

What is the rating marked on your immersion heater? Does it have a regular 13A fused spur on a 12A MCB or is it different?