Skint please advise

2000george

We moved into our new home back in the begining of Dec. Absolutely love the place (apart from the cost). The village we have moved to does not have gas and already had a oil tank as opposed to the storage heaters. My problem is since we have live hear (barley 5 months) we have used 1500L of oil and im sure as you are aware is not cheap at the min. I have paid out £674.50 in less than 5 months for heating and water alone. We have a combi boiler and there is only me lives here Mon to Fri as husband works away during the week. I have the heating and water turned on for 1 hour in a morning and a few hours (no more than 4) on a evening. I live in a chalet bungalow and the heating is turned off in the rooms that I do not use. Please can anyone advise if this is out of the ordinary and if so what route or action to take (as im sat here now in a fleece dressing gown with a delux fleece blanket over me (attractive I know lol)) I am still freezing.
Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Emma X

owned_by_2_Siamese

Hi - glad you love your new home! I'm also beyond the mains - and also on oil.... 1500l for 4 months is not unheard off! Oil can be really expensive (and its getting worse) Couple of things that might help:
1) When was your boiler last serviced - if it was more than a year get it done asap. The efficiency of oil is badly affected if the boiler (and in particular the burning nozzle) isnt replaced/serviced every year) - It will make a difference! Expect to pay about £75 including parts for a replacement nozzle/service
2) Insulation/ other sources of heating - if you have a wood stove/open fire, we findd it cheaper to have that running - It provides a background heat that means the oil heating doesnt have to work so hard - we spend about £100 on wood and £150 on coal to last us through the 'winter' - but easily save more than this on oil use. Check your insulation in the loft! couple of hundred quid to top up - and you will notice the benefit!.

We have also got used to running the heating with the room stat on 18 - its cool - not cold - but tkes getting used to!

Finally you can go on a monthly plan with some suppliers - but beware tyou cant then shop around for the cheapest oil when you need it. Some suppliers here will let you spread a delivery - if you sign up for a year....

Good luck !