new to oil please help!

jen_jen_2

oops yes does require electricity to work (dont know how - think its just the timer) the electricity was off yesterday and the timer was 2hrs behind.

thanks mah jong, off to look at screwfix catalogue.

amd

donnalou,

First - Oil boilers need to be wired for electricity in order to pump the oil and create a spark. Other than that they use no electricity - so that can't be the source of your increased bills. If you have a pumped heating system then the pump will use electricity - but about a lightbulbs worth (ish)!

Second - you said in your first post you had 'oil filled radiators' - check to make sure. Are they plumbed in or are they wired to electric sockets? If they are electric this would account for your increased electric usage.

Third - do you have a hot water storage tank? Sounds like your oil boiler may be plumbed for instant water heating hence no timer or thermostat - therefore it will only heat what your need - economic if you have no tank - or greedy if it's constantly topping up a tank of water which you may or may not need.

Jen-Jen: Regarding oil consumption - a boiler often has a thermostat set to run at a certain temperature - think of your iron clicking on and off while in use - (look inside the cover if you can, there may be a min/max or setting you can change). The more load you put on the system (ie hot water / heating / turning up the radiator valves) the more oil will be used to maintain that temperature. Therefore the lower you set your radiators / thermostats or timers the less you will use.

We keep our boiler on its lowest setting - that way even with all radiators turned on full they never get hot enough to burn the kids! (Unlike my mother's, whose new gas boiler is so fierce the rads are scalding (no thermo valves on her old system yet)

Hope this clarifies things a bit...

ScottyB_2

We've just added this handy guide to our website which all existing and new home heating oil consumers should find useful:

http://www.oilpricecheck.co.uk/buyingoil.htm

Hope this helps

jen_jen_2

thanks amd, that is very helpful