Does anyone understand oil heating?

donnalou

I've been told to put a post in this section,As I'm at a complete loss. I have no gas only electric and oil filled radiators. I have an oil tank in the garden.In my kitchen I have an oil burner, That is somehow plugged into the electric.It has an on/off switch and a dial with min/max one for heating and one for water.This is on all day.Does anyone know if this is burning oil or using Electricity? There is no other immersion heater or anything else. I think the system is obout 10/12 years old. As anyone ever heard of this?

YorkshireBoy

A quick google search for "oil central heating" has returned 668,000 results.

I've carefully selected one (OK then, it was the second one on the list) for you to read...

http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/oilheating.htm

You may be getting a little confused when you say "oil-filled radiators". The boiler burns the oil to heat the water, ie the oil is doing what the gas does in a conventional system.

Does this help?

ginger_nuts

This sounds like an oil heating system .
It will use a small amount of electric( about the same amount as a fridge ) to burn the oil ,but otherwise its an oil system . your radiators are filled with water ( not oil ).
Do you no when it was last serviced ? With the price of oil it may be worth geting a service to help save oil .Has the oil tank in the garden got a fuel gage .If not use an old brush handle to dip the tank and see how much you have .

donnalou

Thanks for you help It looks like we have an Oil-fired combination boiler,but without a electronic timer or thermostat on the wall. Which is quite annoying it means we have our heating on all day or come home to a cold house in the evening. Do you think the boiler only burns oil when the hot tap or radiator is on? I'm sorry for being so Blonde but this country living is all new to me.

YorkshireBoy

I'm no expert, and I'd be guessing if I said that it's just like gas. ie there's a pilot burner on all the time. So, from my earlier weblink...

"For more information on oil central heating systems, you may wish to look at the Oftec web site, which includes a useful Technical Information Sheet 140 on domestic heating."

...and the website for the Oil Firing Technical Association is...

http://www.oftec.co.uk/

ginger_nuts

I would guess the boiler would burn oil as soon as the boiler is turned on . The more radiators you have on the more oil you will use .But DONT go around turning off the raadiators to save oil ,unless you live in a castle you wont notice any savings but you will feel the cold . I you want to save oil & money invest in a timer and a regular service . This could be the site to find the cost off servicing an oil boiler in your area

donnalou

Do you think the boiler only burns oil when the hot tap or radiator is on? As the boiler its self it switched on 24/7

plumb1_2

donnalou wrote:

Do you think the boiler only burns oil when the hot tap or radiator is on? As the boiler its self it switched on 24/7

it will only use fuel/oil when there is a demand for either water or heating,it wont have a pilot light burning away,it will be HT electronic ignition.

YorkshireBoy

donnalou wrote:

Do you think the boiler only burns oil when the hot tap or radiator is on? As the boiler its self it switched on 24/7

No offence Donna, but we've both said "we'd be guessing" if we tried to answer your question. Now your asking us if we "think the boiler...."?

I'm sorry, but I really don't know the answer to your question, and that's why I did the next best thing and pointed you to "the experts" in my earlier post.

I suggest you check out the websites above, and give them a ring tomorrow morning. The phone number's on the OFTEC homepage.

paul_h

donnalou wrote:

Thanks for you help It looks like we have an Oil-fired combination boiler,but without a electronic timer or thermostat on the wall. Which is quite annoying it means we have our heating on all day or come home to a cold house in the evening. Do you think the boiler only burns oil when the hot tap or radiator is on? I'm sorry for being so Blonde but this country living is all new to me.

It depends if you have a combi boiler - if you have a combi boiler you wont have a hot water cylinder (you know, the big copper thing in the airing cupboard). A combi boiler heats the water when you turn the tap on.

A standard boiler system heats the water in the hot water cylinder which you then draw off as required, and there is usually a room thermostat to control the boiler.

Assuming you have a combi boiler, most combi installations are fitted with thermostatic radiator valves. Does each of your radiators have a valve with a dial marked with numbers 1-6 ? If so, these are thermostatic valves - the numbers relate to the room temperature and the radiator will turn on and off as necessary to maintain the temperature set on the valve. Each increase of 1 on the valve corresponds to a 3 degree rise in room temperature. These systems usually have no room thermostat. The boiler will strike up when one of the radiator valves opens up (when the temperature in that room is too low) and flow is detected.

As for the timer, have a good look at you boiler - the timer and hot water/central heating selection is often integrated into the boiler on these newer combi boilers.

Make sure you get the boiler serviced every year, the efficiency of oil boilers deteriorates rapidly as the filters and pressure jet clog up.


Hope this helps, but the links posted earlier will provide some useful information too.

donnalou

Thanks Paul, Thats exactly what I have. The radiators do have Thermostat vavles, and there is no room themostat, But there is defiantly not a timer. The boiler is amount 10/12 years old though.