How do I check for oil leaks?

Teerah

Hi all,

just wondering how I can check if there are any leaks in our system. Oil seems to run out very quickly even though we have been much more careful with it. The reason I suspect a leak is that our house was a newbuild 5 years ago and approx 2 years after we bought there was an obvious oil leak near the boiler house which the developers fixed that same day. I am now wondering if it was indeed fixed or if there may be problems elsewhere in the system. Is this easy to check or is it simply a case of I should be able to smell it if it was leaking??

Thanks

Capt_Slog

I'd be very surprised if you had a significant leak and couldn't smell it, that stuff does stink!

Do you have a lot of the piping running underground? and if so, how deep?
It's worth doing a bit of excavation if you're able and think it might be leaking. If it's getting into the ground and/or water table you could be liable for pollution and paying for the remediation of the site.

TankMaster

Capt_Slog wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if you had a significant leak and couldn't smell it, that stuff does stink!

Indeed, it gives off a distinctive odour. Aside from that if you do have an oil leak, then on a damp day you'd expect to find puddles with a rainbow sheen and irrespective of the weather, dead grass in the area where the oil line runs.

If you haven't had you boiler serviced recently, I'd suggest getting that done before investigating for any leaks. Efficiency does deteriorate annually. If you have had your boiler serviced, call the manufacturer with details of your oil consumption, how often you run your heating and details of you house size and they should be able to assist.

Regards

TM