Oil - Myths and real savings?

magnum9 · 17 March 2005 at 3:48PM

As an oil heating user, one big bill each year is the oil - the costs are now up significantly.

Point is, over the years I have heard so many tips that I wonder which is a myth and which is genuine:

1. "It costs more to run your boiler if you set the temp "too low" "

I run mine on the min setting, but the engineer tells me i'd use less if i turned it up! He should know, but i can't get my head around the idea. Who is right?

2. "It costs no more to run the boiler all day than at morning and evenings only".

There may be some merit in this - running mine on low am to pm instead of switching off in the daytime but again i struggle to see as it must surely cost more?

3. "Condensing boilers are NO MORE EFFICIENT if run on oil than non condensing boilers!!!!!"

Again, all the boiler engineers i speak to say gas condensing ones work and save money but oil fired condensing boilers are no more efficient than their current non condensing ones.

I sure as heck am confused - seeing efficiency % up to 97% for condensing oil fired boilers I think "surely" they will save a packet compared to non-condensing oil boilers?

Any answers to blow the myths away?

Indeed, any tips for what really matters - screwing down my oil consumption whilst keeping my tootsies nice and warm?

LOL!

Cheers!

oxter · 30 March 2005 at 2:17PM

Sorry to see you've had no replies to this as my daughter would love to know the answers too. I've heard that a new oil fired boiler would be much more efficient than her existing one - estimated to be 12 years old. But if that's true, she'd wonder how long it would take to save enough to cover the installation cost. Any ideas?

Oxter

Cardew · 30 March 2005 at 11:06PM

There is an optimum temperature for every boiler when it is operating at its greatest efficiency - you need to look at your documentation or contact the manufacturer. It is normally at a fairly high temperature; but of course the higher the temperature, the greater the losses in the house.

My gut feeling is that there won't be a huge difference in overall running costs whatever temperature you set in the mid range.

On savings with a replacement boiler, you have asked a 'how long is a piece of string question'. There are so many factors to consider - effeciency of current boiler - amount of oil used etc.

Considering the huge cost to buy and fit a boiler, you will need considerable savings just to cover the cost of borrowing(or loss of interest) the capital.

analyst_2 · 7 April 2005 at 5:35PM

OK, I'm no expert, but have acquired a bit of knowledge about efficient combustion (did a post-grad diploma in air pollution control long time back)

Taking Magnum's points:

"It costs more to run your boiler if you set the temp "too low"

- its all about creating turbulence to drag in more oxygen and therefore give more efficient combustion. A "racing" burner will mix air better and, thermal unit-per-thermal unit of output, burn more efficiently than a sluggish one on tickover.

This means it will chuck out greater heat and then shut down until the system calls for more, whereas the low setting means the burner is permanently running (inefficiently) to catch up. Does that figure?

"It costs no more to run the boiler all day than at morning and evenings only".

Probably a fine balance here. Its all about getting the structure of the building warm and using it to reflect the heat back in, rather than having to heat it all up from scratch in the evening. My guess is that a little background heat during the day in the coldest weather would work better but not so in the milder periods.

Depends on lots of factors, not least how well insulated and draught free your house is in the first place. But remember, heat flows rather like water, the greater the gradient between high (inside) and low (outside) the faster the flow.

"Condensing boilers are NO MORE EFFICIENT if run on oil than non condensing boilers!!!!!"

Look up the figures for yourself. Non-condensing oil fired boilers have become so efficient these days that there is little difference. I'm not denying there's actually a few % points between them, but the difference is so small it would probably take a lifetime to save the higher initial boiler price in oil burning.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to criticise my opinions if you have better knowledge.

magnum9 · 27 April 2005 at 11:43AM

thanks for the replies - it is so long since i posted, and i had begun to become a little dissillusioned that no one else found these concerns of interest.

I take on board what analyst says, but still think there must be a way to get a definative answer to some of these questions - it all seems so subjective when anyone gives an answer. Take condensing boilers for instance - they are supposed to be the greenest/dogs bollo*cks of boilers - YES for gas, but with oil everyone sharpens their breath, sucks, then says.."ahh,..that depends..."

I think analyst has come the closest to give me any answers that i am likely to get - but if someone can add further comment I'd appreciate it.

One other thing too;

Is is cheaper to use oil fired boiler than an immersion heater for hot water in summer months - this used to be so but eith oil costing more than a glass of wine for a sultan of brunai i somehow doubt this is still so.

littlereddevil · 27 April 2005 at 11:58AM

What analyst says is exactly what my service guy told me. He said I had mine set too low and it was costing me more.
I find it cheaper heating water with oil than electricity although as you say oil is getting very expensive

mah_jong · 2 May 2005 at 8:06PM

I was told never to use my immersion after getting the oil central heating, far cheaper by oil.
To be honest my heating costs plummeted after the oil was put in...even if it is on the way up ( I think there was a hike in leccy price too!).

Ma

Altarf · 2 May 2005 at 9:22PM

magnum9 wrote:

I wonder which is a myth and which is genuine:

2. "It costs no more to run the boiler all day than at morning and evenings only".

I don't know about whether it costs more or not (but I have not seen a increase in the bills), but a few years ago I changed my simple room thermostat for a programmable one. This allows you to set different temperatures at different points in the day.

I had found that with a simple thermostat, with a time controller switching on in the mornings and evenings, if there had been a cold snap, the boiler would be firing all evening trying to bring the house up to temperature.

Now with the programmable thermostat, it is set for a warm temperature during the morning and evening, and a lower (but not off) temperature during the day and night. If there is a cold snap during the day the house doesn't get too cold, so it still warms up quickly in the evening.

For moneysaving, a simple press of a button will tell the system that you are out for the evening or away for a specified number of days, and to drop down to the standby temperature. It even works out what time it needs to turn the heating on (and varies this day by day) so that it is at the correct temperature for the time you set it (i.e. it is 20c at 7.00am, not turns itself on at 7.00am) so it doesn't turn on too early in the morning.

Oil - Myths and real savings?

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