Where is heating oil used?

[IHateWasps]

Stupid question but I keep seeing people talking on MN about heating oil and I've never know anyone who has this system. Is it mainly in rural areas? Also how long does a tank last you? Is this system more expensive?

Are your tanks above or below ground
How long does it take to sort out a delivery ?
How long does it take to fill a tank
( relative to it's size)
Do you have to be in when the oil is delivered
Can nighbours club together and get a discount
Is theft a issue

Our tank is above ground.
Delivery is very quick and we have a meter reader plugged in in the kitchen so we know how we are doing.
We don't have to be in for delivery, so no idea how long it takes to fill a tank.
You can shop around different companies in our area for prices if you want.
Some tanks have locks I believe.

Oil fired central heating is still a pretty widespread source of home heating in Northern Ireland. Gas heating is really only building momentum in the last decade or so. It’s isnt possible to have gas in many places in Northern Ireland. They’ve literally only started to install the gas infrastructure in my town this year which isn’t yet completed.

My oil tank is 1000L. I get 500L about 4 times a year at a cost of about £200 a time so £65ish a month to heat radiators and water in my 3 bed terrace.

A 500L delivery takes around 10 minutes to fill.

@Didiplanthis

Rural Sussex 50 miles from London. No mains gas in my surrounding area, no connection to sewer system either. Electricity but frequent big power cuts as standard !!

Exactly this ! Sounds like we live in the same area

@PickAChew seems ironic that most of East Yorks doesn’t have mains gas when it comes ashore at Easington (or used to).
My family home in Hedon was on the mains.

@thenightsky I used to live in Wootton. We had a gas fired boiler. Also had a wood burner for extra heat in winter though.

We have oil. We are in south-central England. No gas in our village. We belong to a local syndicate that buys at cheaper prices.

Bedfordshire....top up 2 x a year around £600 quid.

We used to use it in our last house which was in Suffolk. I was quite surprised how cheap it worked out although that might have been because the house was very well insulated. I actually preferred it to the mains gas we have now as I could time topping up the oil tank when prices fell. It was a bit of a shock how much higher our heating bills were when we moved.

Here in Cornwall many villages don't have main gas, and oil is an option. Some are a significant size! Other options are calor gas, modern new fuels and some are still fully electric. It's not unusual here at all.

My office uses oil. The boiler itself cost more but we never heated it any other way so I don't know the cost comparison. Of course, you buy it by topping up the tank, so it's a big outlay in one go at whatever that price is. So can win or lose, depending on timing.

SIL in Argyll has it. Price of oil and the SNP's chances are her two main topics of conversation.

Getting together with neighbours so that your combined order is over 2,000 litres brings down the price quite a bit as does being flexible about the delivery date. If you have to order a small amount on emergency delivery it is very expensive.

@Hathertonhariden

Getting together with neighbours so that your combined order is over 2,000 litres brings down the price quite a bit as does being flexible about the delivery date. If you have to order a small amount on emergency delivery it is very expensive.

Yep.

I use fuel round. It’s an oil buying co-OP in Northern Ireland. Reduces my 500L order order by around £20ish every time.

Yes in rural Suffolk.

A tank lasts a winter, plus about half a tank spring - autumn for hot water and early/late heating needs. About £300 for half a tank depending on current rates. Got a good deal during covid, expect it won't be when I next buy! Currently have about 3/4 tank and will refill for winter when I reach half a tank.

East Midlands here , in a village with no gas connection . The homes here are on oil , lpg gas , electric or renewable like a heat pump.

Tank in garden, fill up with 1000 litres in summer ready for winter and sometimes top up with another 500 late winter / early spring. Prices fluctuate like petrol prices do. Tanker arrives to fill up don't need to be in . As PP have said , routine deliveries are about 2 weeks but you can get 2 day express delivery but that's very costly.
If you Google "off grid map of UK" , it shows you the areas that are off the main gas grid.

North Yorkshire here. Not super rural, but it's very common for villages not to be connected to the mains here.

I think it works out reasonably cheap if you have some forethought. The tanks are fuck ugly, though! And I did regret it the time we played chicken with the supply and ended up without heating!

We're in rural Ireland and there's no mains gas. We use about 900 litres of heating oil a year. The gas hob is plumbed to a little tank outside.

In 17 years of owning 3 different oil boilers (not simultaneously!), we've never had one break down.

Hamlet in rural Notts, oil does our heating and hot water. Everything else is electric. Our tank is 2500 litres, honestly don't know how long a full tank lasts, maybe 5 or 6 months? I just check levels and top it up when needed.

I think there was a time (maybe I the 60s?) when it was cheaper. My parents house, built 1965, had oil central heating when we moved in on a modern urban estate.

The school where I work, also 60s built, originally had oil fired heating too.

Rural Scotland, no mains gas, so use oil tank (and septic tank for waste water as not connected to mains water either!) for heating and water and lpg gas canisters for cooking .
Oil tank has a meter to see when it's getting low, it's a big green tank on a bit of concrete out in the garden, no idea how long it takes to fill, they arrive really early in the morning normally and stealthly fill it only realise they have been when I check the postbox and their invoice is there.

No gas mains here in our part of rural Wales so we’re all oil

We have it and are in a small village in Oxfordshire.

I live in a little village in the sticks and we're all on oil central heating. It does tend to be a rural thing or an old house thing.

Have oil and I'm in a built up area near a very busy growing town in Oxfordshire. All houses around me used to be oil but have gradually all connected to gas. I could easily have gas here now but I prefer oil, it's cheaper for me. Usually fill tank twice a year so 1000 litres and costs £250-£300 each time. Got a bargain in lockdown though and got 500 litres for £98!! I pay into a tank account with a buying group and order three weeks or so before I want it so all orders get out together and I get a slightly better price per litre.