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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be terrified about the cost of oil

217 replies

Troublesometooth · 07/03/2022 12:41

We don’t have any mains gas, heating and hot water both run on oil. We usually buy 500 litres every 8 weeks in winter which costs £200-300.

We are desperately low and the cost today is £700! We simply can’t afford to pay this to heat our home for the next 8 weeks.

Other than wearing more jumpers can anyone suggest ways of keeping warm?

OP posts:
Nutellaonall · 07/03/2022 14:22

Can you borrow a few electric heaters and confine yourselves to a smaller portion of the house?

Comedycook · 07/03/2022 14:22

Unless you live in northern Scotland in a sixteenth century barn I have no idea why you need your heating on all day. We put ours on for a couple of hours in the evening max. I'm at home now and it hasn't been on all day. I'm not cold. It's coming up to spring. Surely you don't need heating for the next two months?

urrrgh46 · 07/03/2022 14:23

I'd buy a couple more oil filled radiators. They're not too expensive to run at all and heat the rooms you're using. I really sympathise OP x

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/03/2022 14:23

I can't help with any of the price issues (sorry) but if people are using sources of power which burn (gas, wood etc.) please make sure you have up to date, working CO2 and smoke detectors. I get really nervous when people have to seek alternative sources as it's sometimes when accidents happen.

MordredsOrrery · 07/03/2022 14:24

@Copenhagenoffice

Worried about oil theft too
Yup. Our tank is pretty well out of site from the road but it's really worrying. Most of our village is on oil.
Aprilx · 07/03/2022 14:26

@vixeyann

For some of the people asking why you don't have gas etc...it's never made it's way to this part of Devon!
We are thirty miles from London and we don’t have a gas supply.
MadeForThis · 07/03/2022 14:29

I've just checked and 500l is £545. But lots of companies will only deliver 300l

It was £450 on Friday.

Wagsandclaws · 07/03/2022 14:29

Yep we love rurally so no alternative to oil.

I might get a couple of oil filled radiators for the bedrooms as the DC's tend to be in their rooms when hime from school and I can read ( or m'net) in mine.

Blimey my grocery bill has gone up, my petrol bill and my electric too - I didn't expect oil to go this bonkers, where is it going to end?

ihatethecold · 07/03/2022 14:29

I looked this morning, (East Anglia) on boiler juice. it was £713 for 500L

absolutely bonkers

I really do think its going to rise further.

etulosba · 07/03/2022 14:30

please make sure you have up to date, working CO2 and smoke detectors.

CO, not CO2.

CO is poisonous, CO2 isn’t.

vixeyann · 07/03/2022 14:30

I'm sure I'm not alone is this too but we have an old cob cottage. I generally put the heating on for the house, not me. If it gets too cold, we will get damp problems. Looking to move for this reason!

Original poster
Troublesometooth · 07/03/2022 14:33

@Strawberryjellyicecream

Sorry to interject with my ignorance but why don’t you have central heating etc? Why are you so dependant on oil?
We do have central heating, but it’s an oil fired boiler not a gas one. There is no gas in the villages where I live. They were never connected to the network.
OP posts:
Original poster
Troublesometooth · 07/03/2022 14:34

@Strawberryjellyicecream

Oh right I see. Thanks for explaining. Here was me imagining OP living in a cabin in the woods somewhere Hmm
Ha ha, nope. Ordinary house, 3 miles away from a large town. They just didn’t connect our village to the gas network.
OP posts:
BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 07/03/2022 14:35

@Comedycook

Unless you live in northern Scotland in a sixteenth century barn I have no idea why you need your heating on all day. We put ours on for a couple of hours in the evening max. I'm at home now and it hasn't been on all day. I'm not cold. It's coming up to spring. Surely you don't need heating for the next two months?
I don’t know where you are but I’m several hundred miles from Scotland and it’s still single figures here. Yes, it’s sunny but it isn’t warm enough for no heating unless it’s essential. Yesterday was 5 degrees C.
RandomUser10093 · 07/03/2022 14:36

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

RandomUser10093 · 07/03/2022 14:36

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Caspianberg · 07/03/2022 14:39

It was -7 outside last night at ours. About 3 degrees daytime. Feels warmer when the sun is out. But we need heating.

Those oil filled plug in heaters do help. We had just 2 on rotation a few years ago when we had a leak in radiator pipes, and the quickly warmed rooms enough they were comfortable

Original poster
Troublesometooth · 07/03/2022 14:39

@ihatethecold

I looked this morning, (East Anglia) on boiler juice. it was £713 for 500L

absolutely bonkers

I really do think its going to rise further.

We have a neighbour who used to work in the business and seems to know a lot.

He sent me a very complicated message about it all that I didn’t really understand, but the blunt of it was expect it to go up further and not come back down for around 3 months.

OP posts:
AchillesPoirot · 07/03/2022 14:40

I can only order max 300 litres and it’s £1.20 a litre.

It’s ridiculous.

Rural terrace in small village. No mains gas here. For those who think I’m in some kind of log cabin

AchillesPoirot · 07/03/2022 14:41

And it’s 4degrees here right now with a biting wind.

I’ve turned off all the radiators bar my study and trying to figure out if it would be cheaper just to use an oil filled electric radiator in here.

Happycrocodile · 07/03/2022 14:44

This thread just had me checking my oil level and we are at 50% (1200l tank) we use Boiler Juice Connected where we pay a monthly DD and they monitor and arrange deliveries. I’ve just seen an email from last week asking us to top up our account by £350 to get a delivery. I’ve just had a look and I’m also seeing 129ppl…

I’ve just turned the heating right down and will be giving everyone an extra jumper this evening.

Maggiesgirl · 07/03/2022 14:44

I was lucky and filled up 1000lt in February. I'm only having the heating on in the evening now.

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/03/2022 14:51

@etulosba

please make sure you have up to date, working CO2 and smoke detectors.

CO, not CO2.

CO is poisonous, CO2 isn’t.

And I know that normally Grin
watcherintherye · 07/03/2022 14:51

I can’t even get a quote from boiler juice at the moment due to ‘extremely high demand’. They advise I pop back to the site in a couple of days!

gracedentssketty · 07/03/2022 14:52

We just bought a house 3 weeks ago with oil central heating. Luckily the vendors had put a bit in the tank for us and I rang the oil company about 10 days ago to get an account with them and ordered oil. We didn’t know how much we needed as the tank monitor thing stopped working but we ordered 700l which came out about 485 I think. They delivered Friday 690l so it must’ve had around 310l in it already.

I’m now hoping that’s it until Sept/Oct as god knows how much it is per litre now. Our house is old and we have 2 DC so need the heating on. We are planning to renovate but can’t probs until end next year/start of year after due to builder availability

The price rises are terrifying and I’m looking to go back to work FT soon which will help.