To be terrified about the cost of oil

[Troublesometooth]

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?

One option might be calor gas? My parents had oil and converted to 3 massive calor gas bottles. This was 30 years ago so not sure if that still works out cheaper or what the technicalities behind it involve.

@QuebecBagnet

One option might be calor gas? My parents had oil and converted to 3 massive calor gas bottles. This was 30 years ago so not sure if that still works out cheaper or what the technicalities behind it involve.

Calor gas is generally more expensive plus don’t you need a different boiler and tank?

Suppliers here won't quote for our co-op (and wouldn't even last Friday). We ordered separately then but no news on when we might see the oil. Our house is v well insulated so we are fine with 2h morning and night with the thermostat at 17 (we don't heat every room). The killer for us is that our only means of cooking is the oil-fuelled Aga ...There isn't anywhere obvious to put a cooker though it would probably be cheaper to buy/install a new cooker than pay for oil and we would have to use the immersion for hot water. The kitchen and dining rooms were built around having a 4-oven aga so double height ceilings and small radiators. No tumble drier as it's fine to dry everything on the pulley so thinking we can't really do without between October and March(ish) but could try a 6mo on/off strategy f we can work out how on earth to fit in a cooker.

The killer for us is that, while dh and I limit our use of oil, we have 90 year old MIL in a separate annex who likes the heating up high all day 😱.

We are also oil only. This may sound ridiculous but heated throws keep you very warm. One large throw covers two people on a sofa and would mean can turn heating off if needed and stay under the throw in the evening before going to bed.

I don’t understand why you have the heating on all day. That’s really excessive and not normal. I’m at home all day and so is DH and we are medically vulnerable, but we don’t have the heating on. Not even morning and evening usually. We are cold, yes, but we do just put on more layers. Thermal leggings under trousers, four layers for your top half, thick socks, slippers. DH puts his hood on his hoodie up and wears a scarf. I’m keen on a heated throw.

Ikea plug in induction hob might be handy for anyone with oil aga atm. It’s only one hob, but about £30 and would be able to use instead for lots if you can’t get a delivery

Old drafty farmhouse in north east Scotland here.
We are insulating and changing windows but it’s a slow process as we’ve only moved in this year.
We are going through a lot of oil. 500l in jan was £350, just paid almost £560 for same amount to be delivered next week. Madness.
We do have an open coal fire and a wood burner. Plugging up gaps as we find them but hoping spring will arrive soon to warm us up!

@Chipsahoy

Old drafty farmhouse in north east Scotland here. We are insulating and changing windows but it’s a slow process as we’ve only moved in this year. We are going through a lot of oil. 500l in jan was £350, just paid almost £560 for same amount to be delivered next week. Madness. We do have an open coal fire and a wood burner. Plugging up gaps as we find them but hoping spring will arrive soon to warm us up!

£560 sounds like a bargain, going by some of the posts on this thread

I hear you @strawberrypot we're in the same boat, with no way to tackle it. She knows prices have gone up, but hasn't made the link that we've had to really cut back on everything so that we can continue to keep her granny flat toasty. It's not being done maliciously, she's just not put 2 and 2 together with either heating or the food that we buy for her.

500l was £545 yesterday. It's £615 today.

How much higher can it go?

@Haveyoubrushedyourteeth - when I pop in to see her she's quite often sitting in a thin top and cotton trousers, complaining she's cold! Have bought her warm joggers and fleece tops but she won't wear them 🤷‍♀️. I suggested a heated blanket recently but she clearly thinks they're for old people!

[quote StrawberryPot]@Haveyoubrushedyourteeth - when I pop in to see her she's quite often sitting in a thin top and cotton trousers, complaining she's cold! Have bought her warm joggers and fleece tops but she won't wear them 🤷‍♀️. I suggested a heated blanket recently but she clearly thinks they're for old people! [/quote]
Have you told her that you need to turn the heating down and so she’s going to need to put an extra layer on? Obviously you don’t want to freeze a woman in the winter of her years but there’s definitely a middle ground to be found here

We have a big detached house and use approx 1500l of oil a year for heating and hot water. our thermostat is set to 16.5 degree C, we wear cosy clothes on colder days and have thick duvets at night but we definitely don't freeze! we filled up a few weeks ago, I think it was approx £650 for ~900l. I am home with a 2 year old 4 days a week and the other 3 days I work from home.

Have you told her that you need to turn the heating down and so she’s going to need to put an extra layer on? Obviously you don’t want to freeze a woman in the winter of her years but there’s definitely a middle ground to be found here

I've told her repeatedly she needs to dress more warmly, bought her warmer clothes, etc, but she just forgets and puts on what she feels comfortable in. She suffers from very bad anxiety - to the point where we've had to call out the dr, or on occasion an ambulance, because her anxiety causes her to become extremely breathless and develop chest pains. The simplest thing can trigger a panic attack (a missed phone call or her tv not working for example) and I don't want her stressing over whether she can put the heating on. If I say anything she might well get it in her head that she's not allowed to have it on at all. She's very old and sadly not very rational.

@MadeForThis

500l was £545 yesterday. It's £615 today.

How much higher can it go?

It’s £1053 now in my area for 500L!

@StrawberryPot

Have you told her that you need to turn the heating down and so she’s going to need to put an extra layer on? Obviously you don’t want to freeze a woman in the winter of her years but there’s definitely a middle ground to be found here

I've told her repeatedly she needs to dress more warmly, bought her warmer clothes, etc, but she just forgets and puts on what she feels comfortable in. She suffers from very bad anxiety - to the point where we've had to call out the dr, or on occasion an ambulance, because her anxiety causes her to become extremely breathless and develop chest pains. The simplest thing can trigger a panic attack (a missed phone call or her tv not working for example) and I don't want her stressing over whether she can put the heating on. If I say anything she might well get it in her head that she's not allowed to have it on at all. She's very old and sadly not very rational.

Oh love her

Apologies for not reading every single response, but I've read all yours @Troublesometooth

We are also oil-fired, but do have a multi-fuel stove, and I heat my office electrically through the day anyway.

I see you are lucky enough to have an electric shower (and your washing machine will usually work fine on cold feed only). We have an electric immersion heater in our hot water tank so if we run out of oil we have that as back up - I was just saying to dh yesterday that if we run out of oil now we'll do without heating and heat the water electrically. We'd expect to put the heating off in the next month anyway usually, though with the odd hour on on a cool day. If you have a hot water tank (rather than combi arrangement), could you install an immersion? It's been a godsend from time to time.

We have quite a large old house, and only get through about 1200 litres a year, though, so I'm a bit shocked at your consumption! We used to use double as we had an Aga but got rid of it for this reason. We also reinsulated our attic to modern building regs when we first moved in, and replumbed our radiators to be more efficient (put reflective foil stuff behind them all etc). Not quick fixes but effective long term. We also wear jumpers and use a blanket when watching tv, but our house is not cold, just not overhot.

So as I put on a previous thread. I checked the boilerjuice.com website today and for Norfolk delivery they were quoting 175p a litre. The last two deliveries we had were 64p (expensive), and 45p (not too bad). Hopefully it stabalises, but I cannot see it.

@Brainwave89 we're also Norfolk and they're quoting 127p/l today. I had no idea there was so much variation just within the county - how on earth do they justify that?

@balladofbarryandfreda I think @strawberrypot and myself have the same MIL (even down to the heated throw comment) although mine does wear fleecy clothing after Dd introduced her to matching fleecy pj's at Christmas!
These last couple of years have really taken their toll, and she worries about absolutely everything so I think a conversation would really really unsettle her and she'd hear "never put it on".

@Notlabeled

We are sat on an island made of coal, floating on pockets of gas and oil, with an advanced nuclear industry as well as 100% predictable and 100% reliable tidal flows.We could be totally energy self sufficient for centuries.Instead, we export our oil and gas reserves making BP rich, while importing foreign gas at higher prices. We waste billions on boondoggle wind farms leaving ourselves open to the randomness of having a breezy day to keep the lights on. We could green taxes on energy that you buy with income you've been taxed on anyway. We subsidised the wealthy to get solar panels and electric cars, so ironically the richest are now the most isolated by energy cost inflation.

We cripple our manufacturing base by making it the most expensive place to do business while outsourcing everything to China and patting ourselves on the back for lower CO2 emmisions.What's clear is that this kind of energy poverty is exactly the future net zero promises us. Freezing cold houses, unaffordable travel, and food that will cost a wheelbarrow full of cash for an average weekly shop.

^^
Absolutely. And so predictable . But not a popular POV. It's very easy to be green when you can afford it.

If covid taught this country anything it should have been not to rely on importing goods, energy, food or expertise.

DS works from home and has just bought one of these heated mats. He reckons it's great and keeps him warm at his desk all day.
www.amazon.co.uk/Fovely-Warming-Crystal-Electric-Carpeted/dp/B08N517R9F/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=Heated+Floor+Mat&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1646841266&sr=8-13

If you don't already, I'd debate setting up an account we are with Scottish fuels. We pay a monthly direct debit that does fluctuate yearly depending on how much we need to order. However, this means we can order more in one go which means we aren't scrabbling to get the cash to pay on order. If we have over paid by the end of the 12 months they refund. If we've underpaid depending on how much we owe sometimes they allow you to carry it over in to the new year.

Any electric oil filled radiators on FB marketplace ?