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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find oil central heating the most annoying thing in the whole world ever?

36 replies

NaccetyMac · 18/01/2010 09:10

I've had oil heating since October. I have just run out of oil for the second time. ARGH. and and ARGH.

So now we have no heat for 24 hours, stupid heating. THere is no gauge on the side of the oil tank, I have no idea how much I'm using. Stupid blooming system! And obviously, stupid me for not realising that the £150 I put in would only last 6 weeks. I know it's been cold, but I NEVER leave it on overnight, and it's rarely on all day.) That is VERY EXPENSIVE, especially considering we also pay out £40 a month in electricity!

[i'm an idiot emoticon]

OP posts:
frostyfingers · 18/01/2010 09:15

How big is your oil tank and how old? It should have a thin tube on the outside, down the front with a little ball in which goes down as the oil level goes down. You can also fit something which tells you when to refill, and I think (although am not sure) that you can arrange something with your oil delivery company for them to call you when it's low.

We put in 1000 litres in November (£600), which should last us until mid Feb - we run a Rayburn all day, plus heating morning and night in a 4 bedroom modern house. We fill up twice in a 12 month period.

I don't know if that helps, but you just need to get in the habit of checking - make a note in your diary perhaps.....

lolapoppins · 18/01/2010 09:19

YANBU.

I have it too and hate it. Live in a big, old, rickety house, so get through a couple of thousand (at least) a year in oil. We ran out a week ago and are now freezing, living with little electric heaters and having to use immersion for hot water, so will have big electric bill as well. No one can deliver more oil until next week, even though we ordered three weeks ago (live out in the sticks and they have a massive backlog because of the stupid snow).

I long for gas central heating.

stealthsquiggle · 18/01/2010 09:22

Shop around - it is worth buying more in one go if you can because it gets cheaper (price break normally at 1000 litres = £500-£600 depending on market price) and if you are there for the long term it is worth looking at monthly plans so that you get refills automatically.

There probably is a tube but it's not immediately obvious how it works (we ran out before DH eventually worked it out) - get the oil delivery guys to show you. It is worth making sure you don't run out though, boring though it is - every time you run out the gunk from the bottom of the tank goes through to the boiler and there is a 50/50 chance that it will damage the jets on the boiler - when you get your delivery, you should really run a couple of buckets of oil through (and then put them back in the top of the tank) before re-starting the boiler.

stealthsquiggle · 18/01/2010 09:23

(and having run out of LPG more than once at my parents' house, I am fairly relaxed about our oil heating - less relaxed about the fact that over half of the radiators don't work, though )

Ingles2 · 18/01/2010 09:24

Unless you are living in a mansion, that is a quite a lot of oil to get through. Is the tank old? Could it have a slow leak?
How many litres are you having put in.. 500l?
We have oil fired CH and hot water. I fill it about 4 times a year in Oct, Jan, March and once in the summer.

Ingles2 · 18/01/2010 09:25

And stealth is right, I knackered our boiler when we first moved in by letting it run out completely.

Ingles2 · 18/01/2010 09:28

btw you can have a plug in gauge called a watchman attached to your tank so you can see exactly how much oil you have. Probably costs £100-150 but that is definitely cheaper than having your boiler repaired.

Original poster
NaccetyMac · 18/01/2010 09:31

I have ordered 200l and I think I'll order another 500 at the end of the month.

Honestly, I cannot believe how expensive it is to run! The children are going to have to wear more jumpers. And thermals. And maybe we can hook the Wii up to power the immersion heater. {grin]

OP posts:
Original poster
NaccetyMac · 18/01/2010 09:36

Ingles, I put in 300l not quite 6 weeks ago (and also put in 40l of emergency oil.)

The boiler is old, although I came close last time it had not completely run out, and that was bad enough. I just hadn't even considered that £150 would last such a short time. Still, I know now. I think I'll get it half filled and then topped up each month or something.

OP posts:
stealthsquiggle · 18/01/2010 09:38

Check out the price breaks with your supplier (or with a selection of local suppliers) - buying bit by bit is probably the most expensive way - they may well have a monthly payment plan which would suit you and give you a better price for the oil.

millarkie · 18/01/2010 09:40

We have a watchman. It sends a signal from the tank to a socket in our kitchen and tells us how much is left. We have a rambling old house and are using 250 litres every 2.5 weeks since the start of the snow but we have a 2500 litre tank which we try to fill in the summer when prices are cheaper. We also try to order as much as we can afford/ fit in the tank in one go as you get a better price for higher volumes

doodledrawers · 18/01/2010 09:42

If you can manage it, it does work out much cheaper buying a lot in one go. Try www.boilerjuice.com, who link up people in the same area so you can club together and buy in bulk at a cheaper rate.

bronze · 18/01/2010 09:46

We buy one tank a year which is about 1200l I think. We buy in one go as you get a much better price. Shop around too and get them to better each others prices

I found a good reason to have oil during the snow when other places were losing gas supply and having power cuts

midori1999 · 18/01/2010 09:46

It is cheaper to buy more oil in one go, not that much, but it adds up over the year. How long do you have the heating/hot water on if you are using 300L every 6 weeks?

We heat our water by our heating oil as well as the central heating and got 500L at the start of August, We just got it topped up again last week, so that's five months out of 500L. We have the heating on for an hour and a half in the morning and two hours in the evening. Plus the water on an hour in the morning, but we do turn the heating off if we don't need it and have it on extra if we do. Same for hot water.

It does sound like there may be a problem if you are using so much oil.

fiveisanawfullybignumber · 18/01/2010 09:47

YANBU. We used to have an LPG tank, shell installed a telemetery thing so they knew when to fill up. We now have calor cylinders as the tank was slap bang in the middle of our garden and I hated it! We have occasionaly run out too, and when we do I can never re-light our knackered old back boiler, it always needs a new thermo coupler.
Have you thought about replacing your boiler for a more energy efficient one. The govt have just introduced a boiler scrappage scheme. If your boiler is G rated (as our old back boiler is) they will give you £400 towards a new one. That mights help your consuption.

fiveisanawfullybignumber · 18/01/2010 09:48

Sorry consumption!

sb6699 · 18/01/2010 09:54

I find it much cheaper than gas. In our old house we were at least £400 per quarter but we're £6-700 annually for oil.

We do have a brand new super efficient boiler system though - might be worth looking into replacing yours if you're going to be living there for a while.

You NEED to get a watchman - as others have said, running out of oil sucks all the gunk into the system and can damage it.

Feel for you though, have been without oil at the coldest time of year and its not nice.

Original poster
NaccetyMac · 18/01/2010 09:54

I'm in a rented house, five. I'm going to insulate/ lag hot water tank, but I don't want to replace the boiler as we only have a 12 month contract.

OP posts:
fiveisanawfullybignumber · 18/01/2010 10:25

Speak to your landlord, as if it's a G rated one he could qualify for the boiler scappage scheme.
Feel for you though, luckily I don't like the house to hot, but DD1 is super skinny and feels the cold, she's always layered up bless her.

Original poster
NaccetyMac · 18/01/2010 10:40

I have been out to check with the technologically advanced method of a broom handle. There is a good 4 inches at the bottom. DOes that qualify as no oil? I am such a novice.

OP posts:
Ingles2 · 18/01/2010 12:23

that counts as no oil Naccety...
TBH I'm surprided you can only order 200l... round our way 500 is the minimum which this week cost £246.
Get your landlord to check the tank and has the boiler been serviced recently? That could have a leak or be burning inefficiently.

millarkie · 18/01/2010 19:44

Another tip is to ring round a few different suppliers each time you want to buy more oil - the prices vary considerably (up to 10p a litre).

MrsMellowdrummer · 18/01/2010 19:51

We have a Watchman too... makes it very easy - it's just plugged in in the kitchen, and constantly shows how much oil is left.

Also, most companies will arrange for you to fill your tank, and then pay in monthly installments.

It's really worth watching the price of oil, and filling up when it's relatively low. We just filled our tank for £500. Slightly kicking ourselves, as if we had done it a couple of weeks earlier we could have had the same amount for £440.

sb6699 · 19/01/2010 00:11

You should at least ask the landlords if they will fit a gauge - its a pretty essential piece of kit if you have a tank!

Pikelit · 19/01/2010 00:18

I live in one of four houses nestling in the middle of nowhere. We are the only ones who still run their Rayburn on solid fuel and to be honest, I bless the fact we've resisted conversion to oil. Everyone is spending far more than we are to heat similarly sized houses and the oilman has not cometh this side of Christmas because of the snow.