Energy price cap and oil?

[glowingtwig]

I have tried to research this, but can someone explain how the energy price cap works if you are on oil for heating your house and hot water?

We are in a remote rural location with no access to gas and oil is a ridiculous price - £470 for half a tank which will last a month in the cold weather.

How does that work with a £3000 cap?

Maybe I've just totally misunderstood the whole thing...?

That horrfic! But I'm pretty sure the price cap only covers gas and electricity unfortunately. 😟 There is also no price cap in NI even for people on gas.

You might want to consider getting a subsidised heat pump to replace the boiler one day (if you own the house), as a good system costs roughly the same as a mains gas boiler to run, and of course electricity is covered by the cap. Otherwise, find out if you can insulate the house at all, and check if you have the kind of boiler that runs more efficiently at a lower flow temperature (look online)

Oil is not part of the energy price cap.

The government have pledged £200 of support per household to heating oil users (up from £100 in the budget) and I’ve heard vague talk of it being distributed through your electricity account. No one really seems to know any more than that as to how and when we’ll get that payment

As caterina says no price cap on oil, but a payment via electricity provider at some point. No idea how they will know though and no detail about when.
Your oil use seems high though the same amount lasts me about 3 months.

Thank you so much for your replies, really helpful.

@Wafflefudge ancient house and listed so we can't double glaze- the heat just goes straight out through the windows. Also, old AGA drip drip dripping away the oil.

As others have said, the price cap is a cap on the unit price of gas and electricity. Heating oil is not part of this system at all, so they can charge whatever the market will bear.

You can get double glazing that is compatible with a listed building, but it is more expensive than standard double-glazed windows would be - we've just had half our windows replaced and the cost was eyewatering, but has made a significant difference to heat retention and moisture levels. If that's not an option for you, you can get a joiner to make secondary glazing panels which slot behind the existing windows and can be removed in summer, although you need to make sure you can still ventilate the rooms. People also use bubble wrap to insulate the windows, although that's obviously not an aesthetically pleasing option.

Thick curtains with thermal lining will help reduce heat loss via the windows.

Consider getting a dehumidifier - we have a dessicant one from Meaco (our house is COLD) which makes a significant difference to both temperature and damp - we use it as an alternative to putting the heating on when a room just needs a quick boost.

Hi same as what others have said about oil but the government are announcing a new grant for £1500 to make homes more efficient so hopefully that will help you? As for gas and electric you could use Switch gas and electric which is who I used and they are really good better than Shell who I was with before, if you use the link and decide to switch and hopefully save some money I do get £50 off my bill :-) aswell xXx

OP same situation here. The Government needs to sort out quick how this £200 is going to materialise and announce it, especially as we come to the coldest months of the year. I can only suggest writing to your MP so some pressure is applied!