Why is my heating oil going down so quickly?

[Purplehonesty]

We have oil central heating in our newly completed 4 bed barn conversion.
We have the heating on around 3-4 hours a day whilst it has been cold. The water is on for 45 mins a day whilst the heating is on in the mornings.
I have our woodburner on all day to keep costs down and avoid using the heating.
Yet despite this we have used nearly 1000 litres of oil in the last two months and I can't understand how. Our neighbours use around 1000 a year! What's going on....I must be doing something wrong.
Help piglet john!!

[thetigerwhocametoteax]

Hello there, think I remember you from the TTC whilst BF board. Congrats on your new baby and house. Glad we are not the only mad ones moving with an new baby - we had DS2 in August and moved in November to a 200yr old cottage that needs renovating. We are new to the oil heating, we filled up with 1500L when we moved in 2 months ago and I guess we've used a bit less than half so about 300L a month which is not too far off yours. We are a 5 bed poorly insulated (we are working on that!) stone house and have the woodburner on a lot. Been furiously sewing curtains and draught excluders and having plasterers over to insulate and replaster quite a few rooms. Hoping for a snugger winter next year!

[Purplehonesty]

Hello tiger. Congrats on ds2! Our dd was born in June and the house was finished in may. I was stamping around growling at the tradesmen whilst 8 months pregnant to get them to finish on time!
I think we would still be waiting for them if I hadn't!
How is your house coming along? And where did you move to? We are north of Inverness right in the country which is lovely but a bit cold hence the heating bills!

[thetigerwhocametoteax]

Congrats on DD too! Getting the work done before baby arriving sounds far more sensible than us....Did you convert the barn from scratch? We sold our house in September and (madly) moved into a one bedroom flat above my work for 6 weeks then moved into our new house November - hard work! House is coming along slowly but we are only 2 months in, I am just impatient and its hard with 2 little people in the chaos. So far we have had a new staircase in and the place re-wired. We have a joyful week of stripping woodchip off this week then the plasterers come Monday to sort our lumpy walls and floorboarded (= drafty) ceilings out. Then will come the slow job of painting the place from top to bottom, getting some carpets and furniture in and getting it to feel like our home. I think it would be a very exciting project if it was just me and DH and we had plenty of time but finding it quite hard to motivate myself to start doing things after DS2 finally gone to bed - thats are only time to do jobs. We are in Yorkshire, out in the sticks too, minus 3 today so definitely a bit nippy but probably not as cold as far ooop north I guess! Had lovely morning of DS1 running about in the snow then coming in to toasty warm woodburner in lounge so just getting a taste of how lovely it will be here once we are sorted! Sorry that was a marathon - hope you are keeping warm and enjoying the little ones

[Purplehonesty]

Oh my goodness tiger you are very brave! You must be knackered doing all that plus looking after two kiddies.
Yes we converted my parents stable block and garage/store into our house.
It had been a farm previously so it was a stone built L shaped barn with earth floors.
It took nearly 11 months to complete but almost 2 years with planning etc.
We stayed next door with my parents which was trying to say the least
It's lovely now and seeing it when we drive in still gives me the 'wow is this really ours' feeling. But then i remember how much it cost and that feeling goes away lol

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Do you have a neighbour with a house the same as yours? If you do, asking them how much they use might help. I know there are lots of variables when comparing, but it may be able to give you some idea if there is a leak or not.

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Ah, I've just read you latest post and it answers whether there is a house likes yours in the area. Ignore me

[Purplehonesty]

Cheers moveit. Resigned to the fact that we are going to be cold or skint. Or both!