Oil Central Heating

[Nix01]

What exactly is oil central heating? Is it expensive to run?

It's the same as gas central heating but the boiler is fuelled by oil that usually sits in a big tank in your garden. As the price of oil climbs, so does the cost of your heating and as oil is more expensive than gas, it does become expensive plus you have to arrange delivery of fuel and so on which is a nuisance when compared to having it all piped into your house automatically.

I understand where there are a lot of OCH users in an area, they can club together and buy oil at a wholesale rate so that's worth looking into if you're thinking of buying a place that has this type of heating system.

As Lala says, except that even with an oil club, it's still fiendishly expensive.

See, ours isn't that expensive, I don't know why not. We keep the thermostat a bit low (usually 16-17 in the lounge), only turn on rads in rooms being used, only when we are at home (most the time!), and the house is very well insulated. We are careful about hot water use, too ( some hot water is from the oil).

It's a big house in a windy spot. Think we've spent £450/yr on heating and some hot water last 9 yrs (

Its no more hassle than gas. Buy it online from a comparison website, it's delivered without you having to be there. Gives you the same kind of heating you'd have with gas which electric storage heaters or solid fuel heating (both options to places without had) don't really offer.

Definitely not a reason not to buy a house. I'm < 10 miles from Cambridge and it's the standard around here.

Its no more hassle than gas. Buy it online from a comparison website, it's delivered without you having to be there. Gives you the same kind of heating you'd have with gas which electric storage heaters or solid fuel heating (both options to places without had) don't really offer.

Definitely not a reason not to buy a house. I'm < 10 miles from Cambridge and it's the standard around here.

Thank you. On the EPC for this particular house the costs look around 3x as much as a slightly smaller newbuild.

Oil isn't inherently more expensive - or not enough to justify changing. Oil buying syndicates and/or shopping around can make a big difference.

Tell you what I think makes oil seem expensive:

It's often a feature of older poorly insulated properties. So expensive to heat anyway. Plus, many people historically buy in relatively small amounts, they may even have only a relatively small tank (250-500litres). If you buy under 900 litres at a go then you pay a premium price per litre. Plus the price fluctuates, so ideally you buy at the cheap time of year (summer).

But if you don't have the dosh then you end up buying relatively small amounts at the worst time of year (mid-winter). No money to buy oil means no heating (gas doesn't get caught off as suddenly). Oh, and maintenance is more, the annual boiler service is more, ours was £45 I think?), and the infrastructure costs more (need a tank). So you have to be cleverer about buying oil, and able to access say £700 at once which is different from a £25/month Direct Debit for gas. You need different budgeting skills. You might want to watch the general price to decide "when" to buy (don't need to worry about that with gas). Theft risk with Oil is also real (but at least the CO risk is negligible).

Comparing the price involves a load of maths.

Sorry I haven't the time to do it now and a quick search on line I could only find a guide using imperial measurements - which you would need to convert to metric.
Online guide: www.ehow.co.uk/how_7354396_do-home-heating-oil-gas_.html
You need to know the heating output for each fuel (in UK we measure in KW but in the USA they use BTUs)

I can tell you that one of the major manufacturers - Worcester Bosch have said that in a new build not on the grid they pobably would not recommend installing a new heating system based on oil- there are better alternatives if you were installing from scratch.
Whereas natural gas central heating is still very popular for new builds.
I would take this to suggest oil is way more expensive than natural gas.

Standard heating in UK homes is designed for sitting room temperature of 21 degrees and bedrooms of 18 C.
I think those are reasonable -in fact I like my bedroom about 17c.

We do find many if not perhaps most people seem to want it warmer - a lot warmer - in their sitting rooms (my husband is a heating engineer) - I actually avoid visiting lots of people in winter because I find their home too warm!

I agree with the comments by others, though. Well built good insulation new home - an oil boiler would not put me off buying it.

The times when oil was a lot cheaper in the summer may have passed alas but I agree its hard to compare apples and oranges. Www.boilerjuice.com lets you see the price fluctuation as well as see the discount mass buying gets you. Its also worth mentioning that the price across the country can vary tremendously - I can often get oil 5p/l cheaper than my mother or brother can.

laws of physics-wise, heat/unit, oil is only very slightly more expensive than mains gas. However older oil boilers are not as efficient. If there is a new boiler then it will be a lot better. With the efficiency taken into account, oil will be a little more expensive than gas but not hugely.

if you are off the mains gas network your choice is oil or LPG (or solid fuel)

you need to monitor the price and oil level and buy your oil at cheaper times (i.e. now). Buying clubs can be cheaper, but not always. You need to phone around for quotes each time. If cashflow is an issue, you just put aside an amount each month as if you were paying a gas bill so you have enough for a fillup. Boiler needs an annual service too.

the EPC will show it is bad due to enviro-nonsense. Ignore. Look at the house; double-glazing? Cavity walls? Does it get sun? Bloody silly barn conversion with cavernous spaces that guzzle heat? Huge draughts? All these things matter more.

For me the local suppliers are 3 or 4p a litre cheaper than the big groups. That may depend on area.

in short - don't rule out a house because of it.

Mmm - I have to say ours is a killer (and we've got a big tank and buy a large amount at once, phoning round local suppliers for quotes). But we do have an older oil burner, and a large detached house. It's now all been heavily insulated but we're not seeing the bills fall.

I guess it's a reminder that I need to get a new oil burner fitted...

If you don't have mains gas , it's probably a good choice