Can someone help me understand my heating system? It's oil

[Twirlychair]

I have an oil system with a hot water tank.

There is a thermostat.

And thermostatic rad valves that go up to 5.

And there's a thermostat on the boiler itself that goes from 60-95

My oil bill for a 3 bed semi is 135 a month and I'm out all day.

Heating is on in the morning for an hour and the afternoon from 4pm til 9.

Thermostat set at 15. It's in the hall.

Thermostat on the boiler is at 60 but the bedrooms never get warm.

What am I doing wrong and how can I set it to reduce the bill?

I use a fire in the living room so it's always warmer.

I will get DH to read this through later as it sounds like the same set up as us. We have a 2 bed semi and £600 of oil lasts us a year.

Thank you. I'm sure I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is!

Try turning up the thermostat in the hall, 15 is very low and the hall in centre of the house will probably be slightly warmer than your bedrooms with external Walls. So the thermostat in the hall is currently telling the boiler it's already warm enough so it won't switch on (or on for only a short period of time) 18-21 is normal for a wall thermostat.
Try turning it up and see if that's any better.

15 degrees is cool for most people, fine for me.

Are your ceilings the same height upstairs and downstairs?
Are your radiators big enough upstairs?
Are your radiators hot all over ie at the top and bottom especially upstairs?

I did turn it up but then downstairs was roasting and upstairs was freezing still.

Do I need to turn down the thingies on the rads then?

Rads upstairs not hot but same temp all over from top to bottom

Thingies on rads downstairs I mean?

Am heading out shopping but will be back on later

We have very high ceilings downstairs and lower ceilings upstairs, I keep the thermostats on low upstairs otherwise we roast upstairs and are frozen downstairs.

I would set it at 18 in the daytime and ensure your thermostatic valves are set on full upstairs and slightly lower downstairs, try different room appropriate settings.

I presume the thermostat in the hall is not over a radiator.

My ceilings are the same.

No it's at the end of the hall. I wondered if one of those remote thermostat things you take from room to room would work and put it in the small bedroom which is the coldest? But that's more expense

The same height top and bottom floor.

it sounds like what you may also be doing wrong is having a standing order to deliver oil. The most expensive way of doing it.

you need to monitor the price and tank up when it is cheaper. Phone round local suppliers, buy in advance (not 'I need it tomorrow') and don't assume that the consolidators will be cheaper.

this site:

www.heatingoilshop.com/price.php

gives a price graph and hints of what MAY happen to the price.

also - oil boilers go on forever with a yearly service but old ones are very inefficient. How old is it? Is your heating system de-sludged?

How are you buying your oil, do you have a huge tank filled once in a while or do you get many frequent deliveries?

We have a big house & only pay about £600/yr for heating it (also oil).

Is your house actually warm to be in? Heating on from 4-9 seems a long time, to me. Do you have poor insulation? Our hall thermostat is set to 15 so not cosy, but lounge gets up to 18-20 in spite of iffy insulation.

We turn off rads in unused rooms, especially bedrooms, so probably only on for about 1/2 hour twice a day.

DH reckons you have an inefficient boiler that needs looked at. It is burning more oil than it should.