Oil fired central hèating and hot water

[Lavenderhoney]

I've just moved to a rental place which I shall be in for the next 6 months so til end June The landlady is clueless on helping me as apparently she only bought the place as a buy to let.

Its got a boiler and a central heating / hot water system. Its got a tank in the garden with about 12 inches of oil showing.

Can anyone help me with how much oil I might need and what I should expect to pay? There's me a two children who will be at school and I would like to spend as little as possible but not be sat in our coats iykwim:)

How best to run it? On a timer? And how do I find an oil delivery company and know they aren't overcharging me?

Any help appreciated thanks!

Boilerjuice.com will give you the going prices in you area. It's not really cold right now but as soon as there's a cold snap the price will rise. In 6 month I wouldn't expect you to get through 1000 litres but the price per litre if you buy 750-1000 litres is cheaper than if you buy 500. Worth seeing if your landlady will give you money back if you leave oil in the tank. You can usually get a next day delivery for a premium price so worth ordering in advance as they can deliver without you needing to be in if there's access to the tank. You could also ask the landlady for a tank monitor which gets you a idea of the level in the tank at all times. If she needs persuading, you might drop into conversation that it will help her boiler if it doesn't run dry..

I was paying £300 for 500 litres, and this lasts depending on how cold it is.

The amount you say there is won't last long, get some more.

Oh, if it does run dry, you normally need an engineer to come and reset it, this costs. £40 so don't let it happen!

How much oil you get through depends on how big your house us, how well insulated etc.

We are in a detached 4 bedroomed house, with fairly good insulation. We are all out durung the day so tend to only run the heating for an hour in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, Our oil tank is 1000 litres and we get through 2 tankfuls a year. We usually have deliveries in November and Feb/March, as obviously we use far more in winter. We pay about £1200 a year for oil, so £100 a month, but remember you pay for a whole tankful upfront. I usually ring round to get the best price per litre. It's also worth enquiring locally if there is a community or village bulk buying scheme, where the price can be negotiated down.

If you will find it difficult to pay for a tankful in one go (£500 -£600 is a painful amount to find in one month) then most oil firms will let you set up an account where you pay monthly and they top up your tank when they are passing. We used to do this when we had less money, and it meant we knew what our outgoings were each month. However, it does tie you into one firm which might not always be the cheapest. It also means that if you move out when your tank is full, you are saying goodbye to £600 of oil unless you can negotiate with your landlady to buy it - you can't take it with you!!

The fairest thing IMO with oil in rented properties is for the tank to be full upon arrival and for you to agree to leave it full when you leave. That way you are only paying for what you use and there is no quibble about whether you've used oil that was already there that you didn't pay for. It also means you don't have to find a chunk of money upfront and prevents you leaving the tank empty for the next tenants. If you've already moved in it might be more difficult to negotiate, but may be worth asking anyway.

If you have a hot water cylinder, look to see if it has an electric immersion heater. This can be very useful as it means you can have HW when the boiler is out of action or if the oil is nearly run out before you leave.

If there is a cylinder, what colour is it?

It depends on your insulation, OP. Does the landlady not have idea of recent bills? We spend £450/annual for a big house, not very warm but very well insulated.

with oil, you need to monitor the price and buy when it is cheaper. Min order is usually 500 litres, best I've paid for that in two years is £270. Plan ahead as you pay a premium if you need it quickly.

you can set up standing orders but that is expensive. Boilerjuice etc can also be 2-3p a litre pricier. Use their site or heatingoil.com to monitor price movements, google for local suppliers and then phone around when it is dropping. There's no rhyme or reason and no real connection to petrol prices.

oil is not an expensive way of heating per se, but it is if there is an old boiler in a draughty house. Also the boiler MUST be serviced annually - that is for your landlady to pay for. Make sure it is done. Also check the insurance situation with her - oil can be stolen so one of you needs to have insurance for this.

you run the heating same as any other heating, timer etc.

For economy, what have you got a timer/programmer? And a room stat? What does it look like? Have you got thermostatic radiator valves? Look in the loft and see if it is comprehensively insulated with no thin or bare patches. How thick is the loft insulation?

Will you need the house heated all day, or morning and evening?

An electric blanket is a great fuel saver.

Agree tank should be filled by landlady and when you leave you top it up.
I spend about £2400 a year on oil but biggish house in country plus children who leave doors open and a DH who absolutely refuses to be cold....he puts heating on for cat.

ooh, one more v. important thing - the gauge on the tank. There should be a valve at the bottom. Pull it out and let it spring back, that will tell you how much is really left, the indicator doesn't drop without this!

Thank you! I'm going to venture over to it tomorrow and look at it, and apparently there is a co op in the village people belong to, so I will be calling the leader:)

I'm not sure I agree that the landlady should fill it. We didn't when we we rented our house out. Tank was at 40% when tenants moved in , so we agreed that it should be 40%ish when they left - had that written as a clause into the contract. Actually it was more like 20% when we left, ao we calculated the cost of 200lts that it was short, and deducted it from their deposit (with their agreement).

I would be nervous about filling a 1000 litre tank full as a landlord / landlady, because if tenants left it empty, that could well be more than the value of the deposit.

I've arranged a delivery and asked the landlady if she plans to reimburse me for anything over the difference if there is more when I leave. I have the price per litre I've paid, so that seems fair to me! Waiting for a response now:)