Calling everyone with oil central heating

[SeraOfeliaFalfurrias]

Hi folks, could you answer a couple of questions please?

We moved into a rented bungalow with an oil-fuelled boiler a month ago. We've never had oil heating before and don't really know how it works.

Firstly, if you have the tank in your garden, is it normal for your entire garden to stink of oil all the time, especially when the heating is on?

Secondly, is it normal to use 200 litres of oil in one month when heating a 2-bed detached bungalow (with pretty rubbish insulation tbf, and only half double-glazed) in a normal kind of way in Feb? ie, thermostat at 18 degrees, on for 2 hours in the morning, 5 hours in the evening, plus hot water heated morning and evening for 1 hour?

200l a month in a drafty uninsulated house isn't unusual. Oil smell all the time is not normal. Your boiler may not be in good nick.

Hi, I think 200 litres a month is perfect feasible, I used 200l in two months but only had the heating on around 3 hours per day.

Your garden shouldn't really smell of it though. I occasionally get a whiff of oil outside, but not all the time and it's never more than a slight smell.

Thanks. I'll ask the landlord to get someone to come and have a look re the smell. But wow, that's a lot of oil!! Good job this is just a short-term let.

I suspect a new boiler is needed. My parents used to notice the smell when they first moved in. A new boiler later and smell was gone. I know the oil cost feels like a lot but it's not bad compared to the ongoing cost of gas direct debits.

there may be a vague smell of oil when the heating is on, not when it is off. (Tanks are always in the garden BTW). So there might be a leak, call the landlord.

oil is generally a bit more expensive than mains gas per unit heat, but currently is cheaper. But if you have an old inefficient boiler, a badly insulated property and run the heating so much, your bills will be high. You would have known all those things before you took on the place.

for comparison: we've used about 500 litres since mid-December; hot water an hour a day, heating two hours morning and two hours evening. Boiler is almost new; consumption has plummeted since that was done. House insulation not brilliant but we have a log-burner. More insulation coming!

Oil smell is definitely not normal.

I he often smelt oil in the garden for years. I mentioned it to the delivery man at the last delivery and have not smelt it since.

I think 200 litres is about right. We've used about that since December.

There definitely shouldn't be an oil smell. Our garden smells for about 30 minutes after we've had an oil delivery, otherwise there's no smell at all. Get an engineer in to check it over.

We went from about 1000l a year to about 500l once we had sorted out
Cavity wall insulation
topped up loft insulation
new double glazed windows
Added Solar water heating ( that makes a huge difference, no oil used on sunny days)
installed a woodburner in living room. ( so only run CH for 2 hours a day)

oil smell doesn't mean a new boiler, it might just be a tiny leak.

If you have an old steel oil tank, look carefully for any sign of leakage including rust patches. If oil leaks into the ground you are supposed to have the contaminated soil dug out and taken away.

I went through 500L in 3 weeks just after Christmas :(

Oh blimey I'm stingy with the heating and we still went through 1000l between beginning of December and end of feb ! Big old cottage but insulated - I still wince when I see the bill - even if it is cheaper now !

Smell not normal.

Usage sounds right to me.

200l not completely unreasonable (hard to compare as we have a larger house, and it also depends on the boiler, thermostat, etc etc)

Smell definitely not normal. I can sometimes momentarily smell oil when it has just been delivered. You need to get your landlord on to it, as a leak could be very expensive for them as well as for you, as the owner is liable for clean up of contaminated ground, etc.

We have a cold house, 3 beds, two receptions and internal garage and have the heating on for an hour in the morning, 3/4 hours in the evening and hot water for about an hour and I think we use 700-800 litres per year. I am really shocked at how much people seem to use. To me 200 litres in one month means there is something very wrong.

As for the smell, that is not normal and suggests a leak. Here in Ireland a lot of property is oil heated and I have never noticed a smell.

When it's really cold we have used 1000litres in 6 weeks but that was with the heating on all day, normally 1000litres will last around 3 months in winter.

Just to add re the cost of oil, our village negotiated a preferential rate from a supplier, comprises of about 30 houses. (also did it for the chimney sweep)

We had an oil smell in the garden on and off for several months. Investigated the ground around the oil tank looking for leaks but couldn't find anything, and all was OK inside the garage where the boiler was situated. So we shrugged it off as one of those things.

Then the next time the oil company came to delivery the oil the deliveryman refused to deliver to our tank as it wasn't safe - because he could see from up there that the top was covered in a series of fine cracks: the plastic of the tank had been gradually splitting over time, but at the top so no oil was leaking out, just the smell.
So that was £1400 for a new oil tank! On top of the cost for a new tank of oil. That was an expensive month.

So I suggest that you go and take a close look at the oil tank to see if there are any cracks or small leaks.

sunny I believe my village does that but the rate on boilerjuice for the area is higher than the rate I can get oil delivered from a nearby (25 miles away) city. So I've never done these deals.

We've always found the deals to be more expensive than the rate offered to us as individual customers too

I also shop around every time, although I happen to have the village oil delivery depot up the road and they have been cheapest on every occasion except one. I just use boilerjuice to show me what the price is doing.

Smell definitely suggests an issue.

Oil boilers really do need to be serviced once a year or the burners can clog up and then the boiler won't work. I suggest as well as checking the tank, you check when the boiler was last serviced and how old it is. Newer ones are much more efficient. Also make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm - sensible in every home.

We buy oil via a local syndicate, (not boilerjuice who I think are expensive).
There's probably one in your area.

extremely good point - while there's no 'oil safe' certificate for rentals as per gas safe, the boilers do indeed HAVE to have a yearly service. It is basic good practice for the landlord to do that, and to provide CO alarms as well as smoke alarms.

Thanks again everyone. We've got the heating off now it's warmer so hopefully the usage will go down. I'll definitely get onto the letting agents about getting someone to check the system over and give the boiler a service.

Just a point to note. If the agents do arrange a service, you will need to switch off the boiler at least 3 hrs before the service to allow the burner to cool down as the engineer will almost certainly want to replace the nozzle and clean the filters.

Don't forget the carbon monoxide alarm!!