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Original poster

Oil fired central heating

11 replies

HeddaGarbled · 01/05/2018 23:11

Is it OK?

We've seen a few houses we like with oil-fired central heating which is a new thing for us. Should we be put off? Also, would it be because there's no gas supply so we can't have a gas cooker?

OP posts:

Eryri1981 · 01/05/2018 23:18

I'm in my second house with oil heating... It is fine, modern oil Combi boilers are great, just get an induction hob.

When I was trying to sell previous house I had viewers who ruled it out based on the oil heating, which pissed me off largely because they should have read the estate agents details and not wasted my time with their viewing!

Mumblechum0 · 01/05/2018 23:23

We always seem to buy houses with oil, as always rural.

It’s absolutely fine, just remember to keep an eye on the levels, and get it properly serviced once a year.

We had our range cooker converted to bottled gas which also works fine.

Chasingsquirrels · 01/05/2018 23:28

Where I live lots of villages don't have a mains gas supply, so lots of oil heating.

A few houses will be oil because the owners at some point haven't wanted gas (like my MIL - no idea why but the house is on a street with mains gas).

We've had oil for nearly 20 years, no problems at all - but you do have to remember to check the levels and order, if you run out it's a bugger until you get a top up.

If you have a system boiler with a hot water immersion tank you could at least use the immersion as a back up, we have a combi so if we run out of oil that means no heating and no hot water.

Other than that it's having to pay for a full tank of oil, mines at about £600 a tank now, rather than a monthly direct debit to an utility company. You can sign up to monthly schemes wkth oil suppliers - but then you are stuck with them and can't shop around for the best rates.

I wouldn't let it out me off a house.

DiplomaticDecorum · 01/05/2018 23:32

We have a gas hob that runs from a bottle outside, and oil heating. Very straightforward, even better if you have a wireless oil level indicator to stop you from running out. We have a spare gas bottle but you can usually smell when it's getting empty.

scaryteacher · 01/05/2018 23:50

In the rental abroad we have oil heating and an electric hob and oven. I am not a fam of induction, sow ouwldn't bother with that. In my house in the UK, we have oil central heating, but it is run via a Stanley which is like an AGA/Rayburn, so it acts as the boiler, does CH, HW and I cook on it as well.

In the UK we have an immersion for back up, plus a wood burner if we have a power cut and need heating.

QueenoftheNights · 02/05/2018 10:58

We lived with this for 6 years in a rural village. Gas was eventually led to the house so we used it for a gas cooker then refitted the kitchen some time later and moved to a gas boiler.

Oil is absolutely fine. The downside is:

You need to keep an eye on the oil levels and order in time
You need to be aware that prices for oil can be seasonal and fluctuate more than gas, so top up the tank when it's cheapest.
The actual boilers are quite large and if in a kitchen can take up a lot of space on the floor.
The boilers do need an annual service and seem to need new parts more than gas boilers.

I'd be more concerned about not having gas for cooking but you can get round that with canisters.

Jappydooda · 02/05/2018 11:46

I have just upgraded my oil fired boiler and relocated it outside. It's pretty efficient and as it is outside, it's not intrusive on the kitchen.

As others have said, I would recommend installing a Watchman on the tank which monitors the oil levels in your tank via a plug in display you can put in the kitchen.

It wouldn't put me off buying another house with oil - but I do like the simplicity of having gas and paying monthly.

Hullabaloo31 · 02/05/2018 15:19

The only problem we have around here is theft, and we're usually pretty low crime, it's rural.

Mrsmadevans · 02/05/2018 15:24

Ime it is expensive in comparison to gas.

Kursk · 02/05/2018 15:31

We have oil, I like it, it’s simple compared with gas. DH can service the boiler annually. We installed a second oil tank so we can make sure we don’t run out.

In an emergency you can use diesel

BubblesBuddy · 02/05/2018 15:33

We had oil in two houses over a span of 25 years. We converted to air source heat pumps but the oil was no problem. Our boiler was getting old and we were remodelling the house. Our only problem with oil was access to the house for the tanker. It was challenging!

I don’t covet a gas hob. A modern high quality induction hob is very responsive and easy to clean. I don’t have my hob on an outside wall, so definitely no to cylinder gas. Other people in the village who want gas have cylinders for a hob and a neighbour has a large gas tank in the garden, but as mains gas is about 1 mile away, no chance of that any time soon!

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