Oil boiler and Aga running costs

[EmmaStone]

Hi there

We seem to be spending an inordinate amount on oil in our new house. Parts of it are about 150/200 years old, isn't brilliantly insulated, but so so. We've got a very old oil boiler (30 years+) and an oil Aga, which is on 24/7, and heats the hot water.

We moved in October, and have had to order oil every month. Since the end of October, we ordered 2200l of oil. A quick trawl through some past posts on Mumsnet and googling seems to indicate this is really, really high.

The house is fairly large - 4/5 beds, we're out most of the day in the week (although with the Aga on constantly, there's not much we can do there. Heating is on for approx 4-5 hours a day perhaps? We've also had the log burner on on colder days this winter.

The plan at the moment is to remove the Aga and replace the boiler, but I'm wondering if there could be a different problem (leak?) that we don't know about, so it would be useful to know if others in a similar house aren't paying much different?

Hmm not sure really but just checked and we ordered 1500l in December and before that was 1500l in August.
We have a big house with an elderly oil boiler for heating and hot water, but no aga on 24-7.

That sounds a lot! We have a large 3 bed detached and only have oil heating. We also run our heating overnight for one of the DC. 500L lasts about 3 months in the winter and I can't stand a cold house so during the day (when I am home most of the time) it's on at 20C and over night we heat one room to 19C.

We don't have an aga, friends do and the cost to run seems huge. we cook purely on electric but mainly hob top meals or circa 30 mins in the oven so low usage there.

We changed our boiler almost 2 years ago and it is certainly more efficient. Ours was so old (30+ years) I would be tempted to get the oil line tested for a leak, check the tank over and get a quote to replace (ours was circa £3k but included moving it outside from inside)

We also have one electric shower and in the other bathroom it comes off of the oil so running a bath etc is off the oil but regular showers are electric which also really helps the oil use.

Theres a facebook group called i love my aga which you could join. A lot if people on there have good experience of all different kinds of agas and how much they should be costing you. As you live in an old house you will probably miss the warmth the aga gives you if you get Rid of it so it might be worthwhile thinking of getting it converted to gas or oil. Do you know when it was last serviced as that could make a difference? Boiler as well - ive never had an oil one but i would expect to replace a gas boiler that old.

Also are you cooking on the aga correctly? You should be using the top as little as possible and cooking as much as possible in the ovens. as its old it could also use an update in insulation.

I think I've posted on this subject before but that sounds similar to us. Our house is quite a bit older than yours and listed - so little or no insulation. We have a Rayburn so I'm lucky enough to be able to turn it off. It is definitely the heating that uses up our oil. I can fill the tank (1,000 litres) in March and go through to October without having to worry but once the heating goes on we can be ordering oil every 6 weeks. I now run electric heaters in the kids' bedrooms and my office, and only run the heating for a couple of hours evening and morning. Our neighbour has installed underfloor heating which made a huge difference. It's always worth checking the oil line for leaks. We just replaced our 10 year old tank/line for around £4,000. If yours is any older than that I would get it checked out. If oil seeps into the ground/foundations you are in big trouble.

We live in a 15yo detached house with 5 beds / 3 stories. 8yo boiler. 15yo oil Aga which does heating and water. Heating is on a constant 15 degrees late September to early May and nudged to 18 in the evening. We use roughly 2500 litres of oil per year.

can't comment on the Aga although I believe they do guzzle, but an oil boiler that old certainly will. We replaced the ancient boiler here six years back - the utility room is no longer heated but it uses a lot less oil. Also an old property in parts with duff insulation, so we never expect it to get London-hot.

heating on 3 hours a day (more if it is cold, we work from home) and a tank of hot water heated for an hour a day. We use around 1500litres a year. Also a log burner so the living room stays cosy when the heating is off.

start looking into boiler replacement now and get it done in the summer.

oh yes, if you like cooking on gas (I do) you can get an LPG hob - buy a standard one and a conversion kit from ebay and the installer will switch it over. Cooking twice a day means a 19kg bottle lasts best part of a year and costs £35.

We used to have an oil aga. It guzzled oil. If you’re using oil for heating too I would think you’ll get through a large amount.

Thanks All, some mixed reactions here.

Funnily enough almost everyone we've spoken to (professionally and neighbourly) have warned us off replacing the old boiler, as they're all workhorses, and the efficiency improvement isn't that much. However, we probably will still replace, as we'll move it outside and free some space up in the utility room.

It sounds the like the Aga may be the culprit. The plan is to remove and replace with an electric range cooker.

Will definitely ask about potential leaks too. I don't think the tank is particularly old, but will check with supplier...

My parents live in a large, six bedroom house and were getting through a fair amount of oil. The 33 year old boiler broke and they decided to replace it. The week after their house was SO hot, the new boiler was vastly more efficient and has so far consumed much less oil.

We moved last year into a house with oil heating. The boiler is old but according to the boiler service man, it’s a good brand, well maintained, and should last for another decade or two.

There used to be a rayburn in the kitchen but the old owners removed it because it guzzled oil.

Oh that's interesting Pragmatic. We've very likely to change it anyway (I don't want to be in a position where we've done loads of other work, and then the boiler dies on us, when we could have done it all in one go).

In a very similar situation. Our boiler was replaced last year and that has made a huge difference. Agas are brilliant, I really miss mine when it’s off in the summer. So I’d replace the boiler first and see if that makes any difference.

You have the perfect storm!

An oil AGA can guzzle fuel - see www.blakeandbull.co.uk/blogs/news/oil-aga-range-cooker-running-costs

An 30 year old oil boiler will mostly likely be very inefficient, even more so than when it was new. I'd say around 60% MAX - current oil boilers are over 90%

No matter what you do if your house isn't insulated then you are just throwing money down the drain - you're in effect heating the outside up.

I'd seriously consider getting a new condensing oil boiler installed - don't even think about LPG - very expensive. Then look into insulating the house. I used a thermal imaging camera for mine and it showed all the cold spots. And then there's the AGA....

If you're doing work about the place could you add more insulation? You probably should as lack of insulation is likely eventually to affect the sales price of houses. And if you insulate you may be able to get a heat pump which is more efficient and more climate- friendly (and a lot less smelly!!)

My parents had oil heating and an oil fired aga that heated the water, just like you. Their house was Cotswold stone and on top of a hill. Their oil bills, when both appliances were running, were approx £600 a MONTH, and this was 10 years ago or so - they're both dead now. Some friends with exactly the same set up were paying a similar amount.
We had a new oil boiler 4 years ago, replacing an absolute tank of a boiler that was 35 years old. The old boilers were reliable and easy to fix (nothing computerised in there!), but they are ineficient and polluting. This new boiler keeps the house much warmer for less money, and is much smaller and quieter than the last one.
Knowing how expensive oil aga's are to run, we looked into getting an Everhot, which is like an electric aga, but the running costs couldn't justify getting it. We just have an electric range cooker, which is fine.
The best proper stove I had was a Rayburn that ran on coal! I loved that filthy beast.

Unfortunately, the pot of money available isn't enormous, and we're having to make compromises on what can & can't be done at the moment. There is insulation, and most of the windows are double glazed, but the old windows aren't, and the insulation wouldn't meet current building regs I suspect. But there definitely is SOME insulation!

We did a bit of research into eco heating systems and for a variety of reasons, they don't work for us at the moment. But hopefully, by the time the new boiler needs replacing, there will be more available (or there will finally be a gas connection to the village...). It doesn't sit right with us replacing oil with oil, but the alternatives just don't quite work at the moment. We're definitely not considering LPG.

The boiler has been serviced regularly, and we're assured its efficiency isn't that bad, but again, I can't quite marry up a 30+ year old boiler being insignificantly less efficient than a new boiler, so a new boiler it'll be.

And the Aga, I was wary when we moved, and although it's fine, and it's lovely to warm my bum on it when I get home, and it makes great jacket potatoes, it's got to go. I look forward to my induction hob and self cleaning oven in due course...

We've only just moved, and this is very much a forever home, so the changes we make need to work for us - we can't afford to do the kitchen, so it's all got to be a bit piecemeal.

I would definitely ditch the aga - why would you want to burn oil right though the summer (or indeed, all night) just so you can fry an egg??? . If you miss the drying, an electric clothes airer would probably be a good option.

Ha you'll be really happy with an induction hob, I love mine. It is like having gas as in quick and responsive, only nicer because you aren't getting any of the fumes that come off gas (not that noticeable but they do set off asthma for some people )

As you say the technology is coming on all the time, hopefully you won't ever need gas (no standing charge! yay!) and can go straight to all electric next time.

Jeez i would be bankrupt with those oil costs...i own a 200 year old 3 bed house....i put 500 litres in in October....i have had another 500 delivered this morning...oil man said my tank was half full before he filled it...i appear to be using virtually none and i dont understand why...boiler was replaced 2 years ago and i use my immersion for hot water...could this be why??

You could switch to an everhot (electric aga type range). Much cheaper to run (but high up front cost) I am lusting after one.

I grew up with AGAs. My parents have always had one and most of my relatives do too. When I got married, a traditional AGA was on my wish list. However, even the most economical models cost around £15 a week to run and that made me think again. The local AGA shop tried to persuade me by telling me of all the things I wouldn't need, like a radiator in the kitchen, a kettle, toaster etc. but in the end I decided against it. We already had all those things, and a constantly warm kitchen isn't much of a benefit if everybody is out of the house 12 hours a day.

I n the end I bought an AGA six/four. It uses the same enamelled heavy cast iron casing as a traditional AGA but only used power when it is actually cooking.

If our lifestyle changes and we are at home most of the day, I may think again.

*only uses power

ignoring the neighbours, might be worth asking the 'professionals' for comparative efficiency figures for your boiler and new ones.

correct that new ones won't last as long because nothing is designed to last now. Also you'll pay full VAT on the installation but even with that it should pay off in reduced oil in say five years.

VAT exemption on energy-saving measures would be something useful for the glue-to-the-road hippies to campaign for, but I suspect it involves too much maths.

We did the sums on our near 50 year old boiler and the payback would be around ten years due to the extensive extra plumbing that would be required (gas and water).

Most modern boiler wont last ten years before they need to be replaced again.

I'm not sure if you can convert or upgrade your Aga to run on a timer and to do both heating hot water and cooking independently, but we bought a new Rayburn (same co) about 10 years ago, after our 30+ year boiler deceased terminally beyond economic repair.
So the heating and hot water are on timers and both on thermostats, and I turn on the cooker part whenever I need it - takes 15-20 mins to get up to heat and then takes a while to cool down after so in the winter keeps the kitchen very nice and warm (no radiator). I also stand a fan that works using just the heat to power its blades, on top of the Rayburn and point it at an airer of clothes - saves tumble drying. In the summer we use the electric cooker and hob, as we have free solar power and this also heats the hot water when generating over 2KW, so cuts down the amount the Rayburn is used over the summer. as the solar heater heats the water hotter than the Rayburn water thermostat is set at.
Generally our solar (luckily on oldest, highest tariff) covers all of our oil costs (last filled up Easter 1999 probably won't refill till late summer 2020, about 2000 litres per 18 months) and gives us about £5-700 surplus in feed in tariff which adequately pays for all our electricity bill plus some spare. We've almost always someone at home at least part of the day if not all the day.

Try booking your oil deliveries ahead with eg Boiler Juice. We buy as a road, there's usually 2-3 others want some same time and often get 5000 litres plus at reduced rates.