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Original poster

Anyoen got oil fired central heating? Tell me why you love it hate it please

84 replies

Piffle · 05/11/2007 17:19

We have found another house - perfect village, perfect house - there is no gas to the village as yet. MAy never be
it has oil fired central heating and an oil storage tank
I know NOTHING about it
please any info would be gratefully rec'd

OP posts:

katwith3kittens · 05/11/2007 18:53

No mains gas here either ...so we have a tank at the side of the house which we fill 3 times a year on average. Can be a bit unsightly but I guess if you've not got mains gas you've probably got space around your house to hide it.

Before moving here I was an oil virgin and a bit scared about the whole thing and practically checked the levels every day. Now I'm a lot more complacent about the whole thing.

It used to be cheaper than gas, but nowadays its about the same. No difference in terms of effectiveness.

We bulk order with our neighbours and typically get a couple of pence off a litre when its delivered.

Never, ever let it run out ... all the dregs are stored at the bottom of the tank and if you let it get empty they be sucked into your boiler !

An electric cooker might take some getting use to if you've always used gas though
Good luck with buying your dream house anyway

HTH k

Gingerbear · 05/11/2007 18:56

You can buy from different suppliers and pay as you need it, or have a standing order for a fixed monthly amount -this is what we do. We have a 100l tank and have 3 deliveries per year. Brother has 2000l tank and has 2 deliveries (for a 7 bed house with underfloor heating)

Gingerbear · 05/11/2007 18:58

I meant a 1000l tank!

Millarkie · 05/11/2007 18:58

We've got oil fired boiler - we only moved here 5 months ago and it was a little bit of a worry re: how to organise filling the tank etc, but it has turned out to be really easy. We have a 'watchman' thing which is on the tank, and it sends a radio signal to the receiver in our kitchen to tell us how much is left in the tank. We were told not to let the tank run down too much or sludgey bits may get into the boiler and block the nozzle and we didn't want to fill it up in winter so we had our first fill-up in October. Much simpler than I had thought.

I have no idea about the costs compared to gas - our choice was simple - this house with electric or oil heating or a house in a different location. This was by far the best location for us so choice was made.
We have talked about changing for a wood chip boiler once this boiler needs replacing but that is more for environmental reasons.

So..has your village-to-be got sewerage or do you have the joy of a septic tank too?

Gingerbear · 05/11/2007 19:00

Septic tank Pah! luxury - cess pit here still!

throckenholt · 05/11/2007 19:02

it don't think it costs much more than any other form of heating (but maybe that is because I have lived in the country for so long where we have no choice anyway).

A modern combi condensing boiler would be most efficient.

Otherwise it is much the same as any other type of radiator based heating.

CantSleepWontSleep · 05/11/2007 19:10

Blimey - how do you all use so much less oil than we do?! We get around 2000litres delivered usually 3 times a year - costs a fortune! Ours powers a range cooker which also heats the water and does the heating. You have to have the water on to put the heating on, which can sometimes be a bit of a waste.

Do you know whether your cooking will be oil fired as well Piffle? That's certainly something to find out if you don't know already.

MuffinMclay · 05/11/2007 19:12

We fills ours up twice a year, at about £350-400 per time. The supplier we use offers a discount if you pay within 10 days of delivery.

No idea how it compares to gas. It is oil or nothing where we are.

The only downside I've found was that if something goes wrong with the boiler it is a little bit harder to find someone with oil-fired boiler expertise to come and fix it. We still managed to get someone the next day, but it involved ringing lots of numbers in the yellow pages.

ChasingSquirrels · 05/11/2007 19:28

because u live in a palace CSWS

CantSleepWontSleep · 05/11/2007 20:03

lol CS. It's still only a 4 bed semi-detached palace though, so not likely to be that much bigger than some of the rest of you.

MM - if you don't have a 'regular' person who comes to do you, I have numbers of 2 people who we have used and been happy with over the years.

Original poster

Piffle · 05/11/2007 21:18

Wow thanks for all the replies
The most successful thread I've ever started LOL
Right then am armed fully when DP shrieks
OIL FIRED CENTRAL HEATING (imagine in Peter Kay garlic bread/cheese cake? demeanour)

OP posts:

castille · 05/11/2007 21:18

Re thermostats, I think system in our house was ancient, in fact I know it was, which would explain why it was so basic. Just make sure yours is newer...

EileenGrimshaw · 05/11/2007 21:56

We had ours in 18 months ago as we were paying £100-£150 per month for gas.

Ist tabk lasted 13 months and it cost £360 to refill.

Ours is an energy efficient combi boiler, that runs at 97% efficiency. It has a remote device plugged into a socket in the house which tells us how much there is left and flashes when it gets to 100 litres left.

Heating only goes on twice a day for an hour each time as our house us new and very well insulated.

I also have a key meter for the electric, so I have no big bills to worry about!!

Now all I need is the landline to go 'pay as you go' and I'll be happy

Original poster

Piffle · 05/11/2007 22:14

we are very miserly with gas CH, only on for 2 hrs a day and often we turn it off...
that said the house is plenty warm enough
I grew up in NZ where central heating was for rich poofs, so I enjoy the crisp cool feel

OP posts:

Original poster

Piffle · 05/11/2007 22:15

4 bed house and only £50 pcm in gas

OP posts:

mintydixcharrington · 06/11/2007 07:22

I'm v jealous of all of you with remote sensors in your oil tank
My oil tank is completely ancient, I have to go into the garden, down a path, into another building, and squint at the rusting hulk of a tank (oh yes, it is metal, THAT'S how old it is) where there is a sort of spirit level type thing and go "is that full? No, half empty. No, hang on, that's a dead spider. Oh shit, I think it is empty" and then I bang the side and see when the noise gets a bit hollow..."

don't get one like that, Piff

Piggy · 06/11/2007 08:03

We don't have mains gas here either so have oil fired central heating and hot water. I'm very happy with it - we fill the tank very 8 months or so which is expensive but we live in a big house so gas would be very pricey too. I had far more problems with gas supply in my house in London (lack of pressure, boiler breaking down, carbon monoxide...) than we've ever had with oil. Our tank is hidden away behind a huge circle of bushes and isn't at all noticeable.

Piggy · 06/11/2007 08:06

Minty - you have to update your tank! The remote censor is a dream. It's in our utility room and even flashes at me when we get down to level 1. In our old house I used to get really paranoid about the oil running out and was often to be found banging on the side of the tank.

mintydixcharrington · 06/11/2007 09:19

I def should
the old tank is in an outbuilding that is going to be renovated, so it will have to move (and be triple skinned, and off the ground, and etc etc whatever the law is now)

I'll definitely get a remote sensor, it sounds MARVELLOUS

ChasingSquirrels · 06/11/2007 09:57

i thought they were all metal . remote sensor sounds overkill to me tbh, but it depends how convienently located your tank is.
maybe you are overheating the playhouse CSWS

mintydixcharrington · 06/11/2007 10:18

no they are all thick green plastic and triple skinned now (so they have a capacity MUCH smaller than the actual tank - bit like a thermos flask)

metal ones are highly frowned on and completely illegal to put in as new these days. and actually they do rust through and then you have your own little environmental disaster in your garden (this happened to my BIL, it was a royal pain in the arse, needed to scoop out and dispose of all his topsoil etc) so I really must get round to sorting ours out, which has to be 50++ years old...

irises · 06/11/2007 10:43

We have oil heating, it costs us £145 per month to run, so is q. expensive, and we only have the heating on for a couple of hours a day.

Other than the expense, and remembering to re order (had a very Baltic Christmas once), it's no problem.

Our tank is in a brick outhouse along with the log store and coal stores, tucked along the side of the house.

ChasingSquirrels · 06/11/2007 11:22

ah, our is less than 10 yrs old, and in good condition, dh hammerited it last yr.

lljkk · 06/11/2007 11:56

We have had oil for 3 yrs... Our heating bill is pretty much exactly average for the UK (£700/yr), and we have a detached 4 bed house, so I don't think it actually is any more expensive than gas, nowadays.

Just make sure you know how to reset the level to get right reading (some of the gauges you have to push a button so you know where it's at... we moved in thinking there was loads generously left by previously occupant, but then someone pushed the button and the level fell a lot).

lljkk · 06/11/2007 11:57

Actually, I think our heating bill has gone down from what I just said since we got loads of insulation, don't have a very efficient boiler, either.

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