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Original poster

Does heating oil also do hot water?

24 replies

allgoneaway · 07/03/2022 06:49

Help! We recently moved to a new house (rented) which has heating oil instead of gas. We are nearly out of oil but the cost of a refill has jumped from £500 to £1,400 and we can't afford it. We can manage with heating but not hot water. Does anyone know if the oil is likely to run the hot water too?

OP posts:

Original poster

allgoneaway · 07/03/2022 06:50

Sorry, should read 'we can manage without heating'

OP posts:

Marmite27 · 07/03/2022 06:51

My parents does.

Panicmode1 · 07/03/2022 06:52

It does in my parents' house, yes. What sort of boiler do you have? Do you have mains gas? If not, I would imagine it is doing the water too, yes. Can you pay in installments?

Mumdiva99 · 07/03/2022 06:53

Yes. It will heat the water.

I don't know ow much about buying oil but can you just buy half a tank?

There may also be an electric emersion heater but the price of electricity has jumped too.....so probably isn't any more efficient.

RealRaymondReddington · 07/03/2022 06:54

Yes usually it does both. If you can't afford a full refill you can usually buy less. It will work out a little more per litre, but it's better than having none. Also, you need to always have at least a little in the tank or it can mess up your boiler, which may be more expensive to fix.

Laughsandgiggles · 07/03/2022 06:55

I've always been on oil in various houses and it does both heating and hot water.
I presume you only have one boiler?
That pricing sounds like 1000 litres? (Or even filling tank) Minimum delivery is usually 500 litres which would be plenty if only for hot water.

User76745333 · 07/03/2022 06:55

Yes it also runs the hot water. Do you have an immersion heater? That could be switched on to head the water using h electricity but it’s generally an expensive way to heat water. Not sure whether it’s still more expensive at the moment given how much oil has jumped in price.

If you’re out of oil though you need to order now before it goes even higher since you can ruin your boiler and heating system by letting it run dry.

RampantIvy · 07/03/2022 06:57

Can you adjust the heating controls on your boiler or on the unit that controls the heating to just heat water? I would have thought that this was an option because you don't have the heating on in summer.

Or just turn the room thermostat down so the heating doesn't come on.

Panicmode1 · 07/03/2022 07:03

Another thought - in some areas there are 'collective fuel' groups where several houses buy oil together so it's (a bit) cheaper....but unfortunately, I think that the price of energy is only going one way, so using an electric immersion heater (even if you had one) isn't going to be less costly 😌

Original poster

allgoneaway · 07/03/2022 07:03

Thanks everyone. I thought that might be the case. Yes, I can order half a tank but was hoping to ride it out to the spring when the prices got lower (being ridiculously optimistic here!). I also thought the oil price might settle once the shock of war had passed. Anyone got a crystal ball??

OP posts:

2DogsOnMySofa · 07/03/2022 07:04

Yes it does, out oil tank heats the water and the central heating.

User76745333 · 07/03/2022 07:05

No crystal ball but I suspect the war is going to be long and drawn out and even if by some miracle the Ukrainians managed to win (which tbh is extremely unlikely), we’re unlikely to immediately let the Russians off and lift sanctions.

Oil prices are unlikely to drop within the next few months.

Wagsandclaws · 07/03/2022 07:06

Sadly not nor am I expecting it to come down. We
Just had a delivery 3 weeks ago and it was £400 odd, it's now £500!

Yes oil tanks generally heat water so you might just be best off putting in the minimum
500 litres.

2DogsOnMySofa · 07/03/2022 07:06

There are a few price comparison sites, such as boiler juice who will get you the best price. Ours has gone up by about 20% since the last time we filled up, so your hike seems excessive.

Pascha · 07/03/2022 07:34

There is an oil company local to us which sells oil by the 20l can to get you out of a hole as deliveries are around a 2 week wait here. It is more expensive though. I think you should bite the bullet and order 500l. Using the immersion will be more expensive to run.

Ceebeegee · 07/03/2022 10:06

It depends on your set up, but if you have a hot water cylinder (that is usually heated by the oil boiler), you should be able to turn the emersion on and have hot water off the electric emersion.

purplesequins · 07/03/2022 10:11

depends.
some do (similar to combi boiler)

if you have a power shower that would heat the water as well. but uses shitloads of electricity (like 50p or so per 5 min shower).

when our bathroom was redone we used camping solar showers (basically black plastic bags filled with water that warm up in the sun) but I don't think those are feasible in uk winter.

StrawberryPot · 07/03/2022 10:21

We have oil which does heating and hot water. However we also have an emersion heater which we've used when we've accidentally run out of oil.

I sympathise - oil is horrifically expensive and I'm expecting it to go up in price not down.

We seem to need a refill every couple of months in the winter, though thankfully not in the summer.

User0610134049 · 07/03/2022 10:27

Ours does but we have back up immersion heaters too so worth checking if you do

We have same dilemma, price is crazy right now and as weather improves we can manage on a lot less oil/no heating etc. so could eek out what we have left. But are prices going to keep climbing/might it get hard to get hold of? Should we top up now? Or wait out the craziness! Probably can last all summer if we have to. It’s so hard to know

Soontobe60 · 07/03/2022 10:36

Just turn on the hot tap, go to the boiler and see if it’s fired up!

Yewtown · 07/03/2022 10:50

Your oil boiler will heat your hot water. It's not instantaneous like a gas boiler so ignore the post about turning on the hot tap. You should be able to just heat the water without turning on the heat. You also don't need to fill the tank each time just order whatever the minimum delivery is. Reduce the time the heating is on and turn down the thermostat by a degree or two.

WeAreTheHeroes · 07/03/2022 10:54

Whatever you decide to do, don't let the oil level in the tank drop too low as this can cause boiler problems. Also make sure the tank is secure as the rising prices may well lead to increases of thefts from oil tanks, especially if someone has seen you get a delivery. I don't want to be the voice of doom, but protect yourselves.

mindutopia · 07/03/2022 15:57

It depends on how your system is set up, so I'm not sure anyone can answer this for you. In our house, our water is heated by solar panels and also electric (if not enough sun). Our oil boiler doesn't do anything to the water. In another previous house, it was oil heated, but also had an emergency electric switch so you could heat from electricity if you needed.

HappyAsASandboy · 07/03/2022 18:03

We have an oil boiler that we use for heating and hot water in the winter.

During the summer, we switch off the boiler and use the immersion heater to heat hot water for baths/showers when we want it. We use water from the kettle if we need a small amount of water for washing up etc.

If you want to wait to buy oil (and I don't blame you!) then see if you have an immersion heater and think about how often you'd have to put it on.

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