Oil instead of Gas...

[thefirstcut]

Hi There

I have just found the most amazing property which ticks all of our boxes...
Although the Lane only has access to Oil instead of Gas.

I have never come across this before, is it much different to Gas central heating, I'm aware a delivery either annually or every 6 months to fill a tank in the garden. But what else can I expect? Or is there anything I need to know?

It's a 5bed 4bath property, does anyone have similar who can advise on a rough cost?

Thank you in advance, I'm just wary of offering before I fully understand what it involves 😅

If you want it can be just like gas but more price variation (forget about ordering and open an account and monthly payment with a supplier who keep the tank topped up).

If you want it a bit cheaper you can deal with ordering yourself as and when prices and cash flow suit.

Servicing is generally cheaper as anyone competent can do it without so many certifications.

Prices for oil are more variable than gas. In the last twelve months ive heard quotes between 15p and £1.20 a litre. But so long as you have a decent sized tank you can aim to fill in summer when prices tend to be lower. The more you order at a time the cheaper it tends to be. Most domestic tanks around us are 2000-2500 litres, in more urban areas they tend to be much smaller which means more frequent and more expensive top ups (1100 litre tanks are common).

We use about 2000l a year for a three bed two bath detached house on a north facing exposed slope. I know of people who use that in three months over winter though.

Our last house had oil CH and water heating. The main difference was arranging deliveries and paying a lump sum rather than having it automatically supplied and paying a monthly amount. Otherwise it was very similar. Prices have gone up a lot recently but then so has gas.

Thank you both, that has helped a lot.

Have had both. Oil is fine.

I’ve always had oil. I like it. I like that I know the next few months heat are paid for. We have ours filled twice a year. Prices are higher than ever at the moment! Does the house have a wood burner or fire to help heat and save on oil?

One thing that’s important- is the tank easily viewed/accessible- sometimes oil ta lane can be emptied by thieves if they’re easy to access. I expect that might happen more now that it’s so expensive. My tank is a pain to get at, so hasn’t been stolen, yet my neighbours have had theirs stolen a few times (their tank is visible from the lane, just over a low wall).

moved to a house with oil last year , was concerned like you , no trouble whatsoever, filled up 1000 litres this year , we change the oil tank for a newer one which was about £2000 but we knew it needed doing before buying, just phoned few companies or look on boiler juices when we see our meter going down, it reads how much is left in tank , I would recommend, When it gets down from 8 bars to 3 we top up, our tank holds 1300 litres

Forgot to say put lock on tank and take off when delivery due

We live in an area with no gas supply. On a day to day basis there's no noticeable difference. You just need to make sure you don't run out!
We are in a village fuel cooperative- a number of us order together and it brings the price down a bit.
Oil theft is quite a big issue at the moment with it being so expensive so a decent lock is important.

It’s easy. Just make sure you don’t run out as you don’t want sludge in The boiler from bottom of tank. Oil boilers are a bit smellier I think than gas, but ours is fairly old. They go on for years. You can get boilers that go outside.

We’ve got a wifi link to the tank so you can see how full it is without dipping a stick in it. We don’t have a lock as tank fairly out of sight.

Keep meaning to set up an automatic fill from oil company.

I really wouldn't have any concerns. It is very normal in rural or even semi rural areas. I'd make sure the oil tank is in good condition - a modern plastic one not the old metal type. Get one of the ultrasonic gauges if there isn't one already and then you have a plug in monitor in the house that tells you the oil level.
I personally wouldn't go on an automatic top up service. It's convenient but you are unlikely to get the best price. We are part of a large, local group that orders weekly and gets a good deal. It means we can order as little as 500l at the same price as a larger amount which is not normally the case.So we usually top up when the tank gets below 1/2 full.

Thank you everyone for your replies. You've all reassured me that it's normal and they work well. It looked pretty modern from what I had seen on viewing so will just need to make sure we get a lock as it's not particularly visible but nonetheless.

@Honeyroar yes, there is a big wood burner in one of the main central rooms downstairs 🙂

I thought the problem with oil at the moment is that that it has no price cap, unlike gas and electricity.

@wildasthewind

Forgot to say put lock on tank and take off when delivery due

I wouldn’t lock it - thieves will drill a hole in the tank to steal the oil and you will end up needing to replace both the oil and the tank.

Oil had been fine but you are at the mercy of oil prices with no energy cap. For example in the 7 years we’ve lived here at one point we paid 28p a litre, and then recently it has been £1 or just over (now about 90p). So it probably wouldn’t be good for someone who needed predictability in their energy costs: but if you have a wood burner too that’s good. And Check if there is a back up hot water electric immersion heater as that’s been good for us when the oil boiler had played up; and we also thought with oil prices going crazy it might be cheaper for us to heat water once a day electrically in the summer if it came to it and really cut back on the oil.

But overall has been nothing to worry about, probably the main thing is it’s been slightly harder to find engineers for the boiler but your neighbours will have people they use.

We also learnt the hard way it’s good to have a gauge. We’ve got a plug in thing in the kitchen that shows the tank level by linking wirelessly to a device in the tank that projects an infrared beam down to detect the level. wasn’t very expensive from Amazon

@MiniDaffodils 😲

@User0610134049 thank you, you have some good points here.

And we use the oil club online
I like it because they email when they’re doing an order and so then it prompts us to think about whether we need to order. Like other club schemes they get a good price by doing bulk orders.

One more thought. You do need to get your oil boiler serviced annually. You should do with gas as well, but with oil it's more important as the burner can block up with soot and once that happens it won't work. apparently since new eco rules came this happens more than it used to - ironically.