Oil fired Central Heating - tell me something about it.

[fruitstick]

We are in the process of buying a house which has oil fired heating. I know nothing about it (am stereotypical townie moving to a village).

It scares me! How does it work? Is it a nightmare?

My friend has it and it (and the Aga) runs off a tank in the garden. Don't know much about it but they have been struggling with the price of oil recently, though a little better on the most recent refill. They spend about 2.5k a year on oil for the boiler and Aga, though obviously the Aga uses the most as on all the time.

We have it since moving last year. We have a tank that was full when we moved in and we've probably had about 1.5 tanks since then...it works really well and we haven't had any problems (I have now totally jinxed myself of course and we'll all be freezing by 6 tonight).
I know that some people (on other threads) had mentioned about hot water taking longer to heat but I haven't noticed that either.

Really hasn't been an issue for us...though I can't comment on the aga as we don't have one!

We moved from town to village about 18 months ago - and now have oil fired heating (and LPG cylinders for the gas hob, and (horrors) a septic tank)
The heating is no problem..you will have a tank somewhere (old ones are metal, newer ones are plastic, metal ones need to be maintained so they don't rust and leak), ours is 2500 litres but I think most are a lot smaller. There will be a gauge on the side of the tank so you know how much is in there - or you can get a 'watchman' which sits in the tank and beams the amount into a receiver in your house. Don't let the tank run dry or the gunky bits will go into your boiler and block the filters.
Most tanks are in situations where a tanker can fill them up without you being there (ours is in a complicated place involving gates being unlocked which is great to prevent oil theft (which is supposed to be on the increase) but means I have to arrange oil delivery when there is someone at home.
You pay for the oil either monthly and they deliver when you are running low, or (like us) you watch the oil price avidly (www.boilerjuice.com) and when it falls you ring round the local firms and order a few hundred litres. Prices decrease as the amount you order increases so we try to order at least 1000litres at a time.
We have had no problems with the boiler - it is very quick to heat up etc. We did have to pay for a 'fire-stop' valve which should have been put in when it was installed (it cuts off the link to the oil tank if there is a fire so preventing oil being sucked into the house and increasing the fire. We have the boiler serviced once a year and they replace the 'nozzle' (whatever that is).
Can't think of anything else, but it certainly isn't a nightmare, and our alternative would be electric heating - which I'm guessing will be even more expensive.

millarkie (or anyone else) can I crash this thread and ask about LPG gas for the hob and cess pit. Nightmare or not?

we have it (no gas in the village).
We have a 1,200 litre tank I think, usually get a 1,000 litre delivery but obviously don't run it completely dry.
Boiler requires annual service (but presumably the maint cost side is really no different to gas?).
Just need to keep an eye on the oil level, which you do quite religiously for a year or so, and then you get an idea of how long your oil lasts.
We have a newish (10 yr-old) 4-bed house and fill our tank about twice a year - the summer tank lasts about 8mo and the winter one 4m.
Prices have gone up alot in the last few years - 20p a litre in Jan 04, 42p in Feb 08
Must go and check the level if I last filled in Feb!. We now have chickens in the front garden and it is going to be a pita to clear a way for the supply pipe to come through.

Gloria - we have 2 big LPG cylinders outside the house, we have lived her 18 months and so far have not had to do anything about replacing them (have asked the neighbours where they get their's from so we are ready though).
We have septic tank rather than cess pit - septic tanks digest the waste into water (which runs off into underground seepers and thus waters the garden) and leaves behind sludge (the non-biodegradable stuff)..if you get the balance right you don't need to empty a septic tank - however we had ours emptied in the summer (about £70, local council organises it) so we could check that it was structurally sound. Dh has got to replace a couple of manhole covers (which he can do himself but would be a small job for a builder otherwise) but then our tank is 40years old at least.
Only hassles are that you can't flush anything other than loo roll (waitrose sell scented bags for sanitary items that need to be binned rather than flushed) and you should try to avoid using bleach (it kills off the good bacteria ) so we use Parazone which is septic tank friendly, and if I mop the floor with discinfectant I tip the bucket into the garden rather than down the drain.
Was slightly more hassle to explain this all to our nanny/au pair/cleaner/guests and hope that they comply but I like not having a huge water bill (cos you don't have to pay for drainage/sewers).

Millarke, that's quite good only having two tanks, but keep an eye on them as they run out very fast and then you may have to wait a week before the next delivery.
Found that out when we first moved here!
We have 2 banks of 3 large LPG cylinders and we now have a system of ordering all 6 cylinders in May (they are not used until Sept/Oct.
Then we turn one bank of 3 and when that one is used up, we order in the next lot of 3 cylinders costs almost £300 and then we switch to the other bank.
Last winter we had 6 deliveries so all 6 cylinders were changed 3 times.
We can't have oil as the tank would have to go into my veg patch!

Ripeberry, our 2 tanks are just for the gas hob - we have oil heating. There is some sort of switch valve on top and I am hoping that when the first tank runs out we will need to manually switch to the second tank, so we will have a good year's notice (since we have been on the same tank for 18 months and haven't run out yet) to order the re-fill. (that's how dh thinks the valves work anyway, if it's drawing on both tanks at the same time we might end up with 2 empty tanks but we have an electric aga to cook on in an emergency)

(Honestly, no hassle at all )

For people thinking of buying a house with oil/lpg etc I recomment asking (via solicitor if needs be) how much the current owners spend on oil etc - they people we bought from were great and left a list of useful numbers including oil suppliers/service engineers so we didn't feel too overwhelmed.

Millarkie are you me ?

We have exactly the same arrangement.

Watch it, though - You would be well advised to manually turn off one of the LPG tanks so that you know when one runs out - we thought ours worked as you have described until the hob stopped

Also agree re making sure oil doesn't run out - we did that one too

well I might be you, or your evil twin

Thanks for tip about turning off a gas cylinder, will do so (or at least try)

I feel much better thank you for all the advice. I think I had visions of having to get up at 5am to stoke something!

I have a 2500 litre tank that I get topped up when I can get 2000 litres in it, as the price drops then. I pay by dd over a year, so about £60 per month, depending on the oil price. If I overpay then I have money to set against the next tank of oil.

I changed from bottled LPG to oil as it was cheaper and more convenient. My range does the cooking, hot water and central heating all in one (it's called a Stanley) and is fab, especially for warming your bum when drinking your coffee on a slightly chilly morning!

I have oil and pay by monthly dd - £90 I think.

We are thinking of having tank buried as it's a bit of an eyesore.

1. It is expensive
2. The boiler needs an annual service
3. It is easy to run out at an inopportune moment so best to order and pay by dd
4. Average 28sec oil price is currently 50-60p per litre

omg is it that much now!