Oil Fired Central Heating

[winkie]

Looking to move to a house that requires oil for all the heating, is there anything that should be considered and would it be best avoided as have had no experience of this.

Your valued advise and assistance would be most appreciated.

[redwine]

Looking to move to a house that requires oil for all the heating, is there anything that should be considered and would it be best avoided as have had no experience of this.

Your valued advise and assistance would be most appreciated.

I need more info to give you my advice i used to work for Total here in France

Are you talking about central heating ?

What you call oil is nothing more than diesel (you burn diesel to heat up your water and it go's into your central heating )

This system works well as long as oil prices are cheap and it works

On the other hand if you are talking about "oil heaters" stay away

These things eat up the oxygen as you burn the oil and they create dampness you will find that your walls are damp and stink of petrol

You also have to go and buy 25 litre jerrycans full of diesel and top it up as diesel burns very fast

Its a bit like wood heaters wood burns fast so you keep on adding even more wood to keep warm it maybe "cheaper " but in the end you have to burn 3x more than say gaz to keep warm and its dirty as well

I hope that i have helped to give you an idea of what you are letting yourself into

[winkie]

I need more info to give you my advice i used to work for Total here in France

Are you talking about central heating ?

What you call oil is nothing more than diesel (you burn diesel to heat up your water and it go's into your central heating )

This system works well as long as oil prices are cheap and it works

On the other hand if you are talking about "oil heaters" stay away

These things eat up the oxygen as you burn the oil and they create dampness you will find that your walls are damp and stink of petrol

You also have to go and buy 25 litre jerrycans full of diesel and top it up as diesel burns very fast

Its a bit like wood heaters wood burns fast so you keep on adding even more wood to keep warm it maybe "cheaper " but in the end you have to burn 3x more than say gaz to keep warm and its dirty as well

I hope that i have helped to give you an idea of what you are letting yourself into

Not so good then....I think there is a tank at the end of the garden that is filled as and when required...I don't feel very convinced that it is an economical or practical way of heating a cold home in the UK, would a home supplied with gas be a better option...or maybe just get by with a wood burning stove?

[redwine]

Not so good then....I think there is a tank at the end of the garden that is filled as and when required...I don't feel very convinced that it is an economical or practical way of heating a cold home in the UK, would a home supplied with gas be a better option...or maybe just get by with a wood burning stove?

Oil heating is okay a lorry will come and fill up your tank you can burn it (diesel) and you can regulate it etc when you want

The secret is to "buy it" when oil prices are low otherwise its as good as say gaz once you have filled up your tank for the winter the heating bill is paid and thats it you can calculate your winter heating budget

To be honest i don't know anything about wood heating in the UK but where i live here in France there are lots of wood burners

You have to buy "dry " wood sometimes wood can take over a year to "dry" not all wood burns well you have to clean it as well a bit like people that burn coal they have to clean up the ashes

[winkie]

Oil heating is okay a lorry will come and fill up your tank you can burn it (diesel) and you can regulate it etc when you want

The secret is to "buy it" when oil prices are low otherwise its as good as say gaz once you have filled up your tank for the winter the heating bill is paid and thats it you can calculate your winter heating budget

To be honest i don't know anything about wood heating in the UK but where i live here in France there are lots of wood burners

You have to buy "dry " wood sometimes wood can take over a year to "dry" not all wood burns well you have to clean it as well a bit like people that burn coal they have to clean up the ashes

That wood burning smell in the air is something you will never forget...yes the wood has to be dry, the ashes can be worked into the land.

[jackalope]

I had oil fired heating in my fermette Brabançonne (a big square farmhouse built round a courtyard) in Belgium and it was fine. We did about 1,200 eur/year on mazout (oil) and that was in a drafty, not well insulated 5 bedroom house where the f***ing doors were always open because of the dogs.

They key is to have a massive tank so you can get it filled up in the summer when heating oil is cheaper. We also used to get together with 3 or 4 neighbours and all order at the same time to get it a bit cheaper.

[piece of paper]

It's OK in a garage or outside shed but best if the ?boiler? is not in the house. They are a bit noisy and any leaks of fuel are smelly.

Big suppliers assess your usage and top up the tank on a routine basis if you have a contract.

Serviced regularly, it is a better alternative to North Sea/Town gas than LPG, which is eye-wateringly expensive for central heating.

p-o-p

[redwine]

That wood burning smell in the air is something you will never forget...yes the wood has to be dry, the ashes can be worked into the land.

Allez j'ai compris

You seem to be romantic about the smell of wood burners here in the Jura thats all there is wood nothing else but 600 miles of forests that streches up to Germany

I live in a town that is over 800 metres above sea- level the hill in front of my home is over 1200 meters high not alot grows at this altitude so don't bother about working the land here

I see alot of old people here with wood-stoves all they do is to complain about how hard it is for them today (to carry the wood and to clean out the stove to always keep it burning )

People should not be so romantic about rural living its not easy if anything bloody hard work

[vin rouge]

Looking to move to a house that requires oil for all the heating, is there anything that should be considered and would it be best avoided as have had no experience of this.

Your valued advise and assistance would be most appreciated.

Light oil (or red diesel) is used for central heating boilers here in France and mainland Europe, you can also run your tractor on it.

High efficiency UK boilers will normally only run on kerosene (standard UK heating oil).

Averaged over the 30 years I worked in the UK heating industry - till 2006, it had been the cheapest fuel, working out slightly cheaper than mains gas.

Avoid having your oil tank anywhere that a pikey can see it, especially if prices increase again, it will be empty before you know it. particularly if you use red diesel.

[winkie]

Allez j'ai compris

You seem to be romantic about the smell of wood burners here in the Jura thats all there is wood nothing else but 600 miles of forests that streches up to Germany

I live in a town that is over 800 metres above sea- level the hill in front of my home is over 1200 meters high not alot grows at this altitude so don't bother about working the land here

I see alot of old people here with wood-stoves all they do is to complain about how hard it is for them today (to carry the wood and to clean out the stove to always keep it burning )

People should not be so romantic about rural living its not easy if anything bloody hard work

I remember that smell from walking through the white villages of southern Spain in wintertime for many the only form of heating because electric radiators are expensive to run. The wood I think was olive.

Light oil (or red diesel) is used for central heating boilers here in France and mainland Europe, you can also run your tractor on it.

High efficiency UK boilers will normally only run on kerosene (standard UK heating oil).

Averaged over the 30 years I worked in the UK heating industry - till 2006, it had been the cheapest fuel, working out slightly cheaper than mains gas.

Avoid having your oil tank anywhere that a pikey can see it, especially if prices increase again, it will be empty before you know it. particularly if you use red diesel.

It's OK in a garage or outside shed but best if the ?boiler? is not in the house. They are a bit noisy and any leaks of fuel are smelly.

Big suppliers assess your usage and top up the tank on a routine basis if you have a contract.

Serviced regularly, it is a better alternative to North Sea/Town gas than LPG, which is eye-wateringly expensive for central heating.

p-o-p

Thank you, so all is not lost an oil fired high efficiency boiler is an economic alternative to mains gas.

[Caribbean Beauty]

We bought our ancient Norfolk brick and flint cottage in March (for a crazy low credit crunch price of 215k when we haggled using our STR fund to the family of the old lady who had gone into a care home - the neighbour is now selling her smaller home for inflated asking of 325, albeit with lots of viewings and no offers) with oil fired heating and shared all of your worries about it. But we love it now - we had £295 of oil delivered in May to top up the tank and the level is still higher than when we moved in, even with occasional summer use of the central heating. My only regret was not refilling it a month or so ago, and that I will not need to either risk the winter or topup now with higher oil prices. But, the oil company who have been delivering to the prior owner for 20 years told me that their computed records showed that she averaged total payments of £700 per year for all of her oil - I have been draught proofing and insulation like mad as she neglected these essentials for rural cottages, so hope to maintain or reduce her consumption levels.

It powers all hot water as well as the central heating. The best news is that the (noisy and only slightly smelly) boiler is sited in a brick outbuilding, so there is absolute silence in the home and none of the usual clicking on and off and firing sounds you get with gas central heating boilers. As a side benefit our Caribbean outdoor-dwelling imported pet dogs share the boiler shed and love (need) the warmth - I cut and hinged a dog flap in the door and they nip outside for a poo, bark at the neighbours' dogs to remind themselves they are dogs, then scuttle back into the warmth where they spend most of the day and night, mourning for year round 80f+ temps which warmed their old bones!

NB - remember to insist on a service record or get an engineer to come and assess the condition of the boiler, as replacements are not cheap (ours was replaced in 2005 so we felt confident it should last a few years yet). The new efficient condenser boilers are even cheaper to run I am told.

[winkie]

Thank you for that advice CB, happy days.

[Peter Hun]

Looking to move to a house that requires oil for all the heating, is there anything that should be considered and would it be best avoided as have had no experience of this.

Your valued advise and assistance would be most appreciated.

My brother went theough a nightmare trying to get his oil boiler working. Took two years, they simply could not find out the problem.

Its also expensive (gas IS cheaper) and stinks.

[Patfig]

My brother went theough a nightmare trying to get his oil boiler working. Took two years, they simply could not find out the problem.

Its also expensive (gas IS cheaper) and stinks.

But can she cook?

[waitingandsaving]

I would reiterate a previous poster's comment about security - make sure it's at the very least a big hassle to steal the contents of the tank. There are dozens of stories in Norfolk about people who come and steal your oil - I think it's more a winter activity, when the prices are high.

[Patfig]

I would reiterate a previous poster's comment about security - make sure it's at the very least a big hassle to steal the contents of the tank. There are dozens of stories in Norfolk about people who come and steal your oil - I think it's more a winter activity, when the prices are high.

As the British are a nation of thieves this is hardly surprising

[piece of paper]

I remember that smell from walking through the white villages of southern Spain in wintertime for many the only form of heating because electric radiators are expensive to run. The wood I think was olive.

Thank you, so all is not lost an oil fired high efficiency boiler is an economic alternative to mains gas.

One last thing to check for. These do work better with a chimney. I did have one with a balanced flue that was prone to going out if the wind was coming from a particular direction.

p-o-p

[winkie]

One last thing to check for. These do work better with a chimney. I did have one with a balanced flue that was prone to going out if the wind was coming from a particular direction.

p-o-p

Not a very pleasant situation to be in I would imagine.