A tank gone in a month!

ankles

We moved into a 25 yr old a house a month ago. Its detached with an oil burner Sime boiler with a Bentone burner. The tank was empty so we filled it to the brim (€550). Anyway we have gone through almost all of it since then. We were away for a week in the middle, though we had the heat on twice a day whlie away. I know we have insulation problems and of course have had the heat on a lot, but is this normal? Have never had oil before, came from a new buil mid terrace gas burner house which of course was great for heating.

Is it about right to have gone through all that oil?

oppenheimer1

Given that its the coldest winter in 30 years, if the house is poorly insulated, the setting turned up high then yes. It also depends on how many hours a day it was running.

Huggles

What kind of tank is it? We had a very old one and credit to the oilman he refused to fill it as it was riddled with holes. We replaced the iron tank with a more modern "plasticie" one.

ankles

Its a plastic tank. yeah maybe that's just the way of it. We were spoilt in the old (newer) house where we probably lived off the neighbours heat a lot. Need to look at getting insulation done to try and keep some heat in. Anyone have opinions on where to start? Its cavity block so internal insulation is sadly the only way to go. I want to do downstairs first as its where we spend time but she says start with main bedrooms so heat can be turned off up there. Any opinions?

chuck eastwood

I'm having the same problem more or less. moved into a 30 yr old house. Start from the top down. Insulate your attic. make sure your windows and doors have no draft's and if there is get them sorted as any heat you build up in a room will be gone in no time thus your heating thermostat will tell your boiler to keep pumping out the heat. Get a digital thermostat not the old style dial type. they react instantly to temp change.
If your going to be in the house long term and your not confident with plumbing electrics etc get a decent Plumber to check your system over. There plenty of steps you can take to stop your boiler going full pelt all the time.I would think its just set wrong for a start.There is no way in hell you should go through a tank in a month. I'm in the middle of doing all this right now. good luck and let us know how you get on

BarryM

chuck eastwood wrote: »

I'm having the same problem more or less. moved into a 30 yr old house. Start from the top down. Insulate your attic. make sure your windows and doors have no draft's and if there is get them sorted as any heat you build up in a room will be gone in no time thus your heating thermostat will tell your boiler to keep pumping out the heat. Get a digital thermostat not the old style dial type. they react instantly to temp change.

Yea, but several questions - is there/where is the thermostat? Really heavy insulation in the loft number one, asap. What is the square footage and how many floors? definitely get doors tight, fitted carpets are often cheaper than any kind of wall insulation in old Irish houses, draughts around the wall/floor joint is a killer.

If your going to be in the house long term and your not confident with plumbing electrics etc get a decent Plumber to check your system over. There plenty of steps you can take to stop your boiler going full pelt all the time.I would think its just set wrong for a start.There is no way in hell you should go through a tank in a month. I'm in the middle of doing all this right now. good luck and let us know how you get on

+1

Bye, Barry

cnocbui

I would be checking for an oil leak if I had that sort of usage.

Insulation/draft exclusion is number one.

Controlling the boiler with a digital thermostat, instead of just a timer is number two.

Setting the thermostat to no more than 18-20 degrees would be three.

jack of all

Upgrading your loft insulation to 300mm of fibreglass quilt (or similar) should make significant improvements, this is a priority as up to 1/3 of your heat loss is through the roof space. I also think that your oil usage is excessive for only one month, investigate for leaks and have your burner inspected.

theirish

Hi I have a similar question. I have 4 zones in my house 1 for upstairs 1 for down 1 for water and 1 for one back room in the house. My question is the following, should I put one zone on at a time when I need to heat areas or should I turn them all on as the boiler is going anyways. Sorry if it seems like a silly question. Cheers

Naux

ankles wrote: »

We moved into a 25 yr old a house a month ago. Its detached with an oil burner Sime boiler with a Bentone burner. The tank was empty so we filled it to the brim (€550). Anyway we have gone through almost all of it since then. We were away for a week in the middle, though we had the heat on twice a day whlie away. I know we have insulation problems and of course have had the heat on a lot, but is this normal? Have never had oil before, came from a new buil mid terrace gas burner house which of course was great for heating.

Is it about right to have gone through all that oil?

You were away for a week......... methinks your tank had visitors with a hand pump and numerous 5 gallon drums!!

Kerosene thieving is rampant at the moment. Local national school in galway county was cleaned out over christmas 500 to 600 litres:eek:

the mucker

Naux wrote: »

You were away for a week......... methinks your tank had visitors with a hand pump and numerous 5 gallon drums!!

Kerosene thieving is rampant at the moment. Local national school in galway county was cleaned out over christmas 500 to 600 litres:eek:

I wouldnt disagree, an Electric pump 2-300 yards into a Hiace is quite common also.

if you still have high consumption problems before you upgrade your system visit the Sustainable energy Ireland website where they are giving good grants for boiler and insulation upgrades. should meet 1/2 - 2/3 total cost

wilson10

I filled my tank end of November and after the weather we've had I'm afraid to check it.

We always use more over Christmas as everyone's at home and with family visiting you like to keep everyone cosy.

My house is over thirty years old and not very well insulated although we redid the attic a few years back and it made a big difference.

My sister has a similar vintage house and got the walls pumped last summer. It has made a massive difference, so much so that a back boiler does most of her heating with the oil on for only an hour or two in the day, even over the cold spell.

yoshytoshy

Naux wrote: »

Kerosene thieving is rampant at the moment. Local national school in galway county was cleaned out over christmas 500 to 600 litres:eek:

forget about braveheart ,mel gibson should do a mad-max remake here in ireland !:pac:

gsxr1

get a lock for the lid. We had a whole tank pumped dry by you know who.

ankles

Thanks for all the comments. We do have a big attic problem also, it was pretty much raining there with condensation during the freeze, so we have someone coming anyway to look at proper insulation. Might kill two birds with one stone.

Xennon

Get a plumber to do a pressure test on the feed from the tank in case its leaking.

Darando

Get the boiler seviced also - when we had ours serviced it turned to be set for Gas oil and not kerosene (or the other way around)- they burn at different pressures and hence ours was eating through the oil as it was being forced in needlessly. Good oil service guy should be able to tell you what the set up was.

Not sure how much oil that wastes but a good clean and service should help also.

chuck eastwood

Every 4 or 5 months i strip my burner and boiler. simple job, just take out the plates clean them, scrape any soot from the boiler plate's to. If the little injectors look any way dirty get it serviced by a pro

K.O.L

yes if there not a leak from new fitting on the tank more than likely the kerosene has been robbed which is horrible to think that somebody would do that, its possible its covered under the house insurance!!!

franksm

chuck eastwood wrote: »

Every 4 or 5 months i strip my burner and boiler. simple job, just take out the plates clean them, scrape any soot from the boiler plate's to. If the little injectors look any way dirty get it serviced by a pro

Nice idea !
Any on-line 'how to' on such basic maintenance ?

suitseir

Darando wrote: »

Get the boiler seviced also - when we had ours serviced it turned to be set for Gas oil and not kerosene (or the other way around)- they burn at different pressures and hence ours was eating through the oil as it was being forced in needlessly. Good oil service guy should be able to tell you what the set up was.

Not sure how much oil that wastes but a good clean and service should help also.

How often should you get boiler (Firebird room sealed) serviced? I hear conflicting reports....some say once a year, others say every two years is fine if it is fired up occasionally during the summer?