How much do you spend on heating oil?

clarea

We currently spend roughly €1800 a year on heating oil and I would be interested to hear how much others spend. Obviously it is subjective to how many radiators are on etc but just to give me a rough idea. Ideally I'd appreciate hearing from people who are at home during all day as I am. Our house is freezing, even with the radiators on (just checked the thermometer and it's 14 here in the living room!) The thermostat on the boiler is set to 65 and I have the timer switched to be on for an hour then off for an hour. We're renting the house and hope to move soon as it's too cold to put up with any more. It's one thing to be spending so much if we were warm in here, but entirely another when we're freezing!!!!

Sparkpea

When I had oil heating last year I spent about £1,200.

You shouldn't have your heating set to be on for an hour then off for an hour then back on it will use loads more oil than having it on constantly for those 3 hours. The burner uses more oil to heat cool water than it does to reheat warm water that has just dropped in temperature a little.

astra2000

Hi op we used about 1800lt last year approx 900 to 1000euro . I am at home all day and ther is also an open fire with back boiler going. Our house would be kept warm it is approx 1800sq ft and there are 14 rads some doubles. I think in this cold weather you need to leave heating on for longer than an hour, you may be better off leaving it on for a few hours and off for longer or leaving it on a lower heat for longer.

MrThrifty

We spend ~600 quid a year on oil but that's coz of my name. Not a very comfortable existance though - our kitchen is ~11 deg at the mo but it'll get a bit warmer when the heating kicks in (on for ~3 hrs total per day)! Main problem in our house is that the exterior walls are cavity block and crap from an insulation point of view. Upstairs is always much warmer (dormer bungalow) and not coz heat rises but simply coz of the plasterboard and attic insulation.

Sparkpea, I could be wrong but... I have a feeling what you're saying is not quite right. It's a lot easier to heat cold water by a few degrees than warm water for example. Similarly, the rads will dissipate heat much more effectively the bigger the temperature difference between them and the room. And if your boiler is continuously turning on and off over 3 hours then this can't be good. I suspect it really depends on the type of boiler and also whether the goal is to keep the house temperature above a partiular level all the time or just for periods of the day. Having said that, I'd like for you to be right coz then I'd be more enclined to have the boiler on for longer!!!

Lex Luthor

1000 litres at the end of Nov and 1000 litres middle of Feb. Been like that for last 5yrs consitently since I put in the stat in the hall to control the on/off times/temp of the heating. 5 bed semi with approx 1550sqft

Paid €660 other day for the 1000

Sparkpea

MrThrifty wrote: »

Sparkpea, I could be wrong but... I have a feeling what you're saying is not quite right. It's a lot easier to heat cold water by a few degrees than warm water for example. Similarly, the rads will dissipate heat much more effectively the bigger the temperature difference between them and the room. And if your boiler is continuously turning on and off over 3 hours then this can't be good. I suspect it really depends on the type of boiler and also whether the goal is to keep the house temperature above a partiular level all the time or just for periods of the day. Having said that, I'd like for you to be right coz then I'd be more enclined to have the boiler on for longer!!!

depends on alot of things really, size of house, style of house, insulation, boiler rating, heating controls, windows, etc. my new smaller house with gas is costing me just over £50 a month for heating on 24/7 and that includes gas cooking. breakdown of the last month @ http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056104107

Plombier

I have a feeling what you're saying is not quite right. It's a lot easier to heat cold water by a few degrees than warm water for example

No it takes 4186 joules the raise 1kg of water by 1 deg. so to raise 100 ltrs. from 10 to 20 degrees takes the same energy as raising 100 ltrs. from 60 to 70 degrees.

MrThrifty

Plombier wrote: »

No it takes 4186 joules the raise 1kg of water by 1 deg. so to raise 100 ltrs. from 10 to 20 degrees takes the same energy as raising 100 ltrs. from 60 to 70 degrees.

Oops, you're right! Sorry, I was thinking of heat flow and not energy.

Sparkpea, I'd agree with the comments in your last post. Seems to be a lot of debate in general out there about the best way to run a boiler! E.g. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=581593

freddyuk

For radiators your boiler temperature is too low. Chances are it is struggling to heat the rooms and then it turns off again. It should be set to 70 - 80c.
You should at least have Thermostatic radiator valves to then control the temperatures in each room as this is the easiest and cheapest option plus room stats if you do not have them. As it is a rental then chances are the system has no real controls and is wasting energy / oil.
Of course insulation is always the first consideration so if there is non in the attic you are going to struggle to keep heat in.
Tell the Landlord to spend a few euro or look for new tenants.

celiam

our house was the same so we got cavity wall insulation installed this year and increased our attic insulation. I know this is outside your control as you rent but i thought landlords had to have a ber cert if they wish to rent. I dont know if it is possible for you to heat the living areas of your home during the day and only turn on heat to the bedrooms at night this might save you some money

Biglad

MrThrifty wrote: »

We spend ~600 quid a year on oil but that's coz of my name. Not a very comfortable existance though - our kitchen is ~11 deg at the mo but it'll get a bit warmer when the heating kicks in (on for ~3 hrs total per day)! Main problem in our house is that the exterior walls are cavity block and crap from an insulation point of view. Upstairs is always much warmer (dormer bungalow) and not coz heat rises but simply coz of the plasterboard and attic insulation.

Sparkpea, I could be wrong but... I have a feeling what you're saying is not quite right. It's a lot easier to heat cold water by a few degrees than warm water for example. Similarly, the rads will dissipate heat much more effectively the bigger the temperature difference between them and the room. And if your boiler is continuously turning on and off over 3 hours then this can't be good. I suspect it really depends on the type of boiler and also whether the goal is to keep the house temperature above a partiular level all the time or just for periods of the day. Having said that, I'd like for you to be right coz then I'd be more enclined to have the boiler on for longer!!!

Are you serious? 11c and "it will get a bit warmer", that must be a joke, please tell me you are spoofing? Temperatures that low are very unhealthy and even dangerous if subjected to for longer periods.

I know it's not oil but we have a newish 2500sqft house, UFH throughout, pellet burner and we spend on average between 1400 and 1500 Euro a year on pellets. The average daytime temperature is set for 20c and night time is set for 17c. Pellets are also used for domestic hot water, we do not have electric showers. We have 2 small children and all our rooms are set to be comfortable.

You get tired of people stating that they spend so little on oil or whatever, they have a warm kitchen and everywhere else you need a bloody coat, or they burn tonnes of turf and coal. let's get real here people, with a winter like last year and this year nobody can keep a house comfortable with 600 Euro's worth of oil, unless it's a dolls house.

Mad_Mike

Having lived in a few houses, both new build with insulation etc and old cavity block with feck all insulation, I would say a rough guide is the following.........

€1 per sq ft per year for an old house with little or no insulation
Approx half that or a little more (60%) for a new build with good insulation
(This would tie in with Biglad's example......2,500sq ft @60c per sq ft per year is €1,500)


Again, you HAVE to bear in mind, some people like Mr Thrifty will live in VERY low temps, while others will have it scorching all year round. I'm kinda going for a middle of the road temperature/comfort here.

Other factors come into play also, such as fuel used, fuel prices etc, but like I said, it should give a ROUGH idea

carolinespring

We are at work all day and the heating come on at 6am and off again at 9am back on at 4 and on until 11pm (at the moment)

We pay 150 euro DD per month and last year we had 3 fills. Large(ish) house, 2 story and for some reason our main bathroom is always bloody freezing. Rad on full but never feels very hot unlike all the others. have bled it.

TheUsual

Ok if you rent a house you cannot do anything expensive but three things you can do are ...

1. Bleed the radiators, when I moved into this house all the radiators were full of air and only got heat halfway up them. You need a key which the hardware shops will have.

2. Any strong draughts like at the front and back doors or at the patio doors, you can put down mats and plastic seals that you buy at the hardware shop. Just use it for the winter and throw them away in the Spring.

3. If you don't use a room, turn the radiator off, or maybe just turn the radiator on/off when you need to use the room.

Payton

We spend around €700 per year including the new levies and the way oil has creeped up as if nobody has noticed. We live a standard 2 story semi detatched its about 27 yrs old. The attic is well insulated approx 8inchs, and im in the prosess of getting quotes to get the cavity walls insulated and avail of the grants that are out there. Our heating runs from 6am to 8am then 4pm to 9pm and I have to say its warm. Small things to do when the heating is on are close the doors even the bedrooms ones, if a bedroom is not used lower the rad down a bit, Ive put the foil back insulation behind the rads to deflect the heat back into the rooms. Take a couple of hours just to find out where the little draughts from window sills, skirting are coming in and if possible seal them with mastic or big ones with expaning foam.

MrThrifty

Biglad, I'm not spoofing at all. And I'm certainly not saying the house is warm! The reality is that we all have our budgets and 11degC plus a few extra layers of clothing has to suffice in this case. Granted it's not ideal from a health point of view but that's life in my case. Unfortunately there were a lot of houses built in the last 10 years in my opinion with very little interest given to insulation and draught-proofing etc. This to me is the fundamental issue in my case. The difference between my house and an older timber-framed house up the road is scary - and believe me or not, they have their heating (just oil-fired boiler) on for less than I do per day. Both houses are detached and comparable in size – 3 bedrooms. The difference as I see it is that the owners in this case were involved in the build themselves and applied some common-sense, unlike what seems to be the case for houses that were 'built to sell' at the time.

To carolinespring, cold bathrooms are most likely caused by cold air coming in from the outside via an extractor fan vent. For some strange reason, one-way ‘valves’ do not appear to be installed as standard as part of the extractor fan ducting and so, depending on the wind direction, you often get a nice cold draught coming in from outside. However, you can buy the one-way yokes from DIY stores and possibly fit them either inline with the ducting or at the vent on the outside wall of the house where the ducting leads to, depending on the building setup. Most DIY or electrical stores have them. Another cause of cold bathrooms is draughts coming up through the drain pipes of baths or showers that aren’t used much where the water in the S-bend has dried up.

Biglad

Mr. Thrifty; your original post gave very little indication as to why your are living in those temperatures, and if it's born out of circumstances than I understand it all a bit better, recession sucks. I agree. I also agree with the whole insulation issue, that's where it all should start. The old aero board insulation was still used up till recent I believe. We have 60mm kingspan in all our cavities and as we are in a "self build" I could make sure nor corners were cut.

I hope things improve for you in the near future.