Incredibly thristy heating system...advice please!

boluda

Hi there

We've moved into a new rental place about 4 months ago. House is great and has a large open plan living/kitchen area. There is an Aga in the kitchen and underfloor heating throughout the house.

Since we've moved in, we have had 4 x 500 litre fills plus a 200 litre - total cost approx €1700. This is WAY above what we can afford and seems astronomical to us! When we were using the system properly, the Aga was on 24hrs a day and underfloor heating a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night, max 6 hours a day.

We then turned the Aga off a month ago in order to try reduce the oil consumption but 200 litres of oil disappeared in 2 weeks. Now the Aga and the underfloor heating is off, and its horribly cold!

My feeling is that the underfloor heating was never installed correctly. We have someone coming out to look at it tomorrow. We cannot afford to keeping paying this level of costs as we have already stretched ourselves to move into this house.

Aside from my whining about being cold, does anybody know which of the two is the more oil thirsty, the underfloor heating (house is approx 1600 sq/ft) or the Aga which stupidly is set up to only heat the Aga, not water or heating.

Also, anybody ever come across similar, any suggestions/advice welcome

Thank you

KOJAK_1

Any chance there is an oil leak. Losing 200L when oil was off would look like a leak. Where I work the boss had a similar complaint for ages and finally traced a major source of the problem to a leak. Always blamed the inefficient heating system until he spotted a leak when the oil eventually came to the surface.

BengaLover

I had a similar problem and had the rads balanced and the boiler serviced, and oil seems to last longer.

boluda

Yes wondered that and hope the plumber tomorrow can spot something if there is. The heating wasn't off, the Aga was off but underfloor heating on 2 hours in morn and 2 hours in evening. Regardless, 200 l in 2 weeks is crazy.
If there was a leak, wouldnt there be a strong smell of oil though?

nophd08

boluda wrote: »

Yes wondered that and hope the plumber tomorrow can spot something if there is. The heating wasn't off, the Aga was off but underfloor heating on 2 hours in morn and 2 hours in evening. Regardless, 200 l in 2 weeks is crazy.
If there was a leak, wouldnt there be a strong smell of oil though?

Did the house have a BER cert? Does attic have sufficient insulation. Where is boiler located, ie indoor, outdoor, in shed away from house. Is it a condensing boiler. AFIK underfloor is more efficient if left running 24/7 at lowest setting but house needs to have room stats. Some of the plumbers on here should advise you.
If its not a leak I'd be looking for somewhere else to rent.;)

PhilipJ

Hi,
This is a very interesting thread to me.
I have a house that is 3000 sq foot. The last 6 months i have gone through 2000 litres of kerosene. The house is 5 years old and very well insulated.
I have never gone through so much oil as i have had in the last 6 months and the heating is on the same amount hours, approx 3-4 hours per day weekdays and maybe 6 hours per day at the weekends maximum, other years i went through approx 1600-1800litres per year.
The boiler is serviced every year, downstairs is set to 21 degrees, upstairs set to 19 degrees and all radiators are regulated.
I am at a stage of wondering if kerosene the same quality of kerosene this year i.e if its a lesser quality grade and burning easier? is that possible?

heinbloed

Boluda wrote:

When we were using the system properly, the Aga was on 24hrs a day and underfloor heating a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night, max 6 hours a day.

You're not using the heating system

properly

. The UFH is supposed to run 24 h per day.
What is the return temperature from the UFH ?
Why is the thermal source (boiler) running 24 hours per day ?

boluda

PhilipJ wrote: »

Hi,
This is a very interesting thread to me.
I have a house that is 3000 sq foot. The last 6 months i have gone through 2000 litres of kerosene. The house is 5 years old and very well insulated.
I have never gone through so much oil as i have had in the last 6 months and the heating is on the same amount hours, approx 3-4 hours per day weekdays and maybe 6 hours per day at the weekends maximum, other years i went through approx 1600-1800litres per year.
The boiler is serviced every year, downstairs is set to 21 degrees, upstairs set to 19 degrees and all radiators are regulated.
I am at a stage of wondering if kerosene the same quality of kerosene this year i.e if its a lesser quality grade and burning easier? is that possible?

I've heard stories of kerosene being stolen from oil tanks...? Whilst it is a possibility here I really dont believe thats the case as I am here most of the time.

boluda

heinbloed wrote: »

Boluda wrote:



You're not using the heating system . The UFH is supposed to run 24 h per day.
What is the return temperature from the UFH ?
Why is the thermal source (boiler) running 24 hours per day ?

The house doesnt have a BER cert. Certainly we never got one but its an old house originally (now just the bedrooms) and extension done 6 years ago. We are now seeing many issues that were never completed when the house was built. The thermostats for the under floor heating have not been properly installed therefore we've been told by the (cowboy) who installed it not to touch them as the temp is being regulated by the boiler gage. He has it set to 65%. As a result, we have not had the UFH on 24/7 as A. It would be way too hot and B. The cost fear.

I had heard that UFH should be on 24/7 but the way its been installed here makes that impossible.

The boiler is located just outside the house.

[Why is the thermal source (boiler) running 24 hours per day ?]

Not sure I understand this question...the boiler isnt running 24/7, only when UFH heating is on which as I said we had only on a few hours p/day. The Aga didnt seem to affect the boiler.

heinbloed

He has it set to 65%.

What temperature has the circulated water when it comes back to the boiler? In degrees Celsius?

( If " 65% " means 65 degrees Celsius return temperature and an oil condensing boiler is used as thermal supply you should NOT use this boiler. You're running a heavy risk of killing yourself, setting the house ablaze.
Condensing boilers MUST condense to be run in a safe modus.)

Get a heating engineer in.

boluda

Pretty sure its not a condenser boiler. In that (excuse my ignorance to this exact topic ) steam is released from the boiler outside when in use.

What temp it is set to I have no idea, nowhere I have seen a thermostat or temp gage in operation. This 65% ... I guess he is referring to its efficiency, but as I said, cowboy....

I hope the guy coming out tonight can help us out.

Thanks for advice thus far.