Trying to reduce Oil consumption and electricity costs

GatsbyGal

Our electric and oil consumption is going thru the roof cost wise these days. I am looking into replacing our now defunct boiler with a more efficient grant vortex. I'm going to change electricity providers also depending on who is giving the best rates and sign up deals. Electric Ireland seem to be giving a €175 sign up bonus and nest thermostat for €99 installed. This seems like a good deal. I have checked the other providers but this seems like the best deal out there at the moment. Are there any other good sign up deals that I may have missed? Thanks.

oppenheimer1

GatsbyGal wrote: »

Our electric and oil consumption is going thru the roof cost wise these days. I am looking into replacing our now defunct boiler with a more efficient grant vortex. I'm going to change electricity providers also depending on who is giving the best rates and sign up deals. Electric Ireland seem to be giving a €175 sign up bonus and nest thermostat for €99 installed. This seems like a good deal. I have checked the other providers but this seems like the best deal out there at the moment. Are there any other good sign up deals that I may have missed? Thanks.

Presumably you've done all the simple efficiency measures? Changed bulbs to led? Insulated attic and walls? Improved airtightness? Closed up open chimneys?

Electric heavy users are anything with heating element, so power showers, immersion, tumble dryer use should be reduced. If you are heating water anyway a pumped shower off the tank is better than an electric shower.

GatsbyGal

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Presumably you've done all the simple efficiency measures? Changed bulbs to led? Insulated attic and walls? Improved airtightness? Closed up open chimneys?

Electric heavy users are anything with heating element, so power showers, immersion, tumble dryer use should be reduced. If you are heating water anyway a pumped shower off the tank is better than an electric shower.

Thanks. Yes we have insulated attic and pumped walls. We had an inset stove installed last year in the fireplace. Next on the list is the boiler replacement and then windows looked at. Maybe they need tightening but we will have someone in to see what our best option is with them.

mickdw

Not to sure myself about the push to swap in new oilburners. Sure they are more efficient but how much?
You could be looking at 10 to 15 year payback.

GatsbyGal

mickdw wrote: »

Not to sure myself about the push to swap in new oilburners. Sure they are more efficient but how much?
You could be looking at 10 to 15 year payback.

Thanks. Our oil burner is no longer working so it needs to be replaced anyway. The SEAI grants will help alleviate some of the costs too.

Atlantic Dawn

What kind of windows do you have, lots of heat will be lost here if they are single glazed.

pilly

I also want to reduce my electricity and oil usage. Living in a rented house so don't want to invest too much money. Is it cheaper to keep an immersion on all the time or turn it on and off as required? I use quite a lot of hot water.

GatsbyGal

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

What kind of windows do you have, lots of heat will be lost here if they are single glazed.

They are double glazed. They are in decent shape. I had an engineer look at them who said that they just needed to be tightened. A BER assessor who I had here last year said that if I just switched out the panes it would make a huge difference. So decisions decisions.

Idbatterim

If you are on a natural gas line, may make sense to go for that option if replacing boiler anyway....

GatsbyGal

Idbatterim wrote: »

If you are on a natural gas line, may make sense to go for that option if replacing boiler anyway....

Unfortunately I'm not so I'd have to get a tank installed.

Sam Kade

GatsbyGal wrote: »

Thanks. Our oil burner is no longer working so it needs to be replaced anyway. The SEAI grants will help alleviate some of the costs too.

I was told the grants aren't great you need to use a plumber that they recommend and they always up the price to get their slice of the grant.

Sam Kade

GatsbyGal wrote: »

Our electric and oil consumption is going thru the roof cost wise these days. I am looking into replacing our now defunct boiler with a more efficient grant vortex. I'm going to change electricity providers also depending on who is giving the best rates and sign up deals. Electric Ireland seem to be giving a €175 sign up bonus and nest thermostat for €99 installed. This seems like a good deal. I have checked the other providers but this seems like the best deal out there at the moment. Are there any other good sign up deals that I may have missed? Thanks.

You should be changing providers every year to make the most of savings.

waffleman

Stanley solid fuel burner with back boiler was the best thing we ever got
Havent used oil, electric shower or immersion in years - we use turf now but before that 1 bucket of coal a night heated radiators and plenty hot water

Had to turn off the radiotors in the room with the burner there was so much heat

You might need to change water tank also but well worth it i think
Burner 1200
Piping and tank 600
Labour 1000
Chimney and burner clean once a year 30 euro
Replacement glass for door after 5 years 40 euro

oppenheimer1

pilly wrote: »

I also want to reduce my electricity and oil usage. Living in a rented house so don't want to invest too much money. Is it cheaper to keep an immersion on all the time or turn it on and off as required? I use quite a lot of hot water.

It's never cheaper to keep an immersion running all the time vs when you need hot water.

What you could look into is reducing the temperature of the immersion, but be careful not heating the tank to above 65C could allow legionella to thrive.

If you have a high hot water demand you might need to look at what you need hot water for. An electric shower is more efficient than an immersion as you only heat the amount of water you need. For washing dishes a table top dishwasher could be an option.

If you have electric heating then there is not much way around a high bill though.

K.Flyer

GatsbyGal wrote: »

Thanks. Our oil burner is no longer working so it needs to be replaced anyway. The SEAI grants will help alleviate some of the costs too.

Have you had someone (qualified) to look at the boiler?
They can be quite neglected by most people until there is a problem. It may just need an overhaul which might be way cheaper than a full on replacement.
Plus I don't think there is any grant available for just a boiler change, you need to go full on heating controls and hot water / heating area separation controls to avail of any decent grant.

Sam Kade

waffleman wrote: »

Stanley solid fuel burner with back boiler was the best thing we ever got
Havent used oil, electric shower or immersion in years - we use turf now but before that 1 bucket of coal a night heated radiators and plenty hot water

Had to turn off the radiotors in the room with the burner there was so much heat

You might need to change water tank also but well worth it i think
Burner 1200
Piping and tank 600
Labour 1000
Chimney and burner clean once a year 30 euro
Replacement glass for door after 5 years 40 euro

I presume it's a Stanley stove not a burner.

waffleman

Sam Kade wrote: »

I presume it's a Stanley stove not a burner.

My mistake it's a stove
We bricked up the fire place so it sits out a bit from directly under the chimney - plumber said this would give us a bit more heat in the room

GatsbyGal

K.Flyer wrote: »

Have you had someone (qualified) to look at the boiler?
They can be quite neglected by most people until there is a problem. It may just need an overhaul which might be way cheaper than a full on replacement.
Plus I don't think there is any grant available for just a boiler change, you need to go full on heating controls and hot water / heating area separation controls to avail of any decent grant.

We have had a boiler man out several times to look at it. Photocell was replaced recently too. It's been serviced every year since we bought the house four years ago but unsure what's its history has been like service-wise before we bought. So we've given it a fair chance to survive but alas it doesn't want to go on.

Walter2016

The current crop of oil boilers are exceptionally efficient - You'll notice a huge difference if the old boiler was over 12-15 years old.

Get three zones if possible - upstairs, downstairs and hot water.

Set temp of the oil boiler to a medium setting. (within the boiler itself) Set thermostats in house to appropriate temp. 68 degrees is perfect. Have the thermostat in the living room rather than a hallway (hallway will always be cooler). Have heating on longer at lower temperature rather than short bursts of high heat.

Electricity - as post above, its items with elements that use most. For hot water, use the heating system unless emergency. Power showers are a big user too.

Sam Kade

Walter2016 wrote: »

The current crop of oil boilers are exceptionally efficient - You'll notice a huge difference if the old boiler was over 12-15 years old.

Get three zones if possible - upstairs, downstairs and hot water.

Set temp of the oil boiler to a medium setting. (within the boiler itself) Set thermostats in house to appropriate temp. 68 degrees is perfect. Have the thermostat in the living room rather than a hallway (hallway will always be cooler). Have heating on longer at lower temperature rather than short bursts of high heat.

Electricity - as post above, its items with elements that use most. For hot water, use the heating system unless emergency. Power showers are a big user too.

Don't forget the obvious one the kettle, if you like your tea it will cost you.