Oil consumption

Geegee

I've jut checked the oil tank level and it is nearly empty - used about 330 litres in five weeks! Is this normal for a 2100 sq.ft house?

I've heard of a fuel saving device which can be fitted to a boiler to make it run more efficiently - apparently the boiler stays on for longer and then off for longer rather than constantly cutting in and out. Has anyone any experience of this type of device?

patrido

this is a new house right?

lots of people would use 2000 litres of oil in a year, so youve used 1 sixth of that in probably 6 weeks. given its the coldest time of the year, it's probably not outrageous, depending on your usage.

the device youre talking about might be a boiler manager or optimiser. IIRC this might cost you 500 yoyos or more. i'd check lots of other things first.

have you checked all the obvioius things first like lots of attic/general insulation, pipes lagged, insulated cylinder, etc?

is the boiler sized correctly? no leaks, etc? are your heating controls working correctly - each zone going on and off at the right times? is your thermostat(s) working ok, located in a good place, and set to a good setting?

i noticed in some of your other posts that you've have some teething problems with your plumbing and heating, a question about insulation over an unheated space, insulating the water tank, etc... lots of potential for excessive oil usage there. get all those things sorted and see how the fuel usage is after that.

JamesM

Geegee wrote:

I've jut checked the oil tank level and it is nearly empty - used about 330 litres in five weeks! Is this normal for a 2100 sq.ft house?

I've heard of a fuel saving device which can be fitted to a boiler to make it run more efficiently - apparently the boiler stays on for longer and then off for longer rather than constantly cutting in and out. Has anyone any experience of this type of device?

I have known people to use 1000 litres in 6 weeks - new baby - heat on all the time, BUT, I also know plenty of people who get almost a year from 1000 litres (including myself - 30 year old 3 bed semi). If you are careful and don't have the heat on all over the house all the time, especially a new modern well insulated house, you will get by on 1 to 2 fills a year and have plenty of heat.
Jim.

Lex Luthor

Geegee wrote:

I've jut checked the oil tank level and it is nearly empty - used about 330 litres in five weeks! Is this normal for a 2100 sq.ft house?

I've heard of a fuel saving device which can be fitted to a boiler to make it run more efficiently - apparently the boiler stays on for longer and then off for longer rather than constantly cutting in and out. Has anyone any experience of this type of device?

I wouldn't say that was excesssive for the size of house and time of year.

prospect

Last year we burnt 1000L every 4 weeks over winter :eek:
This year, (after replacing the boilder and some other counter measures) we are getting 8 weeks from 1000Lor 125L a week. [house is 2900 sq ft]

Your comsumption is 66L a week. This is actually quite low.

tcoen

The SEI have come up with a figure of €1300 as the average spent on oil in a household in Ireland. If you way above this then switching to a heat pump could become economical. If you know your actual consumption and there is nothing obvious wrong with your insulation etc then you can use tools on the SEI website to determine how many KWH of heat you need per year and look at the alternatives for producing that heat.

Lex Luthor

I make a point to make a note every time I get a fill up, how much I've actually used since I filled the tank last.

So, in the last 2 years, end Oct '03 to end Feb '04 I used 8.6 litres per day (301 litres/5weeks) & Mid Nov '04 to start March '05 I used 9.2 litres per day (322 litres/5weeks)

This is in a 5 bed semi with 13 rads over 1600 sq ft.

You're not doing too bad in my calculations.
I have my oil controlled by a digital timer thermostat over 24hrs/7 days week.

Is you house occupied during working hours Mon-Fri?