Oil

A question about : Oil

As an oil heating user, one big bill each year is the oil - the costs are now up significantly.

Point is, over the years I have heard so many tips that I wonder which is a myth and which is genuine:

1. It costs more to run your boiler if you set the temp too low

I run mine on the min setting, but the engineer tells me i'd use less if i turned it up! He should know, but i can't get my head around the idea. Who is right?

2. It costs no more to run the boiler all day than at morning and evenings only.

There may be some merit in this - running mine on low am to pm instead of switching off in the daytime but again i struggle to see as it must surely cost more?

3. Condensing boilers are NO MORE EFFICIENT if run on oil than non condensing boilers!!!!!

Again, all the boiler engineers i speak to say gas condensing ones work and save money but oil fired condensing boilers are no more efficient than their current non condensing ones.

I sure as heck am confused - seeing efficiency % up to 97% for condensing oil fired boilers I think surely they will save a packet compared to non-condensing oil boilers?

Any answers to blow the myths away?

Indeed, any tips for what really matters - screwing down my oil consumption whilst keeping my tootsies nice and warm?

LOL!

Cheers!

Best answers:

• Sorry to see you've had no replies to this as my daughter would love to know the answers too. I've heard that a new oil fired boiler would be much more efficient than her existing one - estimated to be 12 years old. But if that's true, she'd wonder how long it would take to save enough to cover the installation cost. Any ideas?
  Oxter
• There is an optimum temperature for every boiler when it is operating at its greatest efficiency - you need to look at your documentation or contact the manufacturer. It is normally at a fairly high temperature; but of course the higher the temperature, the greater the losses in the house.
  My gut feeling is that there won't be a huge difference in overall running costs whatever temperature you set in the mid range.
  On savings with a replacement boiler, you have asked a 'how long is a piece of string question'. There are so many factors to consider - effeciency of current boiler - amount of oil used etc.
  Considering the huge cost to buy and fit a boiler, you will need considerable savings just to cover the cost of borrowing(or loss of interest) the capital.
• OK, I'm no expert, but have acquired a bit of knowledge about efficient combustion (did a post-grad diploma in air pollution control long time back)
  Taking Magnum's points:
  Quote:
• thanks for the replies - it is so long since i posted, and i had begun to become a little dissillusioned that no one else found these concerns of interest.
  I take on board what analyst says, but still think there must be a way to get a definative answer to some of these questions - it all seems so subjective when anyone gives an answer. Take condensing boilers for instance - they are supposed to be the greenest/dogs bollo*cks of boilers - YES for gas, but with oil everyone sharpens their breath, sucks, then says.."ahh,..that depends..."
  I think analyst has come the closest to give me any answers that i am likely to get - but if someone can add further comment I'd appreciate it.
  One other thing too;
  Is is cheaper to use oil fired boiler than an immersion heater for hot water in summer months - this used to be so but eith oil costing more than a glass of wine for a sultan of brunai i somehow doubt this is still so.
• What analyst says is exactly what my service guy told me. He said I had mine set too low and it was costing me more.
  I find it cheaper heating water with oil than electricity although as you say oil is getting very expensive
• I was told never to use my immersion after getting the oil central heating, far cheaper by oil.
  To be honest my heating costs plummeted after the oil was put in...even if it is on the way up ( I think there was a hike in leccy price too!).
  Ma