# home heating oil: How much people tend to go through in any recently built 4bed semi?



## serotoninsid (17 Oct 2006)

Coming into first winter in my own gaff - just wondering how much oil people tend to go through in any recently built 4 bed semi?  Will one tank get me through to the spring?

Its bloody freezing here this evening so will have to bite the bullet and get the visa out!


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## Randy (17 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

It depends how much time you spend at home. Assuming you are out working during the day, you're heating will only be on for a few hours each day. My experience has been that we if we fill the tank around November it will usually last until around Feb/March, but that is based on the above type usage. In the meantime if you're cold, I can only suggest that you either light the fire assuming you have one) or start lashing on the layers and do some hoovering..........you'll be warm in no time!!!!


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## JP1234 (17 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Can't really answer if a full tank will get you through as it depends on how often you switch it on and so on - we only really use ours in the morning to warm the house and the hot water and rely on the fire at night unless it's really cold!  Have you looked into whether your local oil supplier does a easi-pay scheme, we pay a fixed amount each month to spread the cost and just ring to top up when needed, our payments really haven't increased that much in the 6 years we have lived here as we tend to go in credit over the summer which offsets the winter extra top ups. We use campus oil which seem to cover most of the country.


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## Gatherer (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Speaking averagely, and considering how cold it can be in April, you may well be ordering again in March.


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## serotoninsid (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Thanks for the info guys.  Will try and hold out for another week or two and get prices in the meantime.


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## tosullivan (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

buying 1000litres now for a 4 bed semi should get you through to end Jan/mid Feb if you are 9-5 Mon-Fri people.


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## ACA (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

A lot of oil companies allow you to pay 1/3 upon delivery and the rest on the drip! Jones' Oil (Esso, I think) is the crowd I used in Leixlip - very reliable - ring them tonight, they come in the morning. Three Rivers (also Esso) are the tops for fast relaible service in Waterford County. I pay €80 a month by d/d and don't worry about it. Tend to use 1500-2000 litres a year for a 4 bed timber framed bungalow.


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## liteweight (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Capital Oil also allow you to pay monthly by direct debit.


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## tosullivan (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

my consumption for a 5 bed semi is 2000 litres every 13 months'ish


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## tinkerbell (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

We usually buy Oct/Nov and again March/April - 1,000 litres kerosene each time, think we got good value last time with Emo online.


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## nutty nut (18 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Im in a 3 bed semi and would normally get whatever it takes takes to fill the tank (usually around 850 L) sometime in November. Depending on the weather that will normally do me till around March - April and thats with me working from home and she who must be obeyed here all the time.


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## delgirl (19 Oct 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*



nutty nut said:


> she who must be obeyed here all the time.


At last, someone who knows their place!  

Make sure you're home when you get the oil delivered and check that the meter on the truck is on zero to start and that you're charged for the correct reading when he's finished the tank fill.  

We've noticed discrepancies in the amounts of kerosene delivered when we're here and when we're not here.


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## serotoninsid (1 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

EDIT- please ignore - working fine now.

Just got tank filled.  The burner (firebird heatpac 70/90 outdoor) seems to be firing up periodically but no heat on the rads or even the pipes leading to the rads/the first rad on system..  The light come on when  I switch the controls to the 'on' position.  The system was fully tested when the house was signed over back in April.  Is it possible that if the last bit of oil in the tank was used up (there was very little left) - which someone in my house may have done over the last couple of weeks - that the supply from the tank to the burner (5m run) is airlocked??

If airlocked, why would it be firing - or is that just its attempt at firing i'm hearing?


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## laoisfan (3 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*



serotoninsid said:


> EDIT- please ignore - working fine now.
> 
> Just got tank filled.  The burner (firebird heatpac 70/90 outdoor) seems to be firing up periodically but no heat on the rads or even the pipes leading to the rads/the first rad on system..  The light come on when  I switch the controls to the 'on' position.  The system was fully tested when the house was signed over back in April.  Is it possible that if the last bit of oil in the tank was used up (there was very little left) - which someone in my house may have done over the last couple of weeks - that the supply from the tank to the burner (5m run) is airlocked??
> 
> If airlocked, why would it be firing - or is that just its attempt at firing i'm hearing?



a few months back our heating would not come on, our burner (actually a converted solid-fuel cooker) kept tripping out. the should be a little reset-switch (possibly red in colour, i will not swear to this though, but it is red on mine). i pressed this and the heating has been fine ever since. i suspected an airlock. it has never tripped since and the heating is fine.

as for the rads not heating up or the pipes.....is the water-pump turned on?

--laoisfan


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## nutty nut (4 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*



serotoninsid said:


> Just got tank filled.


Slightly off topic but just curious as to how much the fill cost.

I got 925 litres a few days ago and it worked out the equivelent of €562 per 1000 litres


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## Guest127 (4 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

use just over 2,000 for a detached but fully insulated house. . turn off the hall radiator during the day when people are in and out and also the bedroom ones. put them back on in the evening. 2  second job. kero was  €0.485 in south armagh yesterday.


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## serotoninsid (4 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*



nutty nut said:


> Slightly off topic but just curious as to how much the fill cost.
> 
> I got 925 litres a few days ago and it worked out the equivelent of €562 per 1000 litres


56c/ltr based on a 1,000 ltr. order with a €25 Statoil voucher off the total price.


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## ted (6 Nov 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

got 5 quotes for Kerosene in the west - ranged from €570 to €600 based on 1000ltrs


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## nutty nut (10 Dec 2006)

*Re: home heating oil*

Dont know but it has certainly dropped globally. Add in the reduction in the budget and it should be a good time to buy.


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## Aimee (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

I'm at my wits end with our heating!  We have  2700 sq ft house, we have three beds, bath, sitting, kitchen-dining-sunroom, utility downstairs and upstairs we converted the attic and it has 2 bedrooms, one ensuite!   Since 18th November 2006 we have put the following fills in at the following cost :-

18-11-2006  545 ltrs €300
4-01-2007   300 ltrs  €200
27-01-2007 500 ltrs  €275
21-3-2007  333 ltrs   €200

and going by how this has worked out we will need more oil next month!!!!!

We have rads on in sitting room, hall, bathroom, dining-sunroom and in one bedroom upstairs.  Heating comes on for one hour in morning, one hour in evening before we get in and approx 2 hours at night!  To me this is totally ridiculous and people are telling us there is something wrong!  The temp thing on the burner has been checked and is down low and we don't have a leak!   

Anyone have any idea, cos its getting me so annoyed at this stage I could scream!   On average we are paying €60 odd per week for heating and most of the time we are frozzled in the house anyway!!!


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## Vanilla (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

Is it a new house? Did you have your boiler commissioned after installation? when did you last have it serviced?


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## DOBBER22 (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

Source EMO OIL

[broken link removed]

*The results of your price check are:*

Product: Kero 
Quantity: 1000L
Cent Per Litre inc VAT @ 13.50% : 0.54 Price 
(€) Inc VAT: 544.80


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## Aimee (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*



Vanilla said:


> Is it a new house? Did you have your boiler commissioned after installation? when did you last have it serviced?


 

it is a new house, we moved in last October.   we haven't had anything done with the boiler other than look at it ourselves and turn down the thinga-me-bob on it, so I guess this is what we need to do ya??


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## Vanilla (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

I don't know much about boilers but I moved into our new house assuming boiler was working fine etc. We felt it was using too much oil and had someone out to check the boiler. When he came he told me the boiler had never been commissioned on installation and that because of that it was using twice as much oil as it should ( because apparently there are things inside that are knocked about during delivery and must be put right once installed)- also all the settings done by the plumber were completely wrong. So yeah, I'd say its worth getting a proper guy out to service it and to check it. Anyway it has to be done once a year...


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## Aimee (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*



Vanilla said:


> I don't know much about boilers but I moved into our new house assuming boiler was working fine etc. We felt it was using too much oil and had someone out to check the boiler. When he came he told me the boiler had never been commissioned on installation and that because of that it was using twice as much oil as it should ( because apparently there are things inside that are knocked about during delivery and must be put right once installed)- also all the settings done by the plumber were completely wrong. So yeah, I'd say its worth getting a proper guy out to service it and to check it. Anyway it has to be done once a year...


 

cheers for that, you are giving me hope! 

so we need a plumber then yeah? or are there specific maintenance guys??

there must be something wrong, I'll eat my hat if he tells me that its normal to use 1878 ltrs of oil in a 4 month period with only a few rads running for max 4 hours in 24!!  

thanks Vanilla, will let you guys know either way, for future reference .....


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## Vanilla (22 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

There are specialised guys who do this- not normally plumbers. They have to have special accreditation- maybe post your area and someone might be able to give a recommendation. I wouldnt hesitate to recommend the guy who I met but we are probably not in same area.


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## JackTheKnife (23 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

Have a look at the documentation that came with your boiler/burner.

It should state the weight, in kilos, of oil that your burner uses per hour.

I would imagine that 1 kilo equates to 1 litre.


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## colin79ie (23 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*



> I would imagine that 1 kilo equates to 1 litre.


 
Wrong!

The S.G. (Specific gravity) of KERO is 0.82. Fresh water is 1.00 Therefore 1 Cubic meter of KERO = 820Kg so 1 litre = 0.82Kg.

You could work it out from that.


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## Johnny1 (23 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

You would want to be there while you are getting a fill to make sure you get the right amount, I have heard a few stories about tanker drivers not putting in the right amount if they think that people don't check to see if the tank is full then they take the oil home or sell it to someone they know for half price.


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## davidoco (23 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*



Vanilla said:


> ( because apparently there are things inside that are knocked about during delivery and must be put right once installed)-
> 
> There are specialised guys who do this- not normally plumbers.



You don't need a specialist to fix the baffels inside an oil boiler.  Anybody with a wrench to open four nuts could do it.

Also it is usually not very efficent to run the boiler at the lowest heat setting.  They work better running at full blast but that's where the specialist might come in and configure it correctly for you, if that was the problem. Check the baffels first though.


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## colin79ie (23 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

The longer the hose from the truck to the tank, the more the driver has for himself, as they don't 'blow' the line clear once the pump has stopped. The meter is at the truck, not at the end of the hose.


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## upport (24 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*

2700 sq ft is a large house and more than twice the floor space of average house so its going to take alot more kero to heat than the average home and therefore cost alot more,sorry I hope this does not sound obvious,its just an observation.
Buying top ups monthly may be more expensive than filling tank from very low i.e you may get a cheaper price /ltr buying 1270 ltrs than 300 ltrs.


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## upport (24 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil*



colin79ie said:


> The longer the hose from the truck to the tank, the more the driver has for himself, as they don't 'blow' the line clear once the pump has stopped. The meter is at the truck, not at the end of the hose.


Does anyone know if this is fact?
I often see oil trucks parked on road and the hose extended long distances (40-50 meters) to reach the tank.Surely the house holder is not charged for fuel thats in the hose?


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## Johnny1 (25 Mar 2007)

The hose is full from the last delivery so you don't pay for less fuel. Sometimes I get tractor diesel as well as getting kerosene two seperate tanks the driver has to fill the hose with kerosene before the diesel tank fills so that there will be no diesel going into the kerosene tank.


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## serotoninsid (25 Mar 2007)

*Re: home heating oil: How much people tend to go through in any recently built 4bed s*

Following on from my original post, my fill has lasted the winter (from start of Nov.) - haven't checked it but theres still some in there.  Quite surprised (and relieved!) that its lasted..


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