Two questions on oil heating

[Green]

First question, what temperature should the outside oil burner be?

Second question, moved into a property circa 2,500 sq ft last September and about to get fourth fill of home heating oil (4x500 litres) ..is there something wrong in my consumption? Should I be looking at different ways of heating the house?

 

[villa 1]

Presuming the boiler if of conventional design,the temperature of the boiler should be set at approx. 70 deg C, depending on the type of heat emmitters fitted.
Then get your system checked by a plumbing contractor with emphasis on the boiler and heating system design. 2000 litres is a huge amount of oil.
Check your insulation levels.
You may look into changing your oil boiler to a condensing type and fit a solar hot water system to help in your hot water heating.

 

[huskerdu]

You have used 1500 litres since September. That is a lot, but it has been a very cold winter.
I have a 1800 sq ft house and we use approx 2000l a year. 1000l usually lasts 3/4 months in winter.

How well insulated is the house ?
How many hours per day is the house heated ?
Do you turn off radiators in rooms when you are not using them ?

 

[Shane007]

First question, what temperature should the outside oil burner be?

As Villa1 states, systems with radiators are generally designed to have a flow temperature from the boiler at 70C. Your return temperature, if it is a standard efficiency non-condensing boiler, should be circa 60C and if it is a condensing boiler, it should be circa 50C. Having too low of a flow temperature in a non-condensing boiler can cause condensation within the boiler and cause rusting. This is why condensing boilers have interns as stainless steel where the temperatures are lower.

Second question, moved into a property circa 2,500 sq ft last September and about to get fourth fill of home heating oil (4x500 litres) ..is there something wrong in my consumption? Should I be looking at different ways of heating the house?

Many factors could be causing this:

1. Is the boiler short cycling, i.e. coming on for short periods and then switching off for another short period and repeating these cycles?
2. Is the heating system zoned?
3. How old is the system?
4. Is the system balanced?
5. When was the boiler last serviced and was flue gas analysis carried out?
6. Is the circulating pump undersized? This can be a contributing factor for short cycling, in that the heat cannot get away from the boiler quick enough and into the house.
7. Do you have rads or UFH?
8. How many hours is your heating on for per day?
9. What is the power output of the boiler?