Hilarious part of our issue is a massive gas main runs through the field behind our houses, but there’s no domestic supply to the village!
I have the main st fergus mossmoran pipeline in the field to the left of house and in front of that the forties oil pipeline. All my services are air borne over that. Full on no dig zone.
Same here, two oil pipelines going through one of the paddocks: one carries Av Gas down south and the other.... Not sure!
The Av Gas pipeline is monitored relentlessly which is a real pain 😉
(In fact they flew out section of the line just yesterday)
Just had the £200 direct to my bank from shell in the last hour
I changed my oil usage monitoring system last weekend.
I wanted to change from a sound based system where the pi listened for the burner to a visual system.
I connected a 2w G4 bulb to the terminals feeding 30v to the oil pump solenoid - it worked but it was stopping the burner firing up cleanly*
I the realised I had a relay that was switched by a 3-32v input, so I put that on the same terminals and connected the other (power) side of the relay to a gpio pin and ground on the pi.
The boiler firing closes the relay and the pi senses this and fires off a message to IFTTT which adds a row to the spreadsheet recording all the burns.
Same happens when the boiler stops.
Much nicer, simpler code that shouldn't fall over and I now get actual burn times accurate to within 4 seconds.
The burner would fire but then stop immediately, then try again once or twice before finally firing properly.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I can only assume the extra 2w load was stopping the solenoid working properly. Which surprised me.</span>
How low do folks let their tanks go? We've dropped to three bars left on the Watchman this morning, which I reckon will just about get us through and then I can hopefully top up in the spring/summer when prices are generally lower, but am I at too much of a risk of something expensively stupid happening if I let it drop to two or even one bar?
We just fill up once the tank drops to 1 on the Watchman and the light starts to flash but our usage is pretty consistent as we've an AGA.
And if you knew what the price would be in 6 months time you could make serious money 🙂
Cool, I'll let it go for a bit then.
And if you knew what the price would be in 6 months time you could make serious money
Well, I did say generally lower. And it's all been pretty consistent over the past few years, right? Right..?
Just got our £200 AFP to our prepayment smart meter from E.ON 😁 No other notifications, just appeared on the meter this afternoon.
IHN I let ours sit in 2 bars with the Watchman light flashing for a while before I got itchy feet and ordered.
Currently we're on 4 so I might see if I can brave it to 1 bar this time 😂 They've been pretty quick delivering here previously.
I dipped my tank the other day to verify the volume that my home-brewed app was telling me.
App was saying 230L left, depth calculation was saying 250L so that gives me some confidence that I've got a handle on how much we're using daily.
Looks like there's no shortage of oil around and prices have come down a bit (boiler juice quoted 68.7p for delivery this week) so I'll probably order later this week.
It’ll start going up soon as air travel starts to pick up.
I got my 200 quid alternative fual payment via Shell the other day.
Anyone in Surrey want to sell 30L or so or know where I can buy 30-50l at near delivery prices?
I've always used road diesel in the van diesel heater and treated the separate tank as a backup I could use in the van but froze my bollox off this weekend as I didn't want to use it.
Has anyone else NOT received the government payment of £200 for people who have oil heating? (Meant to be received by the end of Feb). Nothing in my bank account, and nothing in my electric account.
I contacted Octopus Energy, who said it isn't their problem and sent a link to a government website (where I can let them know that I didn't receive the payment), but the link/website doesn't work...
No payment here, or news there of.
With So Energy for electric. Keep meaning to email them.
Ooh, I tell lie. Just checked electric account and AFP has been credited there.
With octopus and nothing yet
Website says manual applications opens early march
I’ve always used road diesel in the van diesel heater and treated the separate tank as a backup I could use in the van but froze my bollox off this weekend as I didn’t want to use it.
Are you growing weed in the van ?
I had a diesel heater in my garage heating twice the space of even the biggest van all day every day. 10l/week
Wouldn't do it again mind. Horrible noisy things.
Are you growing weed in the van ?
LOL....
I had a diesel heater in my garage heating twice the space of even the biggest van all day every day. 10l/week
Wouldn’t do it again mind. Horrible noisy things.
TBH never really worried before but the 30L separate tank is getting low so its reasonably significant difference.
Even Telegraph journos are experiencing the horror of country living now.
Cost of oil is creeping back up a little here in NE Scotland; best quote that I could get today was 72p/L for 900L to be delivered next week. Several initial prices were in the range 78-80p/L, so still worth haggling as there must be a decent margin built into those quotes.
Some companies are just taking the pee with their pricing - BoilerJuice still proving to be competitive here (i.e. cheapest) - just ordered 500L @ 68p Ex VAT for delivery on Thursday.
Can anyone quoting prices indicate inc or ex VAT please.
Boilerjuice has been holding at 66.39 ex VAT for about a week here (NW England). We're on three bars at the moment, if it looks like it's starting to creep up I'll sling an order in, but for the moment it's stable
The boiler juice price is obviously quite granular then because I'm in the NW (Chester) and the prices haven't been lower than 68p (ex vat).
In the north east of the UK. Boiler juice is pretty much always the most expensive method of filling the tank.
Has anyone else NOT received the government payment of £200 for people who have oil heating? (Meant to be received by the end of Feb). Nothing in my bank account, and nothing in my electric account.
I contacted Octopus Energy, who said it isn’t their problem and sent a link to a government website (where I can let them know that I didn’t receive the payment), but the link/website doesn’t work…
Yep i've not had it. Was with bulb, just moved across. Have mailed Octopus saying where is my 200 quid. No response as yet (mailed on Friday).
Octopus replied to me today saying I’ll need to apply manually if not had it already. FYI the gov portal they said would open today, it hasn’t yet.
sharkbait
Free Member
The boiler juice price is obviously quite granular then because I’m in the NW (Chester) and the prices haven’t been lower than 68p (ex vat).
Yeah, we're near Stockport, not far from an oil depot, so maybe that brings the price down for us a bit
I can see the flare at Stanlow!!!
That said my last delivery was from NWF and the driver said that they sometimes shipped oil in from their depot in the Midlands.
You can apply online now for the fuel payment: https://online.apply-for-alternative-fuel-support.service.gov.uk/s/#where-do-you-live
You need an oil receipt that dates since September. Annoyingly my invoice doesn't actually say it was for oil it just gives the amount I owed, hopefully they'll just nod it through.
So what's this then...... in addition to the £200 we've already had or is it for those that didn't get it automatically?
in addition to the £200 we’ve already had or is it for those that didn’t get it automatically?
The latter
Thought that was too good to be true!!
65.93ppl +V through our local cooperative last week, in N Yorks
Well, the Watchman had dropped to two bars and was flashing for a refill this morning, so I caved and stuck a Boilerjuice order in
Headline rate for 900l was 67.89ppl, but once you factor in VAT and the service charge it was 72.5ppl. Still worked out a bit cheaper than Homefuels Direct. This is in Disley, coming out of the depot in Bramhall.
Well I should have had a delivery on Thursday but, of course, everything turned white and it didn't turn up (understandable as it was coming from N Wales) - Boilerjuice web site now saying that it doesn't have a delivery date yet which could be better seeing as my app is saying this:
[img] 
[/img]
I'm currently using about 7L/day so I've got a bit of leeway yet.
* heads off to dip the tank to see how accurate the app is compared to the calculated volume in a partially filled horizontal cylinder!*
Hey. I've just had a Watchman installed on my tank after the old school sight depth indicator started leaking...
What powers the sensor at the tank end? I assume there is a battery, how long does it last?
* heads off to dip the tank to see how accurate the app is compared to the calculated volume in a partially filled horizontal cylinder!*
And if anyone is interested its a 225 x 120 (2500L) tank with a current oil depth of 13cm - which seems to be a volume of 149L.
Take away 2cm for the height of the outlet and the useable oil volume is about 116L
..... my app says there should be 119L left.
Happy with that and knowing exactly how much oil is used every day makes figuring out when to buy much easier. If I didn't know my actual daily usage I'd be pooping myself right now.
Just ordered 1000 L at 72 ppl, including VAT and delivery. South Shropshire. We checked one of the online price match things but they were no cheaper than the local firm we normally use. Plus we have restricted access and need a smaller tanker, the online place would have charged more for this but the locals do it as a matter of course because they know loads of places round here are tight to get in and out of. Over 10ppl cheaper than our last fill up in the autumn.
Edit to say, we have a Watchman fitted but I don't find it that useful. I prefer to eyeball it. It was down to 2 bars and flashing 10 days ago, but an eyeball shows we still have just over 300L left in a 1300L tank. Enough for a good few week probably. We get a discount for orders of 1000L or more, so we alway have to judge that there's enough space in the tank to accommodate that much before delivery.
Anyone know how I can get a guide to the volume at different dip heights for the tank we've got? It's one of these:
I use this:
https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/tank-volume
But my tank is not bunded, so you'll need to contact Kingspan and get the actual internal dimensions.
If I enter 135 x 45 x 158 I get a total volume of 960L which isn't going to be too far off.
Quoted 53p per litre ex-vat yesterday.
I've still got about 400L and hardly using any now - 1.7L/day if anything at all recently as the heating is off and the PV does most of not all of the hot water now.
I'd like to buy 1000L which would probably see us though the next 12 months but I'd actually like to turn the heating up a little next winter, so I may need 1500L.
I'll keep an eye on the price but I'm not sure it will drop much more.
I just bought 500L via Boiler Juice for 56.7p/L plus VAT. They were doing a £15 off voucher which negates their service fee. I'll see how it goes price wise but will probably get another 500L before Winter. Heating is off now so we'll probably use less than 250L between now and October.
We're just flashing on the second bar, so planning to fill up (1000l) by the end of the month while the prices seem low.
Just ordered 1000l for £614. Happy with that. We're only using it for hot water now unless there's a particularly cold spell.
We have been on 2 bars for a month now.
Heatings set at 10degrees now - has been for 2 weeks.
I'll worry about filling up when I get to one bar.
Hopefully be on solar for hot water before too long as well which should help.
Can't be far off one bar and with Saudi posturing I've opted to fill.
Looked back on my previous sales orders .
Feb 2021 I bought 1200l for 40p/l
Feb 2022 I bought 1200l for 64p/l
It's now June 2023. I've bought 1200l at 58pence with little chance of getting it all in. -1400l tank.
Good to see the insulation and the smart thermostat system is making at odds.
We have a village syndicate that places a bulk order 3 times a year, I usually partake once a year on the mid-june order. But with the Ukraine situation I decided not to wait and ordered 1000l myself today, £619 inc vat.
Last 12 months only used about 960l, (4 bed detached), WFH but keeping thermostats at 18. Plus about 3-4 m3 of logs.
Just ordered 1000l today, the two places that deliver to us are 74.55ppl and 79.08ppl, inc. VAT.
Chap said that prices were at a low in June but since then have risen (which is unusual for this time of year).
What are folks thoughts about the oil boiler phase out? There’s no way we could get our house insulated enough to make a ground source heat pump work be looking at 30-40 k for insulation and system. Going to be nursing our green star like a baby panda!
Mines was new in 2021, when the old one broke down
So renew now, and renew sometime in 2030/40. Wait and buy a vegetable oil boiler (see article)
As to heat pumps. In my house its unlikely to work due to age without need for significalt reinsulation etc.
I will just keep burning things. In fact i'll be going out this weekend to cut up some fallen/aged trees to add to my wood pile stock.
A heat pump doesn’t need the house to be insulated, it does need radiators upgrading usually and may be pipework but the only work in a super insulated house is not true.
Your heat load doesn’t alter just because you are using a heat pump.
No, but to work efficiently without consuming a huge amount of electricity, good insulation is required. If you have anything less than 12mm pipework, you need a replumb. We were quoted £8k for the replumb, £4k for the required tank and £9k for the heatpump. None of that includes insulation, new rads or UF heating. Even after the government grant we'd be looking at £25k and then the cost to relay all the flooring and redecorate.
Chap said that prices were at a low in June but since then have risen (which is unusual for this time of year).
Rare that I've called It but with all the OPEC postulating it was in the post really.
What will the domestic gas boiler ban in 2025 mean for me?
Under the government’s current plans, there's a gas and oil boiler ban in newbuild homes only from 2025.Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government tells us there are about 25 million homes in the UK – and we build about 160,000 new ones each year according to the National House-Building Council. As such, it’s likely to be many years before a new build gas boiler ban alone has a big impact on greenhouse gases. And some environmental groups argue that the government needs to go further, much sooner.
Will the gas boiler ban apply to my home?
If you’re worried about having to ditch your existing oil or gas boiler – don’t be. The gas and oil banner ban in 2025 only applies to newbuild properties. There are no plans to phase out gas boilers in existing homes.That said, the government may encourage more of us to ditch gas in favour of alternatives. Using grants or incentives for insulating our homes or installing low-carbon heating.
I am hoping this is correct on EDF's website. It does make logical sense to apply to new build homes as they can be built with proper insulation and provision
No, but to work efficiently without consuming a huge amount of electricity, good insulation is required.
This applies to ANY heating/cooling system...
There are far far too many folk in places where ashp is not viable for them to stop.
Wonder what size of Genny you'd need when the Lecky went down our on't moors to feed your ashp.
Oh, I feel quite smug now having bought a year's supply in early June. I just order from local supplier, only 3/4 mile down the road.
IntheBorders has it correct, if you haven't got good insulation then you will consume a lot of whichever fuel you are using.
The problem with heat pumps in poorly insulated houses is the amount / size of radiators that are required, and this is where the whole myth starts as I suspect not enough design is done or corners are cut as the install becomes expensive due to the work required to get the system to work on low flow temps.
if your load is 20kW that doesn't change, what changes is the how to deliver that with low flow temps, without getting that bit right an ASHP will be expensive. If you get that right and understand how to use it then it will be similar in running costs to natural gas.
corners are cut as the install becomes expensive due to the work required to get the system to work on low flow temps.
Just highlighting the key issue there.
That time of the year again
Tanks approaching empty - watchman's flashing.
1400l or so since June with an under 1 and a full time occupied house this winter.
66pence/l at my local supplier Vs 77pence cheapest on boiler juice.
We got 1150l the other week. I think it was 74p/l from Carnegie's.
It'll last us just about a year.
63ppl down here in the Cotswolds at the moment. Seems about right given the oil barrel price.
We paid 0.69p in December, Scottish Borders - half way through the tank at the mo.
63.5p on 4th Dec then 66p at end Jan.
North Yorks.
Need another 500l in about a month.
66pence/l at my local supplier Vs 77pence cheapest on boiler juice.
I bet that 11p is close to their margin. Lots of these portals have a pretty big margin somewhere along the line.
We paid 0.69p in December, Scottish Borders – half way through the tank at the mo.
At just over half pence a litre that’s incredibly cheap 😉
I was quoted 66p a litre yesterday which is nearly a hundred times more 😢
#smartar5e 🙂
😁 Apologies.
So thinking now would be a good time to get the tank filled, even though in reality it’s not fully empty
Prices are currently as low as they have been but can’t see that staying there long with what’s going on in the world
Agreed but I still have 7bars in a 1400l tank so somewhat pointless.
Social media trying to stir up a fuel shortage at the moment also it seems.
Hopefully by the end of the day my solar thermal will be commissioned just in time for winter.....but with that comes electric hot water.... That'll mean I should reach this point next year with 10 bars of oil.....all three/four bars of use this year have been hot water.
Luckily just ordered a fill up two days ago.
Market is up 3p and theres a lot of demand currently.
It's still not badly priced but the threatening of bombing irans oil industry is causing a spike
Just ordered ours at 55p ltr.
Its showing 4 bars on a 1400ltr tank so I bet that is only about 700ltrs to fill it
Gauge showing 700 litres, on a 1000 litre tank, so it looks that I will be filling at the worst time.
It won't be enough to see me through until the spring but I can't order a top up until I'm down to 500 litres.
So thinking now would be a good time to get the tank filled
I'd say definitely if you can. I put 1500L in 2 weeks ago [enough to see us through until spring hopefully] but that was only because my calcs said I only had 25L left!! I suspect the price is going to go up a bit over the next couple of weeks and then stay there for a while.
all three/four bars of use this year have been hot water.
My boiler has been using approx 3.5L of oil to heat a 250L megaflo - but obvs that is dependent upon how hot the water was before the burn started.
