[Closed] Oil Boilertrackworld

There are no credible alternatives for much of the old, difficult to bring to standard housing stock we have in the UK.

Oil isn't suddenly going to disappear.

Thanks - that’s what my logical head is saying.

I'm in a similar quandary albe it 10 years into a grant combi boiler ownership so probably looking at <10 years useful life left.

I am thinking to bank on Solar / heatstore /immersion / solar thermal.

In that order.

And then hopefully just need to top up with some other source part of the year where by the money im not spending on buying oil can cover it......

15/20 year lifespan we’d expect a new boiler to have

Firstly I'd say there's little chance of a modern boiler lasting 15-20 years TBH.
Secondly I doubt oil heating is going to go away any time soon and all the talk is mostly about gas heating being phased out.
Thirdly why would oil heating become priced out - it's basically kerosene, and they're not going to stop producing that for a long time.

Am I worrying unnecessarily about the phase out of oil fuelled heating and timelines?

I think so.... YMMV.

That said, we have PV which produces most/all of out hot water for 7 months of the year and the heating is rarely on during those months either.

While it won't disapear .

Costs are heading to the moon again.

My oil boiler is well over 30 years old, so they do last, and they can be repaired.
But oil isn't going away. Too many people use them with no alternatives.

My oil boiler is well over 30 years old, so they do last, and they can be repaired.

a 30 year old boiler is very different from a boiler you buy today

just the level of electronics and emissions control in there.

TBH this is one of the reasons i bought a grant over a WB 10 years ago- the Grant was significantly simpler and designed to be worked on - at the time - no idea now. at the expense of percieved efficiency .

Air source would be the obvious alternative but everything I’ve read says that when installed in an unsuitable property (heating arrangements, hot water capacity, insulation levels etc) – from my limited understanding – air source is a pretty poor choice.

Have you had an ASHP specialist in to have a look? If you're on oil then ASHP could come in very favourably when you factor in maintenance and running costs vs Oil.
You need to change your mindset on an ASHP to longer running time at a lower temp than a traditional boiler. You'll be pushing 47 degrees round your system, rather than 70+

The shift will be for all combustion boilers, not just gas. If it's legislated, then the opportunity cost of innovating a suitable ASHP for domestic properties will be become more viable and the industry will move that way.

In a similar position.

We have a 18 year old Worcester Bosch oil boiler - it looks like shit and the buttons are failing but still works. A new one will cost between £2 and £3k. As I see it i have no other option than to get one. Electric heating is the green alternative but i see no sign of sufficient incentive to overcome the additional cost of that option.

Have you had an ASHP specialist in to have a look? If you’re on oil then ASHP could come in very favourably when you factor in maintenance and running costs vs Oil.
You need to change your mindset on an ASHP to longer running time at a lower temp than a traditional boiler. You’ll be pushing 47 degrees round your system, rather than 70+

is that based on living with it in an older property above manchester ......

I had folk round to look at it(at 57deg north) - one of them suggested he would only fit it if he could put it in my (south facing) front garden.

Others i know locally with them regret it and its costing them a fortune to have a lookwarm house - and thats even one in a new build (where they are likely underspecced to be fair)

Thanks everyone - really interesting views.

Price of oil is going up, and in the long term will go up.

Re oil longevity, our experience would be that 10-15 years not unreasonable. Our last was 20 years, and it was spare parts for the two way flue that killed it in the end.

Certainly heard similar ASHP horror stories here with similar aged houses. I think we would also need additional permissions for ASHP with noise and conservation area issues.

I’ve read bio fuel alternatives to oil being developed.

My oil boiler is well over 30 years old, so they do last, and they can be repaired.

Me too. It's only got 5 parts - fuel pump, a solenoid, a capacitor, the burner jet and then fan. I've just replaced the solenoid - £14!
The boilers a big ugly lump but I'd never change it!

a 30 year old boiler is very different from a boiler you buy today

very much this

Price of oil is going up, and in the long term will go up.

At the moment it is... but you have no way of knowing whats going to happen further ahead - prices used to be very much higher and then dropped to bugger all last year. It's a proper roller-coaster.

Our oil burner is currently 13 years old, and looks very simplistic in design. I keep wondering whether to change it to a condensing combi one purely for the convenience of hot water. Also I do not know how efficient the current boiler is.

Other than that I am very limited in what I can do as the house is built on bedrock, the south facing aspect of the house is quite small ie no room for solar. etc

Interested in this too, we've a gas fired combi boiler that's only a few years old, but the house is a badly insulated 1890's victorian semi - so it doesn't lend itself to having lots of insulation being added (single skin wall, rooms in the attic, sash windows etc).

The heat pump systems seem to rely on well insulated houses - what are the alternatives apart from move before the boiler dies.

I'll be buying a GS heatpump when ours eventually dies, but the difference in cost is ~3-4* what an already expensive oil boiler would be.