Oil usage.....Convinced I have a leak
Discussion
Evening everyone,
This is more a sanity check as I think I know the answer. Have a 1200 litre single skin tank that's feeding our Camray 5 boiler. We have been in the house for a year now (modern bungalow about 10 years old so insulated to the max) and the oil usage just doesnt add up. We did have a faulty zone valve which kept the boiler which was keeping the boiler firing which we thought was cause of our extra oil usage. We solved that issue in Feb just when we put 1000 litres in the tank and assumed that would be it. Never assume anything
Was outside tonight and just happened to be near the tank so gave it a tap not expecting to hear a hollow echo, but did. Unlocked the tank and found that its probably 500 litres down! The line to the house is underground as well. I have attached pictures of the boiler usage thanks to my Nest and i dont think these two things add up.
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This is more a sanity check as I think I know the answer. Have a 1200 litre single skin tank that's feeding our Camray 5 boiler. We have been in the house for a year now (modern bungalow about 10 years old so insulated to the max) and the oil usage just doesnt add up. We did have a faulty zone valve which kept the boiler which was keeping the boiler firing which we thought was cause of our extra oil usage. We solved that issue in Feb just when we put 1000 litres in the tank and assumed that would be it. Never assume anything
Was outside tonight and just happened to be near the tank so gave it a tap not expecting to hear a hollow echo, but did. Unlocked the tank and found that its probably 500 litres down! The line to the house is underground as well. I have attached pictures of the boiler usage thanks to my Nest and i dont think these two things add up.
How big a bungalow, whereabouts, and how many litres are you using a year?
We've just had a cold Feb/March (Beast from the East, etc.) so this week's usage chart (when it's been warm) won't be helpful.
I think rule-of-thumb consumption for 3/4 bed detached houses is circa 2000 litres a year. I used to reckon on 1000l fill in November and another in March.
Despite the insulation, bungalows are probably less efficient than 2-storey buildings.
We've just had a cold Feb/March (Beast from the East, etc.) so this week's usage chart (when it's been warm) won't be helpful.
I think rule-of-thumb consumption for 3/4 bed detached houses is circa 2000 litres a year. I used to reckon on 1000l fill in November and another in March.
Despite the insulation, bungalows are probably less efficient than 2-storey buildings.
barneytolsta said:
KrazyIvan said:
How many rads is it running?
I have about 20 and go through about 80 -100 litres a month in the winter.
Our house is 9 years old and has a BER of B3
Its running 10 rads in the house and the Nest thermostat is set to 20 degrees.I have about 20 and go through about 80 -100 litres a month in the winter.
Our house is 9 years old and has a BER of B3
Are you sure it's not been nicked!
If you are sure you are losing oil then..
If you can access both ends of the feed pipe you could make a hopper and feed in a measured quantity of oil at one end and accurately measure what you get out at the other.
Or if you have a compressor block off one end and put a tyre valve and pressure gauge adapter on the other and pump it up.
see if it loses pressure.
Copper or even plastic pipe should be good for 50psi+
If you can access both ends of the feed pipe you could make a hopper and feed in a measured quantity of oil at one end and accurately measure what you get out at the other.
Or if you have a compressor block off one end and put a tyre valve and pressure gauge adapter on the other and pump it up.
see if it loses pressure.
Copper or even plastic pipe should be good for 50psi+
stevensdrs said:
Without knowing how much oil per hour the boiler uses who knows!
Exactly. How many hours has it operated since you filled the tank and according to the spec, how many litres per hour does the boiler use? Multiplying the two should give you a decent ballpark on overall usage in that period. Of course, if the boiler hasn't been serviced then the actual consumption could be worse than the ballpark figure. MrHappy said:
Exactly. How many hours has it operated since you filled the tank and according to the spec, how many litres per hour does the boiler use? Multiplying the two should give you a decent ballpark on overall usage in that period. Of course, if the boiler hasn't been serviced then the actual consumption could be worse than the ballpark figure.
Boiler was serviced in the summer and the nozzle changed. The spec of the boiler says 2.17 litres an hour but when the boiler is on it probably on fires 20 mins of that hour. The boiler stat is set at a third of its max temp and we leave it there all year. silentbrown said:
How big a bungalow, whereabouts, and how many litres are you using a year?
We've just had a cold Feb/March (Beast from the East, etc.) so this week's usage chart (when it's been warm) won't be helpful.
I think rule-of-thumb consumption for 3/4 bed detached houses is circa 2000 litres a year. I used to reckon on 1000l fill in November and another in March.
Despite the insulation, bungalows are probably less efficient than 2-storey buildings.
The maximum usage we say even in the cold snap was 5 hours off usage of the boiler. Of course, that's not 5 hours of constant running just getting it to temp and then small bursts to keep it there. Even on the coldest days the inside stat never fell below 12 degrees so its never heating the house from super cold. Its just a bit galling to think we came from a draughty, old, inefficient uninsulated house without a stat with one oil delivery a year to a new efficient insulated house with a stat and could be using more than twice the oil.We've just had a cold Feb/March (Beast from the East, etc.) so this week's usage chart (when it's been warm) won't be helpful.
I think rule-of-thumb consumption for 3/4 bed detached houses is circa 2000 litres a year. I used to reckon on 1000l fill in November and another in March.
Despite the insulation, bungalows are probably less efficient than 2-storey buildings.
This?
That's Kg/hour. Multiply by 1.25 for litres. also check your service report - does it show the nozzle size actually fitted?
Can the nest tell you how many hours the boiler has run since the last fill?
Call it 2.7 litres per hour. Your last week (including the hottest April day on record) shows about 11 hours used, so 30 litres.
11 weeks since the start of Feb, so if every week was as warm as the last one, usage would be about 330 litres. It's been a LOT colder than that.
I think the "boiler only firing 1/3 of the time" is a red herring, as the thermostat is probably the primary control.
That's Kg/hour. Multiply by 1.25 for litres. also check your service report - does it show the nozzle size actually fitted?
Can the nest tell you how many hours the boiler has run since the last fill?
Call it 2.7 litres per hour. Your last week (including the hottest April day on record) shows about 11 hours used, so 30 litres.
11 weeks since the start of Feb, so if every week was as warm as the last one, usage would be about 330 litres. It's been a LOT colder than that.
I think the "boiler only firing 1/3 of the time" is a red herring, as the thermostat is probably the primary control.
barneytolsta said:
Tbh I am up the north west of Scotland and we had nothing like what the rest of the country had.
NOW you tell us You may have missed the worst on the 'beast', but it's consistently colder up there regardless. What's the footprint (ground floor dimensions) of the bungalow, and what was the footprint of the old place? Was the previous house detached?
silentbrown said:
NOW you tell us
You may have missed the worst on the 'beast', but it's consistently colder up there regardless. What's the footprint (ground floor dimensions) of the bungalow, and what was the footprint of the old place? Was the previous house detached?
You may have missed the worst on the 'beast', but it's consistently colder up there regardless. What's the footprint (ground floor dimensions) of the bungalow, and what was the footprint of the old place? Was the previous house detached?
This house is 111 meters squared. The older house was about 150 meters squared with the same amount of rads (mostly single panel) and was also detached and was just 14 miles up the road.
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