Latest heating oil prices?

[NDA]

Has anyone done any recent legwork on this? The oil companies don't publish their prices so it's hard to find the best price - so I'm wondering if someone here has recently had a ring around? Boilerjuice is, of course, owned by DCC and only promotes it's own prices per area, a virtual cartel in fact.

2,000 litres in Surrey.

Thanks....

[cuneus]

No but we are going to install one of these (possibly!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[Manks]

cuneus said:

No but we are going to install one of these (possibly!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Has anyone else done this and if so what are running costs like in practice?

[cuneus]

We have a large space under the house (where the oil boiler is installed). That ASHP can be installed internally which never gets cold in winter providing the cold air is expelled from the pump

So looking at the efficiency it should produce a COP of about 4 even in winter

[burwoodman]

Manks said:

Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Has anyone else done this and if so what are running costs like in practice?

These heat exchangers are the go to solution in New Zealand. Fujitsu is the premier brand over there-cut your bills in half and instant heating/cooling. My brother has a giant one in the ceiling void which is ducted throughout the entire house

Added to say reliability is great-they just keep going, unlike the dramas we have had with oil burners and the pipeworks that goes with it!

Edited by burwoodman on Saturday 14th May 12:23

[Manks]

burwoodman said:

Manks said:

Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Has anyone else done this and if so what are running costs like in practice?

These heat exchangers are the go to solution in New Zealand. Fujitsu is the premier brand over there-cut your bills in half and instant heating/cooling. My brother has a giant one in the ceiling void which is ducted throughout the entire house

Added to say reliability is great-they just keep going, unlike the dramas we have had with oil burners and the pipeworks that goes with it!

Edited by burwoodman on Saturday 14th May 12:23

I intend to research this fully next week, but it looks to me like the pump in the OP just replaces the boiler.

[cuneus]

Also looking at these (going to get the efficiency graphs)

http://www.cooleasy.co.uk/categories/Heat-Pumps/Ai...

[burwoodman]

Manks said:

I intend to research this fully next week, but it looks to me like the pump in the OP just replaces the boiler.

The exchangers I am familiar with just heat/cool the property and not the hot water. cheers

[caziques]

Manks said:

cuneus said:

No but we are going to install one of these (possibly!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Has anyone else done this and if so what are running costs like in practice?

I can tell you all about them - as I sell the same unit in New Zealand.

These units are some of the most efficient in the world, and for the price they are being sold for unbeatable.

You should ask the supplier (BTW they have been rerated to 12kW now) if the new shipment is going to have a plate heat exchanger fitted. Earlier versions have a tube in tube one which has a significant failure rate.

They can be a straight swap for an oil boiler - although I have tended to fit them in parallel with an existing boiler just in case.

You MUST fit a more powerful circulating pump with this outdoor unit, do NOT use a standard 99w job. Why? because the heat pump is most efficient with a low temperature rise hence high flow is essential - I fit a three speed pump usually set on the fastest which is 205w.

And finally, never take water up to high temperatures with a heat pump and then cool it back down - you ruin the efficiency.

I know how much these things cost in China, for everyone with an oil boiler they are excellent value for money and will be cheaper to run (with zero maintenance).

Any more questions get back to me.

Edited to add - just noticed the picture on ebay is reversed!

[cuneus]

John

thanks for that incredibly useful information - much appreciated

Do you have any experience of the air to air heat pumps ?

[Manks]

caziques said:

I can tell you all about them - as I sell the same unit in New Zealand.

These units are some of the most efficient in the world, and for the price they are being sold for unbeatable.

You should ask the supplier (BTW they have been rerated to 12kW now) if the new shipment is going to have a plate heat exchanger fitted. Earlier versions have a tube in tube one which has a significant failure rate.

They can be a straight swap for an oil boiler - although I have tended to fit them in parallel with an existing boiler just in case.

You MUST fit a more powerful circulating pump with this outdoor unit, do NOT use a standard 99w job. Why? because the heat pump is most efficient with a low temperature rise hence high flow is essential - I fit a three speed pump usually set on the fastest which is 205w.

And finally, never take water up to high temperatures with a heat pump and then cool it back down - you ruin the efficiency.

I know how much these things cost in China, for everyone with an oil boiler they are excellent value for money and will be cheaper to run (with zero maintenance).

Any more questions get back to me.

Edited to add - just noticed the picture on ebay is reversed!

Thanks for this Caziques.

I am a bit concerned about reliability here. You say that there is zero maintenance, but mention that one of the components has a significant failure rate. I appreciate that the later ones have a different component, but having just embarked upon a journey with some other bleeding edge technology I am aware that reliability can be absent simply because of insufficient development and relatively small production numbers.

The application we would have for them is in properties currently with gas fired combi boilers, which don't have circulating pumps per-se.

We have some properties where we pay the energy bills. The electricity is not a problem, but the gas bills are becoming silly and we need to address the problem.

[thinfourth2]

cuneus said:

No but we are going to install one of these (possibly!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Yeah but you can't cook on the thing

So anyone got any recent prices?

[Manks]

thinfourth2 said:

Yeah but you can't cook on the thing

So anyone got any recent prices?

We just paid 58.9p

Edited by Manks on Sunday 15th May 09:06

[NDA]

Manks said:

We just paid 58.9p

Edited by Manks on Sunday 15th May 09:06

Finally, some prices!

The heat pump thing does look interesting, I have both gas and oil, the costs are massive. I'm doing about £6k a year on oil and maybe £2.5k on gas.

[cuneus]

NDA said:

Finally, some prices!

The heat pump thing does look interesting, I have both gas and oil, the costs are massive. I'm doing about £6k a year on oil and maybe £2.5k on gas.

How do you cook on oil ?

Seriously though how many sq feet is your house - that is a ludicrous amount of money

[Manks]

cuneus said:

How do you cook on oil ?

Aga or other range cooker.

[NDA]

Aga, Swimming Pool ... large house kept at tropical temperatures by my frugal family.

[Manks]

NDA said:

Aga, Swimming Pool ... large house kept at tropical temperatures by my frugal family.

We had a bit of a result with our AGA. It was going to be too tricky to fit a flue so we opted for an electric one. We thought it would cost us way more to run, but it hasn't.

Additionally, when we had some PCB issues AGA changed the control board for an AIMS unit which turns on and off the AGA at appropriate times of day and "learns" how long before use it needs to switch itself on.

[NDA]

Manks said:

AGA changed the control board for an AIMS unit which turns on and off the AGA at appropriate times of day and "learns" how long before use it needs to switch itself on.

I guess one of these smart controls is not possible on an oil fired one?

Still hunting for oil prices by the way!!

[cuneus]

Oil prices 58-60p

Now onto a much better solution

we paid £1300 for electricity per year including a 25x12 ft pool. Gas (mains) was several hundred a year

Given your extortionate running costs have you insulated properly?

How old is your boiler ? (make, model)

Any investment is going to see a rapid return