Heating Oil is going to Break Me

[peppy]

I have a second home that we keep the heat on 55 degrees and it used 150 gal. of oil in 33 days

How can I make a boiler more efficient? Is LP a lot cheaper?

Anybody have suggestions?

[motion]

Why 55 degrees? Can't you turn it down to 40? Should make a huge difference.

[peppy]

It's an older house and I don't want the pipes to freeze, plus I have an office there and 40 is too cold for my little fingers.

I also have a sludge problem.

[racer]

How old is the current boiler? Not sure you can make one more efficient.. but buying a more efficient is also expensive.. How well insulated is the home? (windows, attics, door seals etc)

you need to find out why your home is loosing heat so fast in the first place and plug those holes first.

[MotoSook]

LP is $1.90/gal or so here. My barn sucked down 450 gallons in 2 months trying to keep it at 55 degrees. Admittedly it is a large barn, but setting the tstat at 40-45 made a big difference. You can figure how much LP you would have used at the second house by comparing Btu consumption of the oil and compare it to the same for LP.

For your office, get a oil filled electric radiant heater, then keep the house at a lower temp. Turn the oil filled heater on when you are there.

[red-beard]

I doubt the problem is the efficiency of the furnace. Get a thermal image analysis of the house and plug the worst of the leaks.

[sailchef]

Insulation.

Put plastic sheeting on the windows and unused doors. Use furring strips to hold it in place.

Buy a $5 cheap azz wooly blanket from walmart and cut it into strips and Fill in the cracks in the doors and on the inside of the windows.

Cover all the crawl space vents, basement windows, any place cold air can enter underneath the house. Cardboard works great in a pinch. Anything to stop the wind.

In the spring do it right and make it look pretty.

[pete3799]

150 gals. for 33 days in NC? Have you had a tune up on it lately? I burn wood this time of year, but in the fall and spring i use oil. From oct - first of dec i used just over 100 gal.
My oil furnace is 4 years old (never had one till then) so it's fairly efficient.
Might be time for a new one. As the others have said insulation is a must.

[peppy]

The boiler was put in in 2001 or 2002 it is a Burnham if that makes a difference.

We just put in new windows. There is no insulation under the first floor floors I bet that is part of the problem.

I just didn't remember it using this much oil last year.

I think the space heater is the way to go for now, and turn the thermostat down as far as I can.

[Red88Carrera]

Is it a steam or hot water system? Different solutions for different systems. What is the boiler supplying? Radiant tubing, baseboard heaters, or radiators. Are they on different zones? If so, lower the temp in the zones you don't use frequently.

[notfarnow]

I am with you. 140yr old house that I love in the summer, but holy %#% it is cold right now. Woodstove going, electric baseboards buzzing, but I can feel the cold air floing down the stairs.

Agree 100% that the first attack needs to be against drafts. if you walk from room to room, slowly pass your hand around the perimiter of doors & windows. You will be amazed at all the small leaks, and they add up.

[peppy]

Hot water with radiators and only one zone.

I think have a lot of insulating to do. I thought the windows would make a big difference.

[john70t]

You can use a cigarette/incense stick/candle/other to find which way the cold air is blowing, and an infrared(lazer) thermometer to find the coldest part of the walls/ceiling/floor.
Do this methotically room to room.

Air leaks/exchange have far more impact on comfort than the "R-value" of insulation.
We have light-colored curtains over the sliding doors(and some windows), and I've added rubber-strip seals and better thresholds to the outsides of these. It's made a difference.

Also, when there are drafts inside the thermostat will be kicking on and off.

Gas-anything indoors needs a CO alarm, IMO.

[TimT]

How can I make a boiler more efficient? Is LP a lot cheaper?

Not much you can do to make an existing boiler more efficient..

LP will cost a lot also if used in a crappy boiler..

I think have a lot of insulating to do. I thought the windows would make a big difference.

Yeap... and while insulation is cheap.. the cost goes up since you usuallt have to strip the walls, apply batts, re-rock, etc.


you can get blown in insulation also.. depending on the age/framing of your house..

Also... heat goes up......Insulate the upper floors ceilings, attic or roof..

[red-beard]

See if you can rent one of these:

NEW! - TiS Building Diagnostic Thermal Imaging Scanner

Fluke FLK-TIS: NEW! - TiS Building Diagnostic Thermal Imaging Scanner

[Red88Carrera]

Is the boiler short cycling? How often does it come on and how long does it stay on? Do you have an air scoop in the system? If it is short cycling, you could have air in the system, or not enough load for the boiler.

[stomachmonkey]

Another thing to look at is where is the thermostat? Last house the thermostat for the second floor was in the central hallway with a big opening to the 1st floor were heat would rise. When bedroom doors were closed at night those rooms got cold because the t-stat could not read the temps in them forcing us to set the heat higher to maintain comfort.

I eventually moved the t-stat into one of the bedrooms and problem solved.

[john70t]

A lot of older homes didn't even have wall insulation except some R-19 batts in the attic.

You can have cellulose or slow-rise foam put in the walls even when there is existing fiberglass, and all it requires is some 1-2 inch holes which are easily patched.


Also, go in the basement and make sure the sill plate/rim joist is sealed around the perimeter.
This accounts for up to 25% of total heat loss, so I've heard.

[aigel]

What is this heating oil you are speaking of?

A blast with the gas heater in the am is all that's needed around here. After that the sun's usually out and no more heat needed. In the recent "cold spell" the gas bill went as high as $60 a month.

From living in cold cimates I know there are only three ways of reducing your bill and they already have been mentioned:

- insulation
- temp setting
- efficiency of the furnace

A new furnace can easily cut your bill in half. It however can cost a lot of $. Insulation probably is the best bang for the buck.

G

[fintstone]

Why heating oil? In my NC house, I installed a heat pump. Much more efficient and about the same initial cost.