Heating Domestic Water

So would I find it cheaper to switch off my oil boiler and use the immersion heater which is on full price electricity to heat the water ?? thanks E

Reply to
Leveled
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From the last time someone in here did the calculations, not yet. by a long way.

Reply to
EricP

FRom te last time I did that calculatins, yes, if on E7..divide oil price by 10 and compare with electyricity unit price.

off peak currently 4.85, oil as of this morning, around 6p/unit.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Some say yes and some no ! My electricity cost is 12 pence a unit (overall) and oil over 60 pence so for me with no off peak the oil would be half the price of electricity, If I divide by 10 is that right ??

Reply to
Leveled

I had a customer who swore it was cheaper to use his immersion heater during the summer. However every autumn he had to call me to get the system going again as it had been idle for months and a variety of faults presented from the usual stuck circulating pump to the oil draining back to the tank and leaving the fuel pump running dry on his wall mounted boiler. If only he had run it for a few minutes each day it wouldn't have happened but he was one of those dogmatic types (good payer though)

Reply to
cynic

How much is the cost of each ADDITIONAL unit though.

Since you are probably execeeding a base level at high price, you should compare the incremental cost, not the absolute overall cost.

The maths is right on the oil, but check again n the electricity.

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Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Reply to
Leveled

I had a customer who swore it was cheaper to use his immersion heater during the summer. However every autumn he had to call me to get the system going again as it had been idle for months and a variety of faults presented from the usual stuck circulating pump to the oil draining back to the tank and leaving the fuel pump running dry on his wall mounted boiler. If only he had run it for a few minutes each day it wouldn't have happened but he was one of those dogmatic types (good payer though)

I can do that by running the oil boiler for 10minutes or so a week but what I am trying to find out is, would it be cheaper to heat the water with non off peak electricity at

12.to 13 pence a unit than with oil at 60pence + a litre anyone have a straight answer ??
Reply to
Leveled

I haven't turned on the oil boiler since April. I switch on the immersion heater (3kw) for 30 minutes each morning and that is plenty for washing (me) and the washing-up. Twice a week I leave it on for another 30 minutes and have enough piping hot water for a generous bath (I don't care for showers much). So one hour at 3 units = about

32 pence.

To worry geoff even more, I have been recording my electricity meter readings for some while and am using on average 9 units per day at the moment. This will inevitably rise towards the autumn. That is total consumption - PCs, TV, electric drill when I do DIY etc. I have just completed building a solar water heater and am now testing it, if we ever get any actual summer weather, that is!

MM

Reply to
MM

Since the "last time" oil will have increased by orders of magnitude. See my other post. 50% increase since January. Even the leccky companies haven't had the gall to increase their prices by that much. Yet.

MM

Reply to
MM

I run mine for five minutes every few days. The price of heating oil will soon top a £1 a litre. It's risen by 50% in six months. Another

50% from today would put the price by January at around 93p per litre, so this time next year we'll probably be well past the £1 mark. I bet electricity will be cheaper then! I'd like to see the back of domestic oil heating. It's messy, there's the ugly great tank in the garden, a magnet now for oil theft; the boiler is an expensive bit of kit. The whole oil heating malarkey looks like its days are numbered and about time. So much easier just to flick a switch.

MM

Reply to
MM

The only way to measure would be to start with a cold tank of water in the airing cupboard, then heat for an hour with oil. Repeat the exercise with the immersion heater. Take the temperature of the water at the start of running the hot tap (say into the bath), allow 10 gallons to flow from the tap (mark the side of the bath with a strip of masking tape), and take the temperature of the flow at the tap again. If the temperatures are the same for oil versus electricity, then it's a straightforward calculation between the unit cost and the amount of oil consumed. Most boiler manufacturers will have figures on how much oil is ACTUALLY consumed in one hour and even if the amount fluctuates slightly due to ambient temperature and other factors, a ballpark calculation should be enough to work out the difference.

The thing is with oil, first the boiler has to get hot, then the pipes have to get hot, then the heat in the water is transferred to the tank in the airing cupboard. My oil boiler (new house) is in the garage, i.e. quite a long way away from the airing cupboard! That's a lot of cold pipe that first has to be heated. On the other hand, the immersion heater is, er, immersed directly in the water so every joule goes straight into the water, not the pipes or the brickwork surrounding the pipes.

Anyway, 30 minutes on the immersion heater gives me all the hot water I need for ablutions and washing up. That's about 16p's worth. And since the oil price is rising almost daily, whereas electricity isn't, the latter is becoming cheaper with every week that passes. Until the lecky companies get wise to it and whack on another 40%!

Whatever we do, by the way, we cannot win against capitalism. The buggers WILL have all our money, one way or t'other. The ONLY solution is to become self-sufficient, e.g. wood-burning stove, turbine, solar panels, solar water heating, ground heat pumps, flywheels, water wheels. Even having a good, old-fashioned bullock in the kitchen will provide plenty of warmth in the winter. Snuggle up, kids!

MM

Reply to
MM

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