Below are some extracts from our customer comments when we last ran our “top tips on savings home heating oil”, add your comments and views to keep this topic hot.

Insulation, insulation, insulation.

• Ensure you loft insulation is 2.5 inches or more
• Cavity wall insulation (If your property is suitable – there are instances where properties would suffer damp issues if cavity wall insulation is installed, so use a trusted surveyor before installation.)
• Check the seals around doors and windows for draughts. TIP: Most modern UPVC windows can be adjusted with an ‘Allen key’ via the hinge to ensure a snug fit).
• Install a letter box draught excluder.
• Check the insulation around your hot water tank.

Heating Oil Money Saving Tips

• Ensure you boiler is serviced at least once every 12 months (ensure you have your nozzle changed)
• Consider using premium heating oil / additives e.g. BoilerMax or CookerMax to extend the efficiency between services.
• Secure your heating oil tank – some thiefs will try to empty your tank in one go, but other will steal little and often, so while you think you may be burning more oil than normal – it may be that someone is visiting in the midst of night taking small, but significant amounts.
• Consider putting a fence around your tank.
• Add a lock – secure fill points and your vent
• Consider an alarmed tank monitor like the Watchman Alarmed monitor

Short / Medium term investments:

• Install TRV’s on your radiators and adjust as required. (Thermostatic Radiator Valves cost from around £5 each on ScrewFix.com).
• Fit an electronic descaler, these cost very little but removal of scale – especially in the boiler and water tank will make the system more efficient.
• Have your heating system treated with sentinel or a similar product. (Screwfix.com)
• Install double or secondary glazing

Longer term investments:

• Consider installing a wood burning stove with back boiler to feed radiators and hot water.
• Upgrade your boiler if it is an old non-condensing type  -modern condensing boilers are around 90-92% efficient. If you live in a small/medium sized property and have relatively low hot water usage consider upgrading to a combi-boiler – which only heats the water you use.

Other suggestions:

• Visit a different friend each day and enjoy their heat. Invite your friends round to visit you in a set day – by doing this you have company, food and heat.
• Take care when strimming and mowing around your oil tank, what ever you do, don’t cut your oil tank feed pipe.

Add your tips below and you could see your tips above…

Improving your Boiler Efficiency with BoilerMax Premium Kerosene 28 Additives…

Under normal operation a boiler fires up and cuts out to maintain a constant room temperature (usually controlled by a room thermostat). Deposits build up between services on nozzle and heat exchanger surfaces when using untreated heating oil – without us normally knowing about it because the boiler is still working.

The nozzle deposits produce a less efficient fuel/air burn and the deposits on the heat exchanger make it harder for the energy to transfer through to heat the water. In order to achieve the same room temperature the boiler needs to fire up and cut out a little more frequently – and over time this increase use of the boiler burns more fuel.

BoilerMax premium additives can also help lower costs by reducing the risk of boiler breakdowns, blocked filters, tank/metal parts rust and other common operating problems. It has a mixture of anti-oxidants, dispersants, detergents, corrosion inhibitor, metal deactivator and other fuel stabilisers that help keep the fuel fresh, the boiler clean and avoid other operating problems that routinely occur.

Each bottle will treat around 1000 litres of fuel but can treat between 500 and 1400 litres of home heating oil.

Have you used BoilerMax Premium Kerosene 28 Home Heating Oil Additives? Did your service engineer notice a difference after you used BoilerMax additives? If you own an AGA, you may be interested in our CookerMax Premium Kerosene additives.!

Yes, that’s right! As an added bonus, if you place an order for heating oil with BoilerJuice.com in April for more than 500 litres you will automatically be entered into our prize draw. You could win a year’s supply (5 bottles) of BoilerMax or CookerMax worth £59.95.

BoilerJuice oil additives are specially formulated to keep your boiler in tip-top condition, reducing sludge and the build up of carbon deposits to make your boiler work more efficiently. Find out exactly how oil additives work.

Terms and Conditions

Minimum delivery 500 litres, Group savings offer applies to standard orders with a standard tanker only, we always try to offer savings, but cannot guarantee this as it’s dependent on others in your area placing orders.

*This prize draw is only open for entry to domestic customers, based in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of the 10 winners will receive: 5 bottles of either BoilerMax or CookerMax, sufficient to treat 5,000 litres of fuel, which is approximately one year’s supply.
Winners will be notified within 7 days of the closing date which is 30/04/2011 at 23:59, for full terms and conditions please see our website.

Heating oil additives are something of a mystery to many people and often misunderstood. Some people believe that they will magically transform the fuel and give you more energy from the oil when you burn it. In fact, oil additives do not change the heating energy in the oil but regular use can improve the efficiency of heat transfer and save wear and tear on the components in your oil-fired boiler or oil-fired cooker, saving you money on expensive repairs and call out charges in the long-term. BoilerJuice sell two types of heating oil additive, BoilerMax and CookerMax.
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