Buildings lose heat. They lose through:

• Roof/Loft Space (around a quarter 25%)
• Walls (around a third 33% )
• Windows (around a fifth – 20%)
• Doors and Floorboards (drafts)

Other tips

• Heavy curtains with thermal linings
• Closing doors and windows

The simple rule of thumb is that lowering the thermostat temperature by 1 degree will reduce your heating usage by up to 10%. So if you come home from an overheated office used to being in shirtsleeves it’s about putting on another layer of clothing.

Room Thermostats and Timers

You may be able to keep certain rooms at a lower temperature – or even not heat them at all. Make sure the heating goes off around half an hour before going to bed. Ask your heating engineer about a timer which will allow different temperatures at different times of the day.

Other tips

Showers use less water than baths so you can make a double saving if your water is metered

Make sure your Boiler, Aga or other heating equipment is regularly serviced by a qualified technician. Consider switching to a Condensing Boiler. This can reduce your heating costs by over 20% and also help reduce CO2 emissions.

Whatever the age of your boiler, the right controls will let you:

• set your heating and hot water to come on and off when you need them
• heat just the areas of your home you want
• decide how warm you want each area to be.

By installing a room thermostat, programmer and thermostatic radiator valves, you could save up to £70 to £150 a year.

This allows you to make savings by using your controls more effectively. For example, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree, if it’s too warm inside, can save around £75.

Replace boilers older than 15 years old. Also, installing a new condensing boiler and controls could save you up to £310 a year.

Keeping your heating on constantly on a low heat could potentially save you more money than switching it on and off for big blasts of heat. This is where getting to know and understand the timer settings on your thermostat will really pay off.

• Keep your radiators clear. For example, do not put a large sofa in front of the radiator as it will absorb a lot of the heat.
• For properties with high ceilings, placing a shelf just above the radiator helps to deflect the heat into the center of the room rather than it drifting straight up to the ceiling.
• Put radiator panels behind radiators fixed to external walls to help reflect the heat back into the room.
• Use thermal or heavy curtains during the winter and close them at dusk. This will help stop heat escaping through the windows.

Remove all draughts around the house to help stop the heat from escaping and save up to £55 per year.

First Steps

The first consideration is to stop the flow of oil. You can do this by turning off a valve, plugging a leak, stopping a pump etc. Then you must stop the leaked fuel getting into drains, finding its way underground, getting into water courses etc. This can often be achieved by making small dams with sand or soil, by placing absorbents on or in the path of the leaking oil.

You must report serious leakages to the Environment Agency. More information can be obtained from the Environment Agency website.

Top tip

If you have a small leak on your plastic or sometimes steel tank you can quite often do a "get you out of trouble" repair by rubbing a bar of soap over the split/hole. This fills the gap with soap and may give you a little more time to cope with the problem.

Think twice before you act and consider getting some help.

First, check controls

First check that there actually is a problem and that the boiler is switched on and that the timer and thermostat are correctly set.

Do you have oil in your tank?

Be sure about this, your gauge may tell you that you have oil in your tank but quite often we find that the gauge is showing an incorrect reading. The only way to be absolutely sure is to remove the filler cap and dip the tank with a cane or something similar.

Check the reset button on your boiler. If the red light is on it may be worth pressing it once to see if the boiler starts. DO NOT press this button more than twice. If the boiler does not start after the second attempt you may overfill the combustion chamber with oil and make the problem worse.

This is noticed all too frequently after an oil delivery. More often than not, water finds its way into a tank because of loosely fitting fillers and breathers and sometimes by condensation. It quite often takes years, drip by drip, before it is noticed. Finally when the oil delivery is made the water which was lying harmlessly in the bottom of your tank is disturbed and gets into your burner.

If in doubt ring your usual boiler engineer or use the OFTEC website to find a local registered engineer. If all else fails Contact Us and we will try to help.

Figures below correct at 1st January 2015. Please check with ourselves or HMRC for current rates.

Kerosene: 5%
KeroAga: 5%
KeroMax: 5%
Gas oil: 5% (over 2300ltrs: 20%)
Derv: 20%
Unleaded Petrol: 20%