There are currently around 1.5 million homes across the UK that are not connected to the mains gas grid and rely on home heating oil to heat their homes, all year round.
An efficient way of heating a property, heating oil burns at a higher temperature than natural gas and provides significantly more heat than other heating sources, meaning it is becoming increasingly popular.
If you’re considering buying a house with oil heating, you’re in the right place. Within this article, we explore everything that you need to know about buying a house with oil heating.
What are the benefits of home heating oil?
Home heating oil offers a number of benefits to homeowners, including:
- Provides optimum heating efficiency.
- Ideal for remote locations that are not connected to the grid.
- Lower up-front costs.
- Safer than other sources of heat.
What questions do you need to ask when buying a house with oil heating?
If you’re considering buying a property that relies on oil heating, there are several key questions you should ask before committing to the purchase.
Tank accessibility, age, and size
You should always check the accessibility, age, condition, and size of the oil tank when buying a home with oil heating. This should give you a good idea of the condition and potential lifespan of the tank. Domestic oil tanks tend to last between 10-15 years, so if you discover that the tank is more than 8 years old, make sure you factor replacing it into your short-term budget.
Condition of the boiler, servicing history and fuel efficiency
Always check the overall condition, servicing history, and fuel efficiency of the heating oil tank, checking for any cracks or other examples of wear and tear.
Make sure that the system is running as it should as this will affect fuel efficiency, and don’t be afraid to ask for evidence of service reports, which should always be provided when the service is carried out.
Insurance requirements
Having adequate insurance cover in place is incredibly important as, if you’re not covered, it could end up costing you a small fortune to replace your tank. At the same time, any accidental damage will be your responsibility.
What security measures are in place?
When buying a home with an oil central heating system, you should always check what security measures are in place to protect it. For example, many homeowners invest in high-quality, robust locks, lighting, smart monitors and other security measures to deter thieves. View the 10 steps to prevent home heading oil theft to find out more.
Underground pipework
You will also need to find out where the underground pipework is located so that, if an engineer needs to access it, they are able to do so with ease.
Not only this but, if you don’t know the location of your delivery pipe, many companies will refuse to fill the tank.
Cost to fill the tank
Finally, it’s important that you gain an idea of how much it will cost to fill the tank before purchasing the property. This will help you identify whether or not the property’s heating oil costs are going to be affordable once you’ve moved in.
Remember, every home sold now must have an energy property certificate (EPC).
Considerations when selling your house with oil central heating
If have oil central heating and you are considering, or in the process of, selling your property, you should ensure that you have the following information to hand:
- Servicing history
- Tank age
- Delivery schedule and provider
- Security measures in place
- Insurance documentation
- Energy Property Certificate (EPC).
Where to buy heating oil?
With over 20 years’ experience in providing domestic heating oil solutions that you can rely on all year round we have a range of products to meet your needs .
Capable of improving the efficiency of your home heating our PremPure domestic oil has been designed to boost thermal efficiency and cut down on soot and carbon in your tanks. We are fully committed to ensuring that your home is always heated to its full potential and that your boilers, engines and combustion system last longer.
We also offer PremierPure Cooker, which is specially formulated for use in your AGA, Rayburn or any other vaporising cookers. This can be delivered directly to your storage tank by our professional, reliable and experienced drivers.
To find out more, get in touch with our team by calling 01829700120 and get a quote here.