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The price of heating oil has risen to levels many of us couldn't have imagined as recently as just a few years ago. This leap in rates has sent many people searching to find ways to save on their monthly utility bills, particularly during the winter months. While paying for home/central heating oil is unavoidable for many people, there are a number of ways to reduce how much you pay and the amount your home uses. Here are 7 of the best.Due to online comparison websites and easy access to company websites, prices are more transparent than ever. There are a few online comparison websites dedicated to heating oil companies in the UK. Using these sites has replaced ringing around heating oil businesses as it is more efficient in terms of time and money, i.e. they very quickly let you know which companies offer the best value. Be mindful however to check that your chosen comparison website has the most up-to-date information. Lower Your ThermostatThe simplest way to lower heating bills is to lower the thermostat. Sacrificing a slight amount of comfort could well be worth it when the next utility bill arrives. Marginally re-setting the thermostat downwards by a few degrees during the winter days will make a noticeable difference in oil usage. Moreover, at bedtime, the thermostat should be reduced even further. Dirty air filters make the heating unit work much harder (i.e. use more oil) than it has to, so regularly check the filter to see if it needs replaced.Insulation in the walls and under floors or ceilings in your home trap warm air or cool air inside and keep the external air from penetrating the house. When insulation is too thin or improperly installed, or nonexistent, the consequence can be a heating unit that is constantly labouring to warm the home. Adding extra insulation to the home, particularly above the top floor in the attic, will trap more heat inside during winter, and make the home far easier to cool during warm weather. The easiest solution to dealing with rising heating oil costs is to put on more clothes. Wearing many layers of thin clothing is better than a few layers of heavy clothing.The author works for a company who know a lot about sourcing the cheapest home heating oil in the UK by comparing home heating oil prices and comparing central heating oil prices.
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You should make it a regular part of your Autumn maintenance program to change the filter through which heating oil passes before it goes into the burner of a furnace. The filter, in most cases, is usually located on the tank and looks like an oil filter or cartridge filter. Changing it is extremely simple and will only take a minute or two. It?s important to remember to purge the air from the system after you have completed the filter change. This is a necessity. If it?s not carried out, the burner will not run due to air being in the system. It is therefore important that you get all the air out of the fuel line. 1 Go to the heating oil tank and find the oil filter and housing on it. It is commonly mounted on the outlet of the tank and has a shutoff valve between the tank and the filter housing. 2 Switch off the valve that controls the flow from the tank to the filter. This allows you to remove the filter and avoid spilling heating oil everywhere. 3 If you don?t already have one, obtain a drain pan and position it under the filter housing to catch any drips when you pull the filter out. There will still be fuel in the filter and the line going to the furnace, so you should expect an amount of fuel drainage. 4 On the top center of the filter housing is the retaining bolt. Locate it and remove the bolt with a wrench while at the same time holding the base of the housing with your free hand. Gently lower the housing down and remove the filter cartridge from it. 5 Install the new filter and replace the gasket on the filter housing with a new one. A useful trick is to rub a small amount of fuel oil on the gasket at this point. After this raise the filter and housing into place. 6 Re-install the retaining bolt and be sure to tighten it firmly with a wrench. Turn on the valve from the tank and check for leaks. You also have to remove the air from the filter and bleed the line before running the furnace. 7 Locate the bleeder for the filter; this is the small bolt on top of the filter housing. Open it with a wrench to allow the air to escape from the housing, leaving the screw open until you see oil come out of the hole. 8 Close the bleeder screw and bleed the line at the oil pump on the furnace. Carefully dispose of the filter and any fuel that ran into the drip pan. Check with your local rubbish disposal company if you are not sure where or how to get rid of it. The author works for a company who are experts in sourcing the cheapest home heating oil in the UK by comparing home heating oil prices.