People are passionate about their oil-fired Agas and Rayburns. They exude quality and make the house feel wonderfully cosy and warm but it is important to ensure that they are kept in tip-top condition to keep them efficiently.
A number of oil fired cooker users are reporting that burners are cutting out. The Daily Telegraph has attributed this to the European Union insistence on lower Sulphur levels in domestic kerosene. This type of oil produces more soot that can clog the burners inside the oven. When your Aga cuts every six to eight weeks, it is a great inconvenience and call out fees for engineers can be costly.
One thing you can do to make your oil fired cooker run at its best is to use Exocet fuel. This has been specifically developed for oil-fired cookers such as Agas and Rayburns with an oil addittive that makes it burn more cleanly producing less soot than normal oil. Exocet Plus also inhibits the build up of sludge in the oil tank.
The Right Fuel for your Aga or Rayburn
October 27th, 2010David Debates Double Summer Time. Scotts not Happy.
October 11th, 2010In the UK we observe British Summer Time. We put the clocks forward around March and then back again around the end of October. As winter draws near, it seems that puting the clocks back really brings it home. Winter is here.
But we could soon be enjoying a lighter evenings in the winter as David Cameron is considering the idea of moving the clocks forward by two hours in the summer. This would, so the theory goes, give people more opportunity to enjoy the long summer afternoons. In the winter, instead of moving the clocks back by a full two hours we would just put them back by one hour. This will mean that the evenings will not be as dark. Great for everyone so you might think.
At Heating Oil, we have been debating the idea. It could also bring lots of benefits, such as using less electricity, more tourism and fewer accidents but people from the most Northly regions are not so sure. For them, the Sun would not rise until about 10 am. Famers would wake up in darkness. A Commons vote is scheduled for December. Such a move will undoubtedly divide the nation. What do you think? Perhaps we should have multiple time zones to keep everyone happy?
How to Prevent Heating Oil Thefts
September 7th, 2010Shhh! There’s a theif about. Someone may have their eyes on your tank of heating oil. As the economic difficulties increase there has been a marked increase in the number of commodity thefts such as scrap metal and heating oil. That tank of oil you have sitting outside starts to look quite attractive to a number of unscupulous people, especially if you live in a rural location.
If you oil is stolen, it is not just the loss of money, although that hurts. It can be an environmental problem in cases where the oil tank has been damaged, causing a leak. For farmers, a thefts of oil lead to delays which may have an adverse effect their business.
What can you do to prevent theft in the first place or a least make the theives live’s more difficult?
Firstly, keep an eye on the level of the oil and watch out of tell-tale oil spills. If you notice that the level is going down more quickly than usual then this may be a sign that the oil is being syphoned from the tank. It could be that the oil is being taken in small quantities rather than being emptyed in one go.
There are commercial products that use ultrasound to measure the level of the oil and transmit the information to a display in your house.
An obvious, but often overlooked measure, is to fit a lock on your oil tank. If you don’t already have one, now might be a good time to invest in one. There are even chemical additives that create a unique chemical signiture when mixed with the oil to help the police identify where it has been stolen from. Although its has to be said that its effectiveness is largely determined by the local police recovering the oil.
Have you ever had your oil stolen? Has anyone got their oil back? What did you do to stop it happening again? Let us know about your experiences.
Thoughts on Heating Oil and Oil Tankers
August 31st, 2010You probably haven’t given much thought to the oil tankers that deliver your heating oil to your door, I know that I didn’t before I went out with the drivers at Heating Oil but they have some quite interesting features. The first is that they often carry more than one type of oil as the tanker can have different compartments for each of the different types of fuel they can carry: Kerosene 28, Gas Oil, red diesel or premium oils.
I wondered why is Kerosene is called 28-second oil? Not 3-second oil or 30-second oil? It seemed like an arbitary number. Of course it isn’t but rather it is to do with the viscosity. The definition of Kerosene 28 is that it takes 28 seconds for a volume of 50ml to flow through the standard sized nozzle of a Redwood viscosimeter. Try it! (No. On second thoughts, don’t. It will end up in a mess of oil.) Diesel is also known as 32-second oil.
How is the oil is delivered? If your oil tank is in a difficult place to access, a smaller 4 wheeled tanker should be able to manouver close enough for the long reaching motorised extendable hose to reach your oil tank.
How does the tanker driver pump the exact amount of oil into the oil tank? When you fill up your car at the petrol station the volume of fuel is measured but when you decided that is enough, you control the pump so you stop it. When heating oil is pumped to the tank, the exact quantity is counted on a volume flow meter and when it reaches this value it automatically stops pumping. (Although it can be stopped so don’t worry about your tank overflowing!)
I hope that has helped answered some of those nagging questions about heating oil that keep you from sleeping at night.
Should Winter Fuel Payments be Means Tested?
August 23rd, 2010I am sure you will be aware of the stringent cuts that are being planned across the board to government spending plans. Most departmental budgets are being cut by around 20%. Benefits are being scrutinised closely including winter fuel payments. Introduced in 1997, it was intended to help the elderly during particularly cold winters. The government pays £250 to the over 60s or £400 for those over 80. The amount of money that is received is based on age and marital status but is not dependent on income.
I am sure that no one would disagree that the frail and elderly should be granted aid to heat their homes during a bitterly cold winter but in the current climate of economic frugality should this benefit be means tested?
There are certainly reasons why it should. Last year the winter fuel payment cost £2.7 billion and costs are set to increase as the population ages. As overall life expectance increases a larger proportion of those people are living longer. These all increase the cost of providing winter fuel payments. Many pensioners have never been so well off. They own their own homes, have benefited from generous final salary pension schemes and have seen the value of their assets increase dramatically. It is hard to see how giving benefit to people in this situation can be justified.
In contrast, while means testing might reduce the amount that is actually paid out, there would be additional costs to administer the processing of forms. An overly complex application process may make the people most in need from applying in the first place. What do you think? We would be interested to hear your views.
