1000ltrs of oil in 2 months???????????

[mackandmutley]

I have recently (April 2008) bought a 4 bed standard detached house and seem to be getting throught a lot lot more oil than anyone else I know
i had our oil tank filled lastly on 24th november 2008 and have just got home to find house cold and oil tank empty. We have a Boulter Camray boiler which looks fairly old but still functional and is set at the moment to come on for 8 hours in total per day. Is this usage of oil normal because if it is it will cost me a fortune or could it be to do with the following:

When I moved in the oil had run dry and after filling it my helpful neighbour came around and said he'd bleed it thru. Turns out rather than undoing the bleed screw he messed about with what someone else has told me is a pressure setting screw on the side of the pump - its black with a flat head screwdriver slot on its top and an o-ring on its flank. After buggering about with this he told me he couldn't fix it!!
I managed to locate, and then bleed pump and its been running fine since, but now I wonder whether he has affected the pressure. I thought I'd be smart tonight and measure the flow of oil into the pump from oil in a jam jar and time it, then see if by turning this screw I could reduce the flow to the pump whilst still firing the boiler. It doesn't seem to have worked because turning the screw seems to make little difference- winding in achieves the same flow rate up until the point it doesn't fire and winding it out does marginally reduce flow but only by about 30% at its fullest point which is just prior to the screw falling out.

Sorry for the length of this but I thought it might save extra questions

Please share your thoughts, however helpful you think they may be as I can't afford these oil bills and am keen to fix the fault.

 

[robhynes]

Has it been going down steadily? Someone might be stealing it.

RobH

 

[mackandmutley]

No it seems like this since I moved in. Has anyone any info on what the flow rate/usage should be per hour or minute for this type of set up??

 

[oilman]

You are obviously WAY out of your depth. Get someone in.

Had you looked, asked questions then tried the advice given, it would be possible to progress. As it is, you have a totally unknown situation which is likely to need professional attention.

 

[jobloggs]

Get it serviced which will involve new nozzle, setting pressure and air flow etc. Also indication of efficiency.

Dear knows when it was last serviced by previous owners.

 

[Burnerman]

As a benchmark, the pump pressure should be about 10 bar - normally a factory setting. You can check this if you want by screwing a pressure gauge into the port marked 'P'. Its not a good move to adjust the pump pressure haphazardly, likewise the airflow into the burner....it will just lead you up the garden path. Cheers John

 

[mackandmutley]

From your tag - oilman- I would appreciate that you are perhaps a qualifed expert in your field. Simply because I am not an expert in oil boilers surely does not preclude me from asking advice about how to fix mine, I note that many people do on this forum, and would suggest that DIY fixing is one of the main reasons people visit this site.
Either way the facts are that I have simply asked advice as to whether the flow rates I am experiencing are normal or abnormal whether it could be down to my less than helpful neighbour playing with it before knowing what he was doing. As you have suggested I did in fact obtain advice before starting and would continue to take advice if it were being given. To presume I'm WAY out of my depth is good of you but for your information I am an engineer by trade and am not phased by this work, merely looking for some quick tips from those in the know. if my problem were to involve a safety issue then I would entirely agree with you and get someone in.
If your van broke down I bet you would open the bonnet despite not being a qualified mechanic just so you could see if it was a simple fix.

 

[oilman]

Apart from being large enough to be adequate, the oil flow into the pump is irrelevant. It is the output pressure which is significant. this should be between 7 and 9bar for starters, but too high can make a lot of soot which will require cleaning.

As I said, you are in an unknown position at the moment, and despite being an engineer, you will need test equipment to establish the correct running conditions.

 

[pte440]

not that it helps, but i get through approx 800ltrs per week, but then i run a cinema with a 250kw boiler

 

[mackandmutley]

Rigging up a pressure guage is no problem, this is put on the feed to the burner I guess. Is 9 bar likely to create soot and should it by 7 to be better. By the way the advice I was previously given by my neighbour, who incidently is an oil engineer, is that they burn approx 3 litres per hour whenever they are ignited, is this about right because averaging 50/50 ignition during the 8hours it is on is 4 hours per day so about 12 litres per day and therefore 360 litres a month and 720 litres in the period I am talking about.

Is SWMBO having the heating on more than other people do???

Should I buy the family some jumpers???

 

[roguetrader]

You are obviously WAY out of your depth. Get someone in.

oilman is right.
There are many factors that affect the amount of oil your particular installation will use. id say you were tinkering for the sake of it without understanding what you were doing. now you have altered the pump pressure you will need to set this again, you will also need to do smoke tests and carry out flue gas analysis to find the correct air settings. all this needs doing before you can monitor a correctly set up boiler for efficiency, other factors you need to address are the tightness of your oil storage and supply and the general effectiveness of your heating system to include everything from controls to insulation.

 

[outinthestix]

Oilman is giving you good advice. Why don't you take it ? For starters you will need to purchase several hundred pounds worth of test equipment and then use it for several months at least with guidance from a professional to be able to sort your boiler out.
If there is just a thin layer of soot in the comb. chamber it will cut the efficiency drastically which you could clean yourself (if it's very bad you will be doing the technician a favour)but the pump and air need to be set with relatively expensive equipment/experience and some components may need renewing.
From what you have told us you need to get a pro to repair and service it.

 

[Aquaheat]

i ask this question for a reason so forgive me all.

What burner have you got and what boiler is it?

 

[oilman]

It may be a Riello. Probably a 424T55, 432T55, 444T55, or 498T55 depending on what size Camray 3, and what year of manufacture.

 

[Kes]

I agree, spend £85 or so to get the boiler set up burning cleanly and efficiently, as far as it can. The serviceman may also be able to tell you whether the boiler is burning oil for the sake of it.

We have a three-bed fairly large old house, the type which is lovely and cool in summer and even cooler in winter. The boiler is on 8.5 hours a day, but supplemented by a stove on cold days (like today). Although it's difficult to determine just how much oil is used it isn't far off 100 litres a week. If you have no supplementary heating and the roomstat is set to a more comfortable heat than ours is then I would think that you could burn 125 litres a week.

Get the boiler serviced, and don't let the boiler run dry. Oh yes, insulate everything.