Burning 100 gallons of heating oil a week

AKheat_91

Hello everyone, we have recently moved into a new house and we just seem to burn through heating oil. Total the place is 3500 square feet of livable space. We have been averaging 100 gallons a week pretty consistently ever since we moved in. To me this seems a little high. I’m in Fairbanks, Alaska so it does get down in the negatives here but it haven’t recently been too cold. Does this sound about correct? We keep the temperature at 67 degrees and have decent seals on all the doors and thermal curtains. If this seems high whom should I be contacting to figure out why we’re burning so much? 

EBEBRATT-Ed

I assume the oil tank is not leaking? Indoor tank?

First check with the local or state government they may have energy audits available...ask around.

I would look for a good heating contractor (maybe not your oil supplier) to make sure the equipment you have is running as good as it can.

Then based on any energy audit results a building /energy contractor to tighten up the building envelope etc

Check "find a contractor" on this site and post your city

Maybe @rick in Alaska can help or refer someone

Mosherd1

That’s seems reasonable to me, there are approx 140,000 btus in a gallon of #2 fuel oil. So 140,000 x 100 gals per week= 14,000,000 btus per week. 14,000,000/7 days/24 hrs per day= 83,333 btus per hour Divided by 3500 Sq feet=~24 btus per Sq foot heat loss.  I did NOT take burner efficiency into these numbers.  At a conservative estimate approximately 20% of your heat is going up the chimney and not even becoming usable heat.  

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Mosherd1

Actually more like 18-19/sq foot. You can't burn oil at 100% efficiency. 80K/hour every hour is a lot of heat

bburd

How old is the house? What type of heating system (hot water, steam, hot air) do you have?

Mosherd1

@EBEBRATT-Ed yep I realized that as you were typing.   I come from the land of natural gas and propane forced air, where pretty much everything is 96% efficient now.  Doing round number math on a napkin we don’t worry about that little bit of efficiency loss, but it adds up quick with an oil burner. 

rick in Alaska

"Maybe @rick in Alaska can help or refer someone ". Lol . I am about the lower part of the state and am about a 9 hour drive from Fairbanks, so I am out. However, Rocky of Rockys heating would be a good person to contact.
The other thing is that there were a lot of houses built during the pipeline era that were built like they were down south, so there might be single pane windows and very little insulation to deal with. I would suggest getting hold of an insulation company to check out the house before doing anything else though. Unfortunately, 100 gallons a week might be right for the temperatures you are getting now.

Jamie Hall

100 gallons a week in that size house in that climate does not point to anything major. The energy audit suggestion is a good one, as there may be things you can do to reduce the heat loss -- and hence the heating bill -- some.

As a side note, I would be very cautious about efficiency numbers. Most oil burners, unless they have not been properly maintained (which is not difficult) will run in the 82 to 85 percent range. To get the 96 percent figures you mention from down south somewhere, you have to be very well maintained indeed. Forced air is no more efficient than any other form of heat.

hot_rod

Find someone with an infrared camera, that will show where heat loss is highest. Possibly some DIY insulating and air sealing is possible.

Shop for an audit company that can do blower door and infrared testing of your home.

The Cold Climate Housing Research Lab is over near the U. it is now part of NREL www.cchrc.org, maybe contact them for info on any programs that may be available.

The lab is a great building to visit when you have the time.

leonz

It's probably time to look at an AHS S130 coal stoker boiler if you have hot water heat and buying coal from a Usebeli coal dealer. You could do the same thing with a water to air heat exchanger if you have scorched air heating.

HVACNUT

Have a blower door test done and seal the leaks. 14 gallons a day for 3,500 sq ft seems crazy for any climate. 
What make and model boiler and burner? What type of operating controls?

Jamie Hall

HVACNUT said:

Have a blower door test done and seal the leaks. 14 gallons a day for 3,500 sq ft seems crazy for any climate. 
What make and model boiler and burner? What type of operating controls?

Perspective 00 and temperature. Cedric can quite happily drink 30 gallons a day when it's really cold and windy...

Sal Santamaura

leonz said:

It's probably time to look at an AHS S130 coal stoker boiler if you have hot water heat and buying coal from a Usebeli coal dealer. You could do the same thing with a water to air heat exchanger if you have scorched air heating.

Alaska is warming faster than any other state due to human-driven climate change. Heating with coal puts out even more CO2 than does burning oil. It's bad enough that Alaska still mines coal and fires generating stations with it. Let's not encourage the OP to make matters worse.

Tightening the envelope ought be priority one.

SlamDunk

What does oil cost in Alaska? It's going for $3.25 on the East coast.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, No doubt it would take some work, but another approach is to fully heat only core areas where you spend time. There is no point in fully heating rooms that you spend little time in. A full air sealing and insulating retrofit can be a big job, but by zoning, you can probably do the work in smaller chunks. I've known people who have cut their heating needs by over 75% doing this.

Yours, Larry

ps, The IR camera idea is a good one. It can be amazing to see your home through those eyes!

mikespipe

Mr. Weingarten's post about heating core areas is a good one, as are the ones about energy audits and insulating. as for insulating since you did not mention what type of heat you have. make sure the pipes or ducts that you have, in any non living area, are well insulated. For example the furnace room, attic , or crawlspace. a btu is a btu and you pay for every one you produce. The reducing core areas and transfer insulation are the fastest ways to reduce the amount of heat you need. But tightening up the whole house with better insulation ,windows , or whatever the energy audit shows would be the best long term reduction.

bio_guy

An energy audit is good advice. A local, certified (RESNET and BPI, used to be the big dogs, but I am not up to date.) auditor will have information most climate specific. If you can do it, get someone that does only energy audits. Otherwise, you might get biased results. The insulation contractor is going to advise insulation upgrades whereas the furnace or boiler contractor has their different advice. For some state and local energy improvement programs, you can’t use the auditor to do subsequent work for this reason.

There used to be a lot of state-run programs that offer rebates or low/no interest loans for energy improvements. It was popular to make the repayment rate equal the calculated coin saved by the energy improvements. You end up with a budget wash for a few years and then see the savings after loan repayment. Some of these programs may still exist. I have not looked into them lately. A local auditor can point you to anything that may be available.

Local land grant universities are often great sources of up to date advice about how to tackle home energy savings in specific climates. I’ve taken a look at a few states, but don’t know how AK does with that. If they don’t have a lot of information maybe they do better on the Yukon side of the border.

I never really thought much about selectively sealing and insulating particular areas. I guess if you have to pick somewhere to start, start with the area where people are going to sit for a while. With all this insulation and air sealing work, is anyone going to be sitting? Do keep in mind that zoning can be difficult to pull-off without ending up with a short-cycling boiler or furnace. In addition to that, zoning as an energy saving approach works a lot better in poorly-sealed and insulated homes than in tight and heavily insulated examples. In the former, the transfer between rooms is closer to the rate to the outdoors. With good sealing and insulation, the differential between high and low heated rooms collapses somewhat.

Start with an audit to identify low-hanging fruit, blower door, infrared, the whole shebang.

P.S. Audits are often paid for by state energy improvement programs.

Sal Santamaura

Sal Santamaura said:

Alaska is warming faster than any other state due to human-driven climate change. Heating with coal puts out even more CO2 than does burning oil. It's bad enough that Alaska still mines coal and fires generating stations with it. Let's not encourage the OP to make matters worse.

Tightening the envelope ought be priority one.

I see that @426hemi and @WayneMech disagree with what I posted. It would be useful to know what specifically about it they find incorrect, why, and how my post should be changed to make it correct.

MikeL_2

Sal,
      I share your views, but also agree with Dan about the importance of remaining apolitical while participating here, however, the occasional undertones can be deafening.  

Sal Santamaura

MikeL_2 said:

Sal,
      I share your views, but also agree with Dan about the importance of remaining apolitical while participating here, however, the occasional undertones can be deafening.  

I agree with Dan too. However, Erin's rules explicitly state "Unless your post relates directly to the heating industry, do not post about politics." This is definitely about heating. When @426hemi and @WayneMech add notations indicating that they "disagree," I'd like to know why. Is that unreasonable or against the site rules?

Jamie Hall

If it cheers y'all up any, New York State's governor has proposed that oil or gas heating or other appliances which are fuel fired will not be allowed in any new construction.

She doesn't mention where the electricity is going to come from, nor the equipment to heat your house or shop in colder parts of the State.

Robert O'Brien

https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USAK0083

You rack up some degree days there!!

Sal Santamaura

Sal Santamaura said:

Sal Santamaura said:

Alaska is warming faster than any other state due to human-driven climate change. Heating with coal puts out even more CO2 than does burning oil. It's bad enough that Alaska still mines coal and fires generating stations with it. Let's not encourage the OP to make matters worse.

Tightening the envelope ought be priority one.

I see that @426hemi and @WayneMech disagree with what I posted. It would be useful to know what specifically about it they find incorrect, why, and how my post should be changed to make it correct.

And now @delcrossv
added an "LOL" to that post. It would be useful to know what specifically about my very serious words is perceived as being funny.

delcrossv

Sal Santamaura said:

And now @delcrossv
added an "LOL" to that post. It would be useful to know what specifically about my very serious words is perceived as being funny.

Simple, Sal. I find all the hand-wringing about "Global Warming" or "Climate change" almost as ridiculous as the ineffective (albeit profitable to the connected) schemes to "solve" it. 😀

Sal Santamaura

delcrossv said:

Sal Santamaura said:

And now @delcrossv
added an "LOL" to that post. It would be useful to know what specifically about my very serious words is perceived as being funny.

Simple, Sal. I find all the hand-wringing about "Global Warming" or "Climate change" almost as ridiculous as the ineffective (albeit profitable to the connected) schemes to "solve" it. 😀

Anthropogenic global warming (APG) is fact. This thread is about a specific homeowner's heating issue. I noted that suggesting the homeowner convert from oil to coal would make APG worse. That is neither "hand-wringing" nor ineffective. Your apparently not seeing this reality still doesn't explain what makes it funny.

JUGHNE

I have had this question for some time, I believe it to be of a scientific nature...nothing political.
It has been asked before in different circles without a good answer.

What caused the end of the ice ages?
Global warming caused by?????

ratio

JUGHNE said:

What caused the end of the ice ages?
Global warming caused by?????

Dinosaur farts is my guess.