Looking for Advice on Strange Jump in Oil Usage

[Haston]

Last year at this time we were using approximately 2.6 gal. of fuel a day, relying on our wood insert for the majority of our heat. In October we also took the water heater off of oil (now to electric). I therefore would have expected to see a fairly big drop in oil usage. Yet, with the last fill up, we are using an average of 4.2 gal/day. My impression is that our oil burner has indeed been cycling less-- but I can't for the life of me figure on why we've seen a jump in overall oil usage. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I suppose it's possible that it's been colder this year, but the thermostats are programmed to run the boiler for only two hours in the morning and a short time in the evening-- same settings as last year. H.

 

[mpilihp]

Does your oil boiler keep water hot inside it IE not an instant on type? If so it will still cycle quite a bit to keep itself hot. Have you had it cleaned and tuned recently? Its nozzle could be clogged, worn out and running inneficent. Also Ive seen oil boilers run poorly and coat the tubes inside itself so not to transfer heat as effeciently to the water....

 

[leaddog]

Is your oil tank outside. It's posible it has developed a pin hole leak. Happened to my neighbor. He couldn't see anything except there was a 1/8in hole in the snow. It didn't even color the snow. 600gal in 2 months time. Ck the bottem of the tank and see if there is an oil film on the bottem. Water settles to the bottem and pin holes develop there.
leaddog

 

[stoveguy13]

i dont know if it has been as cold down in md as ct but the weather may have something to do with it.

 

[Haston]

I really appreciate all the suggestions. The burner was last serviced in October, but it may be worthwhile to ask for another measurement on efficiency. I'll check the outdoor tank for leaks (it is old), but I haven't smelled any fuel. Finally, yes, it's possible that it's been colder this year when compared to last-- but, again, with the way the thermostats are programmed, the system wouldn't run any longer this year as compared to last-- or am I daft in assuming that burners running for the same amount of time don't use more or less fuel depending on the outside temperature. In other words, I've always assumed the boiler was either "on" or "off"-- and the only variable was run time, rather than fuel amount. Again, many thanks. H.

 

[btuser]

If your burner/boiler was just serviced I'd start there. If the line from the outdoor tank comes in from underground there may be a leak in the line and you may not find it, or have to dig for it (worst case). I only mention this because My wife's grandmother had that problem when a tech used compressed air to clean a line back to the tank, ruptured it, and no one knew untill it started leaching out of a neighbor's sump pump. You can do a suction test on the line to see if it holds a vacuum but I'd start at the burner.

4 gallons a day (depending on your heat loss) is a lot even if you weren't supplementing with an insert. Get a real combustion test with a analyzer that can give you a print out, no just a quickie look through the port hole and a "stack temp" combustion rating because anyone can fake that.