Is the oil supply to my boiler leaking?

[elpresidente]

Moved into this house in October which has oil-fired central heating which I have not used before.

The boiler is in the garage and the tank is in the back garden approx 5m away. The feed pipe is buried.

When I moved in I fairly regularly smelt oil around the tank and the area of the feed pipe; I wasn't sure if this was normal (fumes venting etc) or not. On Nov 14th I had 1000 litres delivered and this has already about 1/2 gone or maybe more - so 500 to 600 litres used in 7 weeks (albeit over Christmas and quite cold in December). I still smell oil regularly although I cannot see any evidence of leaks.

I don't want to dig up the pipe unless absolutley necessary as in his wisdom the previous owner has built a concrete block log-store over the route of the pipe

So a) is the smell of oil a concern and b) is the rate of use excessive? And combined does all the evidence point to a leak?

Many thanks

 

[oilhead]

Usage is not excessive if you have your boiler on for 5 -6 hours per day and a med/large house.
If there is no visible evidence of leaks from pipework, there probably isn't a leak, but look for small weeps from joints and taps and filters.
What type of tank do you have? Steel, plastic? Do you have a sight tube gauge? This will have an open vent, and threr should be a vent on your tank. For reassurance, ask a local oilman for a check.

 

[maltaron]

If you can smell oil you almost certainly have a leak. As for as consumption is concerned it depends how old the boiler is. To give you some idea we have an oil fired cooker/boiler and only normally run heating for 2 hours in the morning, the surplus heat from cooking plus open fire does the evening. 1000 ltrs does about 8 months. If you need to replace the pipe, and this is unlikely unless there has been physical damage, the leak being more likely to be a connection around the tank end, you can reroute around the offending building. (in saying that, the building has been erected over the oil pipe so it could well have been damaged)

 

[Terrywookfit]

The obvious thing to do is to pressure test the pipework.

 

[Boilerman2]

Why not get a Registered Oil Engineer to inspect and Service the Installation, then you will know for sure

try www.elanar.co.uk

 

[elpresidente]

Yep, makes sense to get a professional in.

It's a 4-bed house and we haven't been skimping on the heating so usage is probably par for the course.

thanks all

 

[dcawkwell]

Put 20 psi pressure through the oil line. You'll soon know.
Quite a chance if a structure has been build over the oil line that
they damaged the line at the time. Not by much but to cause a slow drip.