Heater is running too much?

Question

We have an oil furnace in our house (2200 sq ft). We recently got a new thermostat and it says that the heater sometimes is running for 8 hours in a 24 hour period. Also, our oil bill has been very high the past two years. We keep the thermostat at 56 at night and 63 in the daytime, only putting it to 70 for a few hours in the early evening. We live in PA, it's been a pretty mild winter. Is this normal?

Answer 1

Did you have the unit serviced??? You should have is serviced if it was done lately. you could probably down size the nozzle. I went from a 1.25 to a 1.0. What is the water temp set at???? you may have to turn it up a tad. have the hi/lo setting at least 20 degrees difference. In addition to the insulation factor, there are some variables that affect the operation of the unit. the obvious is temp. but wind speed is also a factor (the wind blowing over the chimney sucks the heat from the furnace, resulting in it running more ofter), the air pressure has the same effect to a lesser degree. consider turning the temp down 2 degrees at a time and keep it at a setting all the time...I too live in PA and the oil prices are insane. Good luck. I burn an average of 6 gallon a day right now.

Answer 2

Actually, in the North East, it's been colder than
average for late October and November this year.
Oil has been 'high' for the past two years, and
that is only going to get worse.
If your furnace is running 1/3 of the time at the
~35 Deg. we've been seeing lately, you might
look into stopping some drafts and maybe adding
some insulation if you can.

Answer 3

keep the temp. at a 68-degrees no changing the thermostat
that is why the bill is high,because your keep regulating
the thermostat causing the furnace to try to catch up



by the way i live in pa, also,hope this helps

Answer 4

sounds like you need to check your insulation in the attic and in your walls .... over time many of the older insulations settle to the bottoms of the openings they are in

so the bottom of your walls may be full and the top half completely empty

the attic insulation compacts from its own weight and is made ineffective the mare it compacts

not to mention the typical critters they live in the attic spaces cause no one ever checks up there

as they make them selves at home they move the insulation around for there convienence and it is never good for the heat bill

and of course the critter always like to make to openings they come inand out thru a bit bigger as they grow and the family does as well

over time you could find you have a opening letting heat out that you could put a basket ball into

Answer 5

You need to compare your oil consumption, not the dollar amounts.
What you can do is: Change the air filters; make sure none of your vents, or return vents are blocked; make sure you can't feel air around your window and doors; if you have a fire place, close the damper when you're not using it.