fills
Hi Once Bitten!
1700 square feet are 188.8 square meters.
4000 liters oil are equivalent to roughly 40,000 kilowatts.
40,000 kw divided by 188.8 m2 is about 210 kw per square meter.Without hot water.
When the new energy rating for buildings comes into Irish legislation-2006- we need a new letter in the alphabet to classify your home,it would be rated worse than "Z" .But you are not alone,most homes would not be any better than "E" or "D".
You need a professional energy adviser ,even if you let one come for a day from abroad it would save you thousands.Contact the Irish energy center,they might have an address.
I have a standard home which uses around 60 kw/m2 (incl.cooking and hot water) per year.Underfloor heating,condensing boiler,two adults.
A boiler without temperature control in centigrades must be an old banger,what is your plumber saying about it when he is servicing it?Has your chimney sweeper mentioned an extraordinary thick layer of soot ?
Oil pipelines must have a secondary containment-a ducting-to protect the environment.I think this a legal requirement.The pipe should not be interrupted by joints,I don't know if this a legal requirement too, just logic.