This is The West Country | CommuniGate | Blackford Village, Somerset. Community, research, history Feedback Blackford_Somerset St_Michaels_Blackford Blackford_books Forward_Blackford_book (old book) Contents_Old_Blackford_book Buy_Blackford_books Reading_Room Index_Blackford_book (old book) Blackford_People Disclaimer_+_adding_info Aerial_Photos Map, How to find us? DATES and Events Gifford Family Parish Facts, Services, Contacts etc Church Photos Local Area NEW Blackford Book - Index Introduction to NEW book Oil Deliveries - SAVINGS! TV - Digital switchover Computer Security Broadband About this website Transport Links for Blackford Community & History Message Board Guestbook Event Calendar Mail Form NEW POLL! Is this site useful - what would you like to see? I like the site as it is I would like more historical information I would like more info: about events I would like more info: about ?? I will email or add to the messageboard with my ideas I like the info about oil, computers, tv etc I would like more photos. e.g. ??  Results Oil Deliveries - SAVINGS! With the current oil price now over $100 per barrel…. And heating oil around 45p per litre…. After increases in the last few days…. (Feb 2008). ($125per barrel/60p per litre in May2008). From recent experiences it seems to me that Boilerjuice www.boilerjuice.com are able to provide heating oil at least as cheaply and often cheaper than direct calls. With the potential to group order and save even more as well as reduce the number of lorry visits to our villages it seems to be a win/win! The oil comes via Darch, Ford, Williams etc as normal … Boilerjuice just find the best price. I have set up a ‘community’ at Boilerjuice http://www.boilerjuice.com/communities.php They will donate 10p for every 100 litres of oil that you order - so for a typical order of 1000 litres, that's a donation of £1.00 with the recipient as the Reading Room … unless someone has a better idea? Not a lot … but better than nothing!!! This will work for either individual orders or group orders. In order to qualify for a donation for our community, you must quote the Community Reference Number 34773 in the field provided on the order form during checkout. On the boilerjuice home page there is a graph that allows you to monitor trends and an easy price check that compares prices and quantities. For Group ordering see: http://www.boilerjuice.com/groupSavings.php Which looks pretty easy and does not need commitment from anyone! I am willing to be the main co-ordinator .. or would be very happy if someone else would like to take it on?! Anyone can join the group as long as the first part of the postcode is BA22 How does it work? It couldn't be simpler. You email me with your requirement … I add everybody's volume together to get a total volume and that's the amount the quote is based on. If we can get 3-4 oil users together they say savings can be in the region of 2p per litre or more. With even more oil users, they say savings can be up to 5p a litre based on the total quantity. In reality savings are likely to be less thhan that if you already checkaround for best prices - but there is usually still a saving. When we order, what happens Each group member will be contacted individually by the supplier (they will phone you direct) to arrange payment and delivery; so I do not pay BoilerJuice and do not have to collect payment from each group member. Please note group orders are processed and sent to the supplier immediately - they are not queued or grouped with other orders. I am happy to set up the group and lets see how it goes… no-one is obliged to use it and no commitment has to be made. If you want to join please advise me: Title(Mr/Mrs)* Surname* First name* Address* Postcode* Main Daytime Telephone* (so the supplier can call to confirm payment and delivery) Mobile (as alternative – if you have one) Typical Order volume * (just to give some idea) I will then add you to a Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot Group. To get some sort of system going perhaps we would try placing Group Orders every month? Say on a Friday? Perhaps 3rd Friday monthly. You would simply email me with the approx quantity required and I will add it to a group order. You can tell me a max amount you are willing to pay and approx quantity (and whether you want the tank filled) or exact quantity. Of course, if you need oil more urgently you can simply place an order yourself. Is it worth trying? Perhaps will get off to a slow start but by next autumn could be making a real difference to both costs and number of village deliveries Security against theft of oil This is an increasing problem due to the high price. Our best protection is probably some combination of: Neighbourhood Watch. All watching out for each other! Locked gates Hidden tank with screening etc Some people suggest locking the tank filler caps etc. But other people warn that thieves then punch holes in the tank … increasing your loss as the tank will need replacing as well. Hopefully we will not need to install CCTV - but the problem is real. Boilerjuice Oil efficiency One of the factors to look at when you consider using oil vs electricity for heating is the boiler efficiency. This is based on my research - I am not a scientist though! You can check efficiencies here: http://www.sedbuk.com/ A modern condensing boiler gets around 95% efficiency - older boilers much less. I believe that one litre of heating oil provides between 10 and 12KwH at 100% efficiency (depends on source of information!). So on a comparison with electricity can be said to cost around 5.5 to 6.5p per KwH unit (May 2008. Heating oil around 60p per litre). On this basis it is still cheaper than electricity - typical tariff around 9p - but compare that with natural gas (not available in our village) at around 3p. So for summer heating of hot water .... in terms of a full comparison the extra heat loss in heating water from boiler to tank in pipe runs etc probably mean that the comparison between oil and electricity is very close. Of course the immersion tank will also be ideally fitted with a timer as well as thermostat to ensure it is not heating more than necessary. Economy 7 is probably only worthwhile if you have storage heaters. LPG is something else! I have no experience or big comparison data currently but believe that 1 litre of LPG gives 7.4 KwH of energy and costs around 40p (May2008). So a KwH unit from LPG is around 5.4p. At current heating oil prices we may find lpg comes back into favour. Wood pellets for central heating & hot water is becoming increasingly popular and economical. My understanding is that wood pellets are round £175 per ton and equates to around 3.5p to 4p per KwH. The cost and space needed for the boiler and pellets is more than other options but compares favourably at current oil prices. Many people use a wood burning stove for space heating - usually very effectively. Ground source heat pumps are 'green' and also a viable alternative these days - they operate a bit like the opposite to a fridge. Taking small amounts of heat from the ground and compressing/converting it to be able to heat a home and hot water. Typically needs an area of ground for trenches (or may be installed with a vertical bore) and space for compressors and pumps. Works ideally with underfloor heating. Please let me know if you have additional feedback or data to update or correct my comments. Which Blackford? There are many other villages called Blackford in the UK. There is a larger village near Wedmore and another small one near Minehead (with the Dovecote) in Somerset as well as several in Scotland (Grampian, Aberdeenshire, West Dunbartonshire, Dumfries & Galloway and Tayside, Perth & Kinross) and also in Cumbria and Shropshire. Other similar named Blackford include Blackfordby, Blackfords, Blackford Bridge, Blackford Hill and Blackford Mill. Our village is a collection of around 30 dwellings. Blackford, Somerset, England, UK Postcode BA22 7E on the borders of South Somerset, Dorset (North), and Wiltshire and is near towns and villages including: Templecombe, Charlton Horethorne, Maperton, Holton, Sparkford, North Cadbury, South Cadbury, Compton Pauncefoot, Woolston, Yarlington, Yeovil, Wincanton, Castle Cary, Sherborne (Dorset), Mere (Wiltshire). A central map reference is ST 657 261.  Email page  Feedback  Home Blackford_Somerset |St_Michaels_Blackford |Blackford_books |Forward_Blackford_book (old book) |Contents_Old_Blackford_book |Buy_Blackford_books |Reading_Room |Index_Blackford_book (old book) |Blackford_People |Disclaimer_+_adding_info |Aerial_Photos |Map, How to find us? |DATES and Events |Gifford Family |Parish Facts, Services, Contacts etc |Church Photos |Local Area |NEW Blackford Book - Index |Introduction to NEW book |Oil Deliveries - SAVINGS! |TV - Digital switchover |Computer Security |Broadband |About this website |Transport |Links for Blackford Community & History |Message Board |Guestbook |Event Calendar |Mail Form