The Northern Ireland Housing executive is warning their tenants and the wider community in Fermanagh of the dangers of using contaminated oil in their home heating oil systems.

They have advised tenants and indeed any householder to be wary of home heating oil being sold door to door and to purchase their oil from established reputable suppliers. Although the product is sold as home heating oil, it contains contaminants that can cause considerable damage, with the cost of repairs put at between £500 and £700 per heating system. Pigments from some plastic drums containing the heating oil have the potential to damage the fuel pumps on the oil fired boilers.
 
Heating Oil customers should also be aware of the potential harm caused by tipping their oil tanks to increase the flow of oil to their central heating system.  This can not only damage the tank and pipes, but dirt disturbed from the bottom of the tank can block the pipes which can in turn affect the oil burner.

Paul Hackett, General Manager Maxol Direct added,

“We rely upon strict quality controls systems to ensure that the heating oil we deliver is of the highest possible quality and at a time of increased pressure on household budgets we would advise all our customers against using expensive emergency heating oil drums as a means of budgeting.

We provide our customers with a variety of very popular budget payment options including Paypoint, monthly Direct Debit and Local Council Oil Stamps schemes. We would encourage our customers to contact us to discuss their individual needs or any concerns they may have."