Heating oil for hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs

How much heating oil a hotel uses

Heat and hot water run every day of the season, so oil is one of a hotel's largest running costs. A guesthouse or B&B might use 8,000 to 20,000 litres a year; a mid-sized hotel with a leisure centre can use 50,000 to over 100,000 litres. The estimate above turns your own figure into a yearly cost and shows what each cent per litre is worth.

Your best source is last year's delivery dockets. Add up the litres delivered over twelve months, and use the same figure in your brief so every oil supplier quotes on the same volume.

Never running out on a full weekend

Most hotels move to keep-full deliveries: the oil supplier tracks your usage, or reads a remote tank gauge, and tops up before you run low. You no longer need someone watching the tank, and the supplier can plan efficient full loads, which helps the price.

• The price per 1,000 litres, with and without VAT, and how long the quote holds
• The minimum delivery and any delivery or small-drop charge
• Payment terms: card on delivery, direct debit, or a credit account on 30 days
• Whether they offer a fixed price for a period, and what it costs to fix
• Keep-full or scheduled deliveries, and whether they fit a tank gauge
• Emergency delivery cover at weekends and bank holidays
• Delivery times that avoid guest arrivals and the car park at peak

Budgeting and VAT

Heating oil carries VAT at 13.5% in Ireland. A VAT-registered hotel can usually reclaim VAT on fuel used in the business, so ask for VAT invoices in the company name. Check the treatment with your accountant.

If cash flow matters more than catching the lowest price on the day, ask about a fixed price for the season or a monthly direct debit spread across the year.