Lag the hot pipes between your oil boiler and cylinder so the heat reaches your taps, not the hot press. Cost per metre, what to buy, and how to do it.
By MyOil Editor ·
If you heat your home with oil, there is a small job sitting in your hot press right now that pays you back faster than almost anything else you can do. Lagging the bare copper pipes between your boiler and your hot-water cylinder stops heat leaking into a cupboard nobody sits in, and sends it where you actually want it: your taps and your rooms.
It costs a few euro per metre, takes an afternoon, and you do not need a plumber. Here is how to do it properly.
Every metre of uninsulated hot pipe is a little radiator you never asked for. The water your oil boiler heated so carefully cools as it travels, so the boiler fires again sooner and burns more oil to hold the same temperature. In a typical Irish house the worst offenders are the pipes around the cylinder in the hot press, plus any runs through a cold garage, attic, or under suspended floors.
Insulating them does three things:
Paired with a cylinder lagging jacket, this is the classic two-for-one win for an oil-heated home.
For pipe lagging in Ireland you want pre-slit foam tubes (sometimes called pipe insulation or foam lagging). They come in standard lengths, usually one or two metres, and are split down one side so you slide them straight onto the pipe.
The two things that matter:
As a rough guide, foam pipe insulation costs only a few euro per metre, so doing every accessible hot pipe in the house is usually a small outlay. It is one of the lowest-cost energy jobs you can take on.
Prioritise the hot flow and return between the boiler and the cylinder, and the pipe leaving the top of the cylinder. Those carry the heat you paid oil for. After that, lag any pipes running through unheated areas (attic, garage) to guard against freezing.
You do not need to insulate cold-feed pipes for energy reasons, but doing the ones at risk of frost is still worth it.
The whole hot press usually takes under an hour once you have the bits cut to size.
Nobody can promise an exact figure, because it depends on how much bare pipe you have and how cold those spaces are. Realistically, pipe lagging on its own is a modest saving, but it is cheap, permanent, and stacks neatly with cylinder lagging, smart heating controls and radiator reflectors for a bigger combined dent in your annual oil use.
Think of it as removing a slow leak. The point is using less oil for the same warmth, fill after fill.
Measure your hot-press pipes this weekend and grab the right bore of foam lagging. While you are reducing how much you burn, it is worth knowing where you stand on the tank too: see when you'll run out so a fill never sneaks up on you, and set a price-drop alert so you are ready when prices move.
Set a price-drop alert and we'll email you when oil gets cheaper in your county.
Set a price-drop alert →Pop in your tank and last fill, and we'll estimate how many days you've got left.
See when you'll run out →An honest look at radiator foil for Irish homes: where it saves, where it won't, and how much you'd really notice on your oil bill.
Read →Cheap fixes for doors, windows and unused chimneys that stop draughts and save heating oil. DIY vs fitted, with rough savings for Irish homes.
Read →Before you spend thousands on a new boiler, see why upgrading your heating controls often saves more oil per euro, and how the SEAI grant helps.
Read →Tell us your county and we'll watch the price by the fill, not the cent. Add your tank and we'll tell you when you'll run out, and nudge you in good time to order.