I have a monster water heater/house heater (oil heated, steam heat through radiators) in the house I’m renting. It’s a huge contraption, which sits in the basement, and has about five or six different pipes running in and out of it. It looks like a gigantic metal octopus. It costs a small fortune (about $300+ a month) to heat my house (3 stories though) in the winter, depending on the price of oil (okay, about 300 gallons, give or take, a month)–and we keep the thermostate at around 65 degrees when we’re home.
A few months ago, the return pipes were leaking severely from rust (for those who don’t know, they’re the pipes that carry the steam from the heater to the radiators, and they run through the basement, and up through the rooms to the radiators, and they’re constantly filled with water). The company my landlord sent to replace them said that for about $1,500 more (labor included) they could replace the heater, and I’d use about 1/2 the amount of oil every month, however, the landlord wouldn’t go for it. Considering how much I spend every month on heating oil, I was sorely tempted to shell out the money myself (but didn’t).