Rayburn 600 vs Electric dual control aga and separate boiler

[Upnorth1]

Hello all. I desperately need some help please. We have just moved into a cottage that currently has an alpha which controls all the hot water, heating and cooking in the house. Unfortunately we have just been told it is leaking carbon monoxide and cannot be repaired.

We have a choice of replacing it like for like with a Rayburn 600 series which will run the hot water, heating and cooking or we can install a separate oil condensing boiler and an electric dual control Aga.

Does anyone have experience with these machines, Rayburn vs Aga and separate boiler that could advise us on any pluses or minuses of either system, running costs etc? We do not have gas to the property so this is not an option.

We currently have no heating in the property but have had to move in as we were renting previous property so this is a matter of urgency. Help and advice all much appreciated! Thank you

[wowfudge]

You've had no responses and I have no specific experience, but is it possible to get a second opinion? I've read several things over the years where a householder was told a boiler was irreparable and it was condemned so they had to shell out for a new one only for someone else to advise the problem could be put right, the gas engineer just didn't want to do the work/would rather put a new boiler in as it's more lucrative for him.

[PlainHunting]

With a Rayburn do you have to have it on all year round to get got water?

We have an aga and a separate boiler. The aga goes off from May to Sept/October (otherwise the kitchen gets unbearably hot).

Our aga is an oil-fired one that costs around £15/week to run (has been higher when oil prices were higher). The aga servicing man tells me that electric ones cost £5/week.

[Upnorth1]

Thank you both for your replies. We have had a second and unfortunately 3rd opinion and it's definitely a non-starter ???? replacement is the only way to go.

The Rayburn 600 has two separate burners both of which ate programmable like a regular boiler. One burner is for heating and hot water so you can set this to come on and off like any other oil burner. The other controls the ovens and again this is controllable. You can turn ovens off as you
have with your Aga PlainHunting and still run boiler independently.

Could I ask you the make/model of your oil boiler and do you like it? I'd it expensive to run? Thank you again.

[Airfixkitwidow]

I've had both. I've just moved from a house with a rayburn 600. It was efficient and cheap to run. And heated all the radiators in what was a large and rambling house. The cooker was fine but there was a definite drop in temperature if the radiators were on and the hot water was heating. No problem on a normal day but Christmas was a slight challenge with the turkey and people wanting showers. The timer was fantastic. The whole thing went off every night and then was fired up in time for breakfast in the morning. Prior to that we had an oil fired aga. It was staggeringly expensive to run but I think that was due to its age. Heating and hot water was done by a wonderful external oil fired grant boiler which was cheapish to run and very reliable. We've moved again now and were actually swayed by the fact that this house had a new grant external boiler. We too thought about the electric aga but have just put an electric everhot cooker in as it is more controllable. Aga and everhot are very much a personal preference but I strongly recommend the grant boiler.

[PlainHunting]

Our boiler isn't oil, it's gas (Viessmann) . We do have an oil boiler (and another Viessmann gas boiler that we don't use - previous owner had a boiler collecting obsession and lived in fear of running out of hot water) - Worcester iirc - but have never used it (would be too pricey).

Oil fired boiler is a relic of the previous owners. We could convert it to electricity but haven't had the spare cash to do so (although it would pay for itself in the long run).

[PlainHunting]

We had a Worcester boiler in a previous house that was oil fired but only used for heating and water. That cost us around £1400 per year in oil (at a time when oil prices were pretty high) to heat a 3 bed house.

[Upnorth1]

Airfixkitwidow would you recommend a Rayburn 600 over a separate oil boiler and electric Aga/everhot or do you think having a separate boiler and cooker is better? It is an old 1820s cottage with 17 radiators and has original flagstone flooring in kitchen and hallway.

Thank you to everyone for your inputs, just can't decide which way to jump!

[PlainHunting]

Does it have to be that choice? Could you have an oil fired boiler and a normal electric oven?

Much as I love my aga, we also rely on our (separate) electric oven for summer cooking and for baking all year round.

[Upnorth1]

There is already a separate double electric oven in the kitchen - 60cm wide. This also needs replacing! Any suggestions on make/model?

My thoughts were to have either Rayburn 600 and replace 60cm wide electric oven with updated model or still replace this and have separate oil boiler and Aga. So difficult

[Airfixkitwidow]

DH and I have been talking about this. As you are talking about 17 radiators and an old cottage then the separate boiler is probably best. Because in the winter the rayburn would feed all those radiators and the draughty windows first. So you would sometimes struggle with oven and hotplate temperature. But, and this is a big but, if the cost is important then there is no doubt that the rayburn is the cheapest option particularly if you are looking for range warmth in the kitchen rather than an oil boiler and an electric cooker. The rayburn was definitely a lot cheaper to run than a separate aga and boiler.

[Airfixkitwidow]

Also forgot to mention that the rayburn sounded like the Queen Mary setting sail whenever it fired up. Eventually I found it comforting but it does take a bit of getting used to. The dog was terrified of it. All oil fired boilers tend to be like this but at least the Grant external one does it in the garden.