Which is best: Rayburn or Aga?

[midlifehope]

I have decided to buy myself a 40th birthday present of a range cooker. I have a choice of Rayburn or Aga. I will have to get a loan for this, so want to make the right decision. Do you have experience of either of these? Rayburns seem to be about £1,000 cheaper - but which is best? Help!

I guess it depends what you need it to do. Will it be heating your home/hot water? What fuel?

I personally prefer my Aga simply for the design of it, but I only use it for cooking. My old one also heated up the water but it was expensive and not very effective.

It will be for cooking only. Oil powered.

I have a very old oil powered aga and I love it.

I believe you can buy reconditioned agas which are cheaper

I've just ordered an Everhot - electric only, but cheaper than oil, so I'm told.

Everhot lover here. Have had mine for 7 years and wouldn't trade it for either Rayburn or Aga if you paid me.

If my kitchen wasn't an ice box in winter, and I had the budget I would swap my Aga for an Everhot in a heartbeat :-) they run on a 13 amp plug and are apparently far cheaper to run than an aga.

May I suggest a Stanley? Bigger ovens than the Rayburn. I have one (oil) that does my hw, ch and cooking. Lovely to cook on. My last one did 20 years, and it got replaced in 2014.

www.waterfordstanley.com/stanley-cookers/stanley-cookers/cooking-only/oil/brandon
is cooking only.

My loan just got refused, so I guess I will have to put this on hold unless I can get one super cheap!

Aga do discounted, ex-display models a bit cheaper so worth keeping an eye open for.

Im an aga fan - had mine for 15 years now. You can get them cheaper on ebay - quite often people sell them when redoing kitchens or when moving house and not wanting them any more. We moved ours with us 5 years ago - bear in mind that getting one installed costs quite a bit - we had to pay about £2k for the chimney alone. I seriously suggest you consider a reconditioned one as well. The beauty of agas is how simple the working parts are and as long as they have been regularly serviced they go on for ever. They are also easy to get cleaned if they have been well used.

Thank you for these tips on reducing the costs! I didn't realise how going part time had affected my income. I have asked for second hand oil range cookers on my local facebook page and people have some for sale from £100 - £1000 - how well do they clean up though - and would they operate the same as newer models??

They can clean up well and it is possible to get new parts such as lids, door seals, oven racks. If you can, see if you have any shops nearby doing reconditioned ones and go and look at them and/or speak over the phone with the people that deal in reconditioned ones.

How much are you thinking of spending? Ive known local builders coming across them when refurbing houses and getting rid of them. It does cost to move them as they need to be completely dismantled and then rebuilt on site.

Google recinditioned and speak to more than one company to see what their charges are for supply and installation including the flue. I seem to remember that oil ones need to be serviced every 6 months so that does add to the running costs. Have you looked at more modern electric ones as i dont think they need servicing much at all?