SOLID FUEL RAYBURN OR AGA OWNERS....help!

[MrsWalton]

Do use a vacuum cleaner when cleaning your range? If so what kind do you use?

Have been doing it without hoover since the old one just blew soot out the back into the kitchen.

Fed up cleaning every jar/bottle/shelf appliance in the kitchen after cleaning.

Please explain your cleaning regime.

Thanks

Oil Rayburn here, circa 1960.

Switch it off and wait 24 hours.

Clear all surfaces within 10 feet of the range.

Take a chimney sweeping brush to the flue or a flue brush.

Remove top plate and sweep the carbon off outside.

Remove oil burners, decarbonise in ammonia for 24 hours then replace the wicks.

Sweep up as much soot as possible by hand then wash every surface with hot soapy water. It is a filthy job. We finish off the corners and bits with an old Hendry.

Prime the starter then relight.

Have a carbon monoxide alarm in the same room.

It only needs to be done twice a year with our old range but perhaps the newer models are more efficient at burning the kerosene.

GO we have a 2 year old solid fuel Rayburn we use wood and a little coal, This job has to be done every two months (except for the oil burners in ammonia.

I have a sweet little kitchen that DH built for me exactly to my requirements which is all salvaged open shelving (no wall cupboards) Even when i hang dust sheets over every thing the farking soot gets every where.

He does it all by hand, no Henry, so i wondered if a Henry would make much of a difference. Sounds unlikley from your description.

We have to clean it every two months or else there is no draw from the flue.

We use dry wood several years old, and coal.

I have a friend who was cleaning hers every week!!! Then she discoverd the drier the wood the less she had to clean.

Oh, that sounds like a nightmare MrsWalton. It is a really filthy job as there is tarry soot everywhere and I thought we were hard done by having to do it twice a year!

Can you try mixing a little anthracite in with your coal in order to burn the solid fuel at a higher temp? Avoid furnacite though as it is pretty bad.
We use Witch chimney cleaner on our coal fire now and again - there is one called Little Imp too. You put the sachet on the fire and it burns with a strange blue flame but gets rid of a sooty chimney.

The Hendry is good but needs washed out after as soot is a hoover killer.

Are you near a forest or lots of trees? This can affect the draw. Or ask a chimney specialist to check if your chimney is intact...it may have a leak in it.

Several tips to try GO, will purchace anthracite and try Witch or Little Imp too.

We are near lots of trees, but not so close as to be a problem, we're up on the side of a hill, and it can be fierce windy. No, the soot blocks the flue, because after it's cleaned, it burns like a trooper.

Thanks for your tips.