Please help me buy an oven and possibly hob and hood!!!

[YanknChristmasCrackers]

I am finding this very difficult. Too much choice, too many retailers!

We moved last January into a house with a very old kitchen. Hood worked when we viewed the house, but didn't work by the time we moved in. Hob ignition switch only lights one of the burners, the rest we have to light with a lighter wand.

The oven worked alright for a while, but doest't have a broiler/grill thing in the top (or it doesn't work, not really sure!). Then a week or so ago, my husband turned the oven on, there was a pop and smell of burning electrics, and it wouldn't heat up anymore.

Have phoned a repair service and they reckon it will be about £80 to repair it. Now am thinking it might be a good time to replace the oven, possibly the hob, and maybe even the hood. If it were only say £20 to repair the oven, I guess we'd limp along, but to spend £80 on crappy, old oven when new ones are available for £140 seems silly.

We were trying to wait for new appliances until we could afford to redo the kitchen, but that's years away. The whole thing will need gutting and someone to cover over the horrible orange Artex walls. Units and countertops are knackered. Tiles have paint peeling off and look awful. But I can deal with all that if I have working appliances!

So where do I start? I think we can probably spend up to £700 for all three items and installation. Does that seem reasonable?

well dear- what do you want?
gas cooker, electric, what kind of hob?

I can only speak from experience of me and what I prefer which is.
GAS!

I have a gas oven, which is the main oven and floor height ( that's the downside when you are lifting out a heavy dish), then there is the grill/top oven. The top oven is electric fan, and the grill is electric. The hobs are gas.

The whole lot is built in.
Do you want built in or free standing?

I def. avoided ovens where the grill is integrated into the main oven as then you cannot cook in oven and grill at same time.

I can't remember how much we paid as it was about 5 years back, and we refitted the whole kitchen. Think it was about £800. It's all by Stoves. The extractor/hood is another make and was about £150 i think.

Gas hob, definitely.

Oven, I'm used to electric fan ovens so happy to stick with it. Budget is quite tight and I think they are the cheapest. Would love a double oven but don't know if there is one cheap enough.

It would be built in to our current (yucky) kitchen, so don't know if there is room for a double anyway.

Wonder if B&Q, Comet, or Currys are ok to buy from, and do they offer installation, or is it better to get someone else to do it?

If I were you, I'd google all the above re. prices.

Arrrghhh....have been looking online all evening and getting increasingly more frustrated by my inability to decide. There is too much choice!

Argos has some cheap deals, but delivery takes forever.

Tesco Direct would get me clubcard points and some money off, but still not sure it's the cheapest.

B&Q has a few cheap ones, but delivery is expensive.

Comet will install for you, but can't seem to find out how much this is (haven't looked terribly hard though, their videos were pissing me off).

Going to bed and hoping to wake up inspired.

Why don't you try Freecycle in your area, asking if anyone has a good working reasonably modern cooker etc to give away? Electric are probably more simple to get fitted and working properly (ovens and hobs) but if you want a gas hob you will need a Gas Safe (used to be Corgi) registered fitter anyway so just ask for either type; plus an extract hood. Do you want it to extract outside (best, if you have an exit hole already) or simpler recycling hood which work quite well. People refitting a kitchen for style sometimes give away their old appliances.Save money and treat yourselves to brand new when you refit whole kitchen? A local fitter can be found by asking around friends/work/local pub/postcard adverts eg in HOMEBASE but make sure they are qualified gas oR electric. Good luck!

That's a very good idea. Have posted on my local freegle, but won't hold my breath as these don't seem to come up too often on there.

Another friend suggested discount appliance outlets, but thinking that it probably doesn't work out too much better if they charge a lot for delivery.

As for the hood, it does extract outside (or would, if it was actually working). It is quite old and seems to be built up into this strange housing--haven't seen one like it before. Controls are all underneath rather than on the side facing out, and I can't see how it's actually fixed in there.