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Original poster

Rayburn knowledge needed

27 replies

Mooserp · 08/12/2022 09:36

Viewed a house yesterday that I'm definitely interested in. It has a Rayburn which I know nothing about.

I was shown around by the vendor, but they rent out the house and have never lived there so couldn't tell me much about it. They weren't even sure if there was a separate boiler, but after looking for one decided there wasn't!

I would much prefer a gas hob and electric oven, with a boiler. I imagine it will be expensive to change to this, anyone have any idea how much?
Alternatively can anyone convince me that Rayburns are awesome?

OP posts:
mollypopsal · 08/12/2022 11:52

I have a Rayburn, it heats the cooker, and hot water and radiators. I have also have a separate boiler for hot water in the loft that I use in the summer when the Rayburn is turned off. The Rayburn uses oil, but is ignited by electricity, so if there is a power cut there is no heating or cooking facilities.
The first thing that I did when I moved here 7 years ago was to have an electric cooker put in the kitchen when it was refitted, I can't have gas here. We also have a log burner for extra heating.
The Rayburn looks nice, but because half of it is taken up with the boiler it only has a very small oven, large turkey size! The hob is annoying to use, moving saucepans around to heat and simmer as it can't be turned up and down like gas. It also has to heat up before you can cook on it, about half an hour, unless it is always on. Oil is very expensive at present. I never use the cooking side of the Rayburn now. Mine is an old Rayburn so the newer ones might be better!

Original poster
Mooserp · 08/12/2022 12:01

Thanks, that's really helpful. I think it is around 11 years old, so probably similar to yours.

OP posts:
mollypopsal · 08/12/2022 12:22

Mine's more 20 years! If you can find room in the kitchen to add an oven and hob, it's worth doing if you like the house.

bilbodog · 08/12/2022 12:29

Look on the rayburn website - you really need to know exactly what sort it is including what power it uses i.e. oil, gas or electricity. Newer models can be controlled more but it might need to be on all the time. I have an electric 30amp aga which heats up at night and is on all the time but none of these range cookers are cheap to run, particularly now.

can you get a photo of it, preferably of the controls as then someone might know more about it?

Original poster
Mooserp · 08/12/2022 14:08

mollypopsal · 08/12/2022 12:22

Mine's more 20 years! If you can find room in the kitchen to add an oven and hob, it's worth doing if you like the house.

It's quite a small kitchen, definitely no room for another oven

OP posts:
Original poster
Mooserp · 08/12/2022 14:45

bilbodog · 08/12/2022 12:29

Look on the rayburn website - you really need to know exactly what sort it is including what power it uses i.e. oil, gas or electricity. Newer models can be controlled more but it might need to be on all the time. I have an electric 30amp aga which heats up at night and is on all the time but none of these range cookers are cheap to run, particularly now.

can you get a photo of it, preferably of the controls as then someone might know more about it?

It is gas.

I don't know the model and the photo on the listing isn't clear enough to give any info.

OP posts:
CallMeMousie · 08/12/2022 14:52

We have a gas rayburn probably around a decade old. I don't love it. I've never really worked out what it costs but it's pretty inefficient. Ours has a timer function so I set it to come on for an hour or so just before the kids' tea, otherwise you need to have it on all the time (or off all the time and wait 30 mins for it to heat up before you can boil a bowl of pasta)

We have an air fryer which helps a lot with quick and easy food. We were told it would be very expensive to replace and inconvenient from a space point of view as you'll need an oven and a boiler.

On balance it wouldn't have put me off the house and it does function, but my longer term goal is to get rid of it in the end! On the plus side everyone else is jealous of us living the country dream because they don't understand that it's crap!

Original poster
Mooserp · 08/12/2022 16:01

Thanks for the info. Do you think £5k is a realistic budget for replacing?

OP posts:
Ralphswife · 08/12/2022 17:28

Mine is at least 20 years old and agree with everything that’s been said - although we have learned to live with ours and it’s great for baking, stews etc.

In terms of replacement, you may have to budget for getting someone to take it away. I know that agas are notoriously difficult to get rid of because of the sheer weight of them. I suspect the same goes for a Rayburn.

ohioriver · 08/12/2022 17:34

If it runs cooking and heating and water you can set it like a central heating system for that side and then run the cooker - you used to be able to get a controller that ran it more efficiently for oil but I'm not sure about gas.

You'll be able to sell it second hand but they're going for buttons now because of how expensive they are to run.

Bear in mind the floor under it will be a different colour to the exposed floor in the rest of the kitchen and they're non standard size. So you might have to do clever stuff with cupboards. Plus the pipes will run behind it.

They used to do a condenser oil version but I'm not sure about gas. They were pretty efficient.

ohioriver · 08/12/2022 17:35

Could you get an air fryer and plug in induction hob for day to day to use the Rayburn cooker side just when you need to?

ohioriver · 08/12/2022 17:37

Is it natural gas or lpg?

ShirleyHolmes · 08/12/2022 18:38

We had one until we moved a decade ago and still miss it! It was expensive to run though and oil prices are much higher now.
We had a separate oven and hob, and an immersion heater so it was switched off in the summer. But it warmed the whole house beautifully and was brilliant for soups, stews, porridge - all the winter food. So it wouldn’t put me off. But with current energy prices, I wouldn’t install one either.

Original poster
Mooserp · 09/12/2022 10:30

ohioriver · 08/12/2022 17:37

Is it natural gas or lpg?

It is natural gas

OP posts:
Original poster
Mooserp · 09/12/2022 10:37

ohioriver · 08/12/2022 17:34

If it runs cooking and heating and water you can set it like a central heating system for that side and then run the cooker - you used to be able to get a controller that ran it more efficiently for oil but I'm not sure about gas.

You'll be able to sell it second hand but they're going for buttons now because of how expensive they are to run.

Bear in mind the floor under it will be a different colour to the exposed floor in the rest of the kitchen and they're non standard size. So you might have to do clever stuff with cupboards. Plus the pipes will run behind it.

They used to do a condenser oil version but I'm not sure about gas. They were pretty efficient.

Thanks, it does sound like quite a hassle and expense to get rid of it.

OP posts:
grannycake · 09/12/2022 11:21

We had a gas Rayburn for many years. I liked cooking on it once I had knowledge of the best way to use it, also never needed a tumble drier as I dried all my washing on a Sheila made above it.

But it cost a fortune to run and in the summer it made parts of the house unbearably hot. Even if not used for cooking the boiler part is still on to generate hot water

Had it removed 5 yrs ago and my gas bill dropped by 75%

Original poster
Mooserp · 09/12/2022 11:52

grannycake · 09/12/2022 11:21

We had a gas Rayburn for many years. I liked cooking on it once I had knowledge of the best way to use it, also never needed a tumble drier as I dried all my washing on a Sheila made above it.

But it cost a fortune to run and in the summer it made parts of the house unbearably hot. Even if not used for cooking the boiler part is still on to generate hot water

Had it removed 5 yrs ago and my gas bill dropped by 75%

Wow that's a big difference.

Can you remember how much it cost to get it removed/replaced?

OP posts:
grannycake · 09/12/2022 12:36

I think the cost of new boiler was around £2500 and I paid someone to remove it & I also needed a plumber to disconnect and cap the supply before it could be moved. That was about £450 in total. I haven’t replaced the oven yet as I’m about to renovate/move kitchen and COVID put a stop to that

thank God for pressure cookers and air fryers

tartlets · 09/12/2022 14:39

I have an ancient oil Rayburn, gets left on low constant and turned up when I need it, heats the water, boils the kettle, cooks dinner and isn't as thirsty as I anticipated all while providing background warmth- it's where everyone congregates, I tend to find teenagers leaning against it all the time. I also have a ceiling rack above for drying washing.

If you learn to use it efficiently and it works for your lifestyle it's a useful item, that said I work from home and so don't need to put timers on for having things done at certain times, might not work as well if you leave for work in the morning and want to cook as soon as you get home.

Alexandra2001 · 09/12/2022 14:44

@tartlets Is yours a oil wick rayburn or has it got jet burner in it (you d know because the wick one is silent)

I ve got a v old Rayburn, heats hot water only but it doesn't run because the oil tank rusted out and i don't know whether to replace or get a new plastic tank..

I believe they are very thirsty on oil if its a wick one.

Thankyou.

tartlets · 09/12/2022 14:50

@Alexandra2001 mines a wicked burner, you can find the oil flow rate for various models on the web, mines a Rayburn royale with the single hot plate (so is 1950's 🙈) but I expected it to burn through a tank in a month or something daft but it gets through about 3.5l a day which doesn't seem too hideous tbh.

Alexandra2001 · 09/12/2022 15:18

Ah thankyou, so about £3 per day at present oil price 85p per litre.....fuel for thought!!!

ohioriver · 09/12/2022 18:46

The old wick ones or the solid fuel ones are the best in my opinion because they don't need electricity.

Alexandra2001 · 09/12/2022 20:14

ohioriver · 09/12/2022 18:46

The old wick ones or the solid fuel ones are the best in my opinion because they don't need electricity.

I'm learning all the time.. thanks Wine

ohioriver · 09/12/2022 21:15

I had a multi fuel one. It was a pain in the ass to clean but amazing when we had a power cut and cheap as chips to run because we could get wood for free.