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Original poster

Rayburn and Aga owners - please tell me what you think!

30 replies

cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 19:37

We're considering getting a Rayburn to heat water and radiators for the house - and cook on!
Not knowing anyone with one whom I can glean information from can you please tell me what you think of yours?
Please let me know what yours is like (even if it is oven only)!
TIA

OP posts:
Beetrootoyourself · 02/01/2006 19:40

We have an aga. We used it to cook on and heat the water.

It took us a while to work out how to cook on it but now I love it.

What else do you need to know?

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 19:41

Does it heat your radiators too? Do you get enough hot water for decent baths?

Am glad to hear you love it.

OP posts:
Gloworm · 02/01/2006 19:45

we had one in our rented house last year and I'm afraid we hated it...it was a rayburn, and cooking was a nightmare...very cool or very boiling, no in-between! impossible to have roast chicken in summer...kitchen turned into a hothouse, even with all doors/windows open.
It was oil-fired so heating and water was fine in winter, no different from ordinary OFCH.
But, again in summer, heating water was a nightmare as the kitchen would become very hot while the water was heating, as the range came on at the same time.
Never will I ever own one so help me god
This one was probably from around 2000, newer ones are probably better. And you will probably get more control options if you spend more.

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 19:45

And also, how is it fuelled? Dh really wants to get one that uses solid fuel (so we don't have to rely on gas - hence sudden interest!).

OP posts:
Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 19:46

thanks, gloworm - I hadn't thought of the disadvantages in Summer. Hmm.

OP posts:
Gloworm · 02/01/2006 19:51

I'm sure you can probably get one that heats water without heating range at same time(for summer)

Also the house we were in didnt have a cooker, so we had to cook on it all year.

I am in Ireland and loads of my relations have them, oil or solid fuel. They also have a regular cooker as well for cooking when you dont want to fire up the range.

Also, with oil one, it takes ages for range to heat up when cooking...need to turn it one before you start cooking, and oven took a millenium to heat up.
Again, this may just be the one we had, there are bound to be better ones!

Gloworm · 02/01/2006 19:52

need to turn it ON before you start cooking

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 20:01

The type we're thinking of will be on all the time - so no pre-heating. I hadn't considered that it could be too hot.

Any other experiences??

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 02/01/2006 20:06

God, I hated, hated, hated having an aga. I'll see if I can find my rant at the time.

WideWebWitch · 02/01/2006 20:07

here you go, loads of opinions on this thread!

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 02/01/2006 20:11

thanks www - will go read...

OP posts:
Gloworm · 02/01/2006 20:13

brilliant www, reading your post on the other thread was a blast from the past...it was just like being back in my old house..aaaahh!
you have summed it up way way better than I did....i think we lived on microwave food all summer!

JayzMummy · 02/01/2006 20:14

Solid fuel Rayburns are a IMO a PITA.
They are dirty...you cant control the heat to cook and in the summer they make the kitchen unbearably hot. I hated getting up early every morning to fire up the Rayburn just so I could cook breakfast. It took about an hour before the plate got hot enough to cook a fry up.
We changed the ancient one we had here for an oil fired one and whilst I love it, the price of oil has almost doubled in the last year.
On average we spend around £800 a year on oil..thats for cooking and heating the house and hot water..How I wish we had mains gas!

jasper · 03/01/2006 01:51

Do they still make solid fuel rayburns?

I went through this very dilema but as we had a perfectly good central heating/hot water system, got an aga which I love.

if you are starting from scratch with no system a rayburn is a great ides.

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 03/01/2006 09:15

there are (according to dh) 2 solid fuel rayburns available at the moment (we would go for the larger).
Your posts are making me a little doubtful I must say!
One of the main reasons for getting a solid fuel one is to avoid any dramatic price increases in gas and oil. We ultimately would like to be self sufficient as far as our utilities are concerned (he also wants to go solar for electricity).
My concern is that by replacing our current (gas) central heating we are removing ourselves too far from what would make our house sellable should we wish to move.
We were about to replace the current system with a combi boiler when we got this new idea. We are planning to get wood burners as well.
Dh is very keen (having spent the evening researching on internet) and agrees with the pro aga supporters on the other thread! I think I agree with him but as I'm the one who does the cooking I'm a little more wary.
Help!

OP posts:
glitterfairy · 03/01/2006 09:20

THere are other rayburn aga type oven/central heating things as well and I would investigate. I have an aga which also heats my water and I love it. It provides more than enough water for the family and sometimes too much.

Friends of mine have ranges which heat everything adn are not rayburns which they swear by you need to ask a specialist or do a search.

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 03/01/2006 09:31

thanks glitterfairy - he found some others in the classified listings of Country Living. I'm not sure why he's got so fired up (ahem) about the rayburn in particular. Me thinks some independent research is needed...

OP posts:
PrincessPeaHead · 03/01/2006 09:51

rayburns are pretty terrible for cooking on, quite small and pretty horrible. only advantage is that they are cheaper and can run your heating. Agas are lovely, fantastic to cook on (you will never be able to eat a roast cooked in a normal oven again), nice and big, lovely for parking your backside etc on, can run some hot water but not heating I don't think, and you'd be advised to have an alternative hob (certainly) and oven (probably) so you can turn it off in the summer. Esp as summers are getting hotter.

I have a 2 oven Aga with a "companion" electric oven and 4 ring hob next to it, made of the same aga iron, so that the whole thing looks like a 4 oven Aga. Pretty much perfect set up I must say.

Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 03/01/2006 10:17

the problem (for us) with an aga is dh can only justify the cost if it does our heating as well. Because we are replacing the boiler anyway he sees the cost of that as going towards a rayburn - if we had to replace the boiler and get an aga if would be unfeasible for us.
From what I understand, since Aga took over Rayburn they have restricted the agas to cooking only and kept the heating to the rayburns. The heating downstairs isn't a problem (we are getting 2 wood burners) but upstairs we need radiators (at least in the depth of winter - I'm hoping the rest of the time the house will retain warmth from the wood burners). To get a new boiler fitted just to do these extra radiators seems excessive which we would have to do if we got an aga.
Maybe I need to explore some other makes. Am so disappointed to hear the rayburn isn't as good as an aga.

OP posts:
Original poster
cupcakesbakingonanopenfire · 03/01/2006 10:20

Also, we don't have enough room in our kitchen to have an extra hob. We would need it to be on even through the summer (especially if it is warming the water) - are they really intolerable in the heat?

OP posts:
PrincessPeaHead · 03/01/2006 10:25

I don't know anyone with a rayburn who actually likes it and wouldn't rather have an aga I'm afraid.

don't know about the other types, I think they are rather wannabe, there isn't much that comes close to an Aga.

You can get good reconditioned agas which might lower the cost abit - have you checked out the spillers of chard website? (they have the biggest selection of new and recon in the country I think)

PrincessPeaHead · 03/01/2006 10:26

re heat in the summer - depends entirely on the shape of your kitchen and the breezes you can get through it. high ceilings and a few doors you can open might be OK, average farmhouse kitchen can get stifling though.

cupcakes · 03/01/2006 10:53

we have a smallish kitchen in the middle of the house with no exterior windows (!) - it has a large window shaped opening though to the back of the house (which will shortly have lots of windows and french doors) and an open doorway. It was originally at the back of the house but it has been so extended it is now in the middle (always needs a light on at the dark end).
Doesn't sound ideal does it?

PrincessPeaHead · 03/01/2006 11:14

nope. sorry! you'll boil alive in the summer and that isn't much fun.

maybe you would just be better off with a new boiler and a normal cooker.....

LittleHollyBerry · 03/01/2006 12:55

We had an aga in a rented house and loved it, although we only used it in the winter, it used to do all our hot water, loads and warm the only upstairs radiator really well. I used to cook on it quite alot, brilliant for things like casseroles, but we did have an ordinary oven and hob too. Lovely to sit on/lean on when you come in from the cold, and brillant for drying clothes on/over too. Ours was solid fuel which was a bit messy, but very handy as I got free wood, but we had to use anthrocite to keep it in overnight which was quite expensive. Never used it in the summer, imagine it could get a bit warm, but you can run them on low. Would love to have one again one day. Our only other heating was an open fire too. Never used a rayburn though.