Anyone got any experience of range cookers/heaters?

[forevared]

We're seriously thinking of switching over to a solid fuel range like Rayburn or stanley but have no experience. We've done loads of research regarding models, size and the like but would really appreciate people's actual experience of the things.

We're also currently on oil so if anyone out there has done the swap from oil to solid fuel was it cheaper in the long run? We'd get the coal and wood option. Wood on it's own wouldn't heat our house well enough as we live in a big old COLD farmhouse and oil is starting to cost us a fortune.

What are the day to day practicalities of a range?
Is it cheaper?
Are they a PITA?
Will we all wake up in the winter mornings frozen to bits?
Which is the best range? We're torn between Rayburn and Stanley.

Anything at all would help and thanks in advance

We live with both a rayburn (at home) and a wood stanley (in the big central farmhouse which is part of our co-op).
Practicalities - you need somewhere in your kitchen to put wood and/or coal (we have two big tubtrugs and a space under the counter next the rayburn) plus ideally at least a small woodstore/coalshed right next the back door if your main store is more than a little way away.
Have been on solid fuel for years, but I should think it is cheaper - our co-op can easily buy enough wood for a year to fuel 3 rayburns, the stanley, plus at least 4 other big woodburners for £500 in total. But that is unseasoned wood which we saw up and split ourselves then season for a year.
No, not a PITA at all, I love our rayburn to bits. What boiler can you lean against, dry clothes on, stand your tea on to keep warm etc. We work from home, maybe it wouldn't be so good if you were out all day.
No, its fine in the morning. If you want to use coal a rayburn will easily keep in all night, we don't bother with ours & just light it first thing. The only time it is really cold is if we go away for a week at Christmas.
Rayburn or stanley - good question. Our rayburn dates from the 70s & is quite small, I don't think it would heat a big farmhouse. The Stanley is much bigger and easily runs a lot of radiators in the big farmhouse. But I think new rayburns are maybe bigger? I would talk to an installer, they will be able to tell you how many radiatiors you can hope to run realistically. The Stanley also has a bigger top for cooking - but is less insulated so less good for just hotwater in the summer - basically I would say 6 of one, half a dozen of the other . . .

Thanks Takver. I like the idea of keeping my tea warm, with 2 little ones to charge round after I'm forever drinking cold tea.

Anyone else?

Solid fuel Rayburns can be dusty and you need to 'monitor' it, oil you can pretty much ignore (apart from the cost!). If you think you will still be using it when you are old and decrepit don't forget that carrying the fuel is quite heavy!

Both types are great though, it will be your friend to lean on and drink your tea!

How often do you need to clean them out then? Is it a daily thing, as I'd been led to believe it was every few days or so just clear out the ashes.

We'd really like to get away from oil, apart from just the cost, we're trying to be a bit more socially and environmentally responsible so solid fuel seems to be the way to go.

We clean ours out every day, but its not a big thing, just a matter of opening the bottom door, taking out the ashpan and emptying it. Every few days we lift off the cover in the top before lighting and scrape the ashes down into the firebox - takes about 30 seconds to do, would be even easier if we had the proper thingy and didn't have to use a fishslice
Wood is lovely to burn and live with, even apart from the ethical angle (as well as being cheap )

Cheers, doesn't sound too much trouble at all.

The thing that is a lot of work if you're not used to it is dealing with the wood - unless you buy it ready sawed to length, split and seasoned (which is considerably more expensive) then you will have to do this bit of the work. I don't mind at all - to my mind spending say a quarter to half an hour a day splitting wood helps keep me fit and is a lot more to the point than going to the gym, but you do need to bear it in mind. You also need space to store the wood.

Thanks Takver We do have an old barn we could store it in but it can get a bit damp in there. Is that ok? I've seen word stores elsewhere that are open to the elements or is that not for seasoning it?

I'm definitely not a gym bunny, much prefer the outdoor life anyway so the chopping and so forth isn't a problem. We're also planning to plant a load of willow we can then coppice later on so that should bring the cost down a little bit too.

Would have thought it would be fine - we stack our wood to season in an open sided barn - a bit damp doesn't sound like much of a problem as long as its not actively being rained on.
I would check out whether whatever range you pick is suited to burning coppice willow - I'm not sure that it would work well in a rayburn/stanley, I think (though I'm not sure) that it tends to be burned in things like ceramic stoves that burn super hot for a short time.

OOOOOh thanks, didn't know that but will check it out.

We have a multifuel Rayburn, for cooking, hot water and 8 radiators. 1250Kg of coal in the summer. Mainly we burn wood. This dropped off on our driveway by local builders, gardeners and a kitchen company, and cut up using a chainsaw or a circular saw. This means that I mainly burn mdf, chipboard and pallet timber. During the winter I am using about 10K of coal and a cubic metre of timber each day, in the summer no coal and an armful of wood in the morning for hot water and the evening for cooking and hot water. This costs about £450 er year including fuel for the chainsaw and serving of the saws. I clean the chimney and flues every month.
Definitely cheaper than oil and if you are home all day, and have cupboards rather than shelves a good buy.