Rayburns - anygood?
Discussion
I'm trying to guy an old farm house that needs a refurb, it has had a new oil fired central heating system installed. Since this costs a small fortune to run I was thinking would a multifuel ray burn with back boiler be cheaper to run?
Does anyone know if you can convert an oil fired one back to solid fuel, lots of used ones I've seen are gas or oil fired.
Does anyone know if you can convert an oil fired one back to solid fuel, lots of used ones I've seen are gas or oil fired.
Don't know about converting a rayburn,you need to speak to a specialist.We had a rayburn for 15 years and we miss it every day.You never need to clean the oven as everything just burns to a crisp and there is no odour either.
If you get one you'll wonder how you ever cooked on anything else.
If you get one you'll wonder how you ever cooked on anything else.
have a gottle of geer.
skeeterm5 said:
Wont using solid fuel be a bit of a practical pain? Have you thought about conversion to gas/lpg? Where we live there is no gas available and a number of people use calor gas as a cheaper alternative to oil.
S
I had thought about that, plan was to have them both installed and use the rayburn to heat the house when we are in and can fuel it, saving the central heating boiler for when out or early in a morning. I guess it should be possible to have a divert valve on the heating pipes to allow use of eithier the ray burn or oil boiler.S
I have a 1970's solid fuel rayburn model mf which runs some rads. It's constantly lit apart from 3 months in the summer. I love it but there are some points to bear in mind.
Conversion back to solid fuel will cost a few hundred if you diy, more if you have it done. The bits aren't cheap.
To get reasonable heat from the rads you have to keep it pretty full and burning well. Unless the property is small and well insulated, it'd struggle to keep it up to the temperature most people are used to with modern central heating. Newer rayburns are probably better than mine though.
It takes a while to get to temperature. It's not the sort of thing to have if you want quick heat. Likewise with cooking, you need to think differently about cooking times. The results are good though.
Solid fuel rayburns are wonderful dust creators when you clean them each day. If you are very houseproud perhaps it's not for you.
Ideally use smokeless fuel like extraheat or phurnacite. They will burn anything but coal soon clogs it up so you need to clean it more often. Wood is fine if you have a free or cheap source of seasoned hardwood but it's not as hot as smokeless fuel and needs a lot of feeding. My last tonne of smokeless cost £312.
Mine is plumbed to a gravity-fed hot water cylinder wired to a cylinder stat that switches on the heating pump when the cylinder is up to temperature. This can be overridden for constant heating. If you plumb it like this you need an injector tee to stop gravity circulation to the rads when the pump isn't on.
It's a great waste disposal device. It evens burns bones. Ideal if the wife gets too lippy.
I wouldn't be without mine but I'm home most of time and can live with the inconveniences. It all depends on your lifestyle.
Conversion back to solid fuel will cost a few hundred if you diy, more if you have it done. The bits aren't cheap.
To get reasonable heat from the rads you have to keep it pretty full and burning well. Unless the property is small and well insulated, it'd struggle to keep it up to the temperature most people are used to with modern central heating. Newer rayburns are probably better than mine though.
It takes a while to get to temperature. It's not the sort of thing to have if you want quick heat. Likewise with cooking, you need to think differently about cooking times. The results are good though.
Solid fuel rayburns are wonderful dust creators when you clean them each day. If you are very houseproud perhaps it's not for you.
Ideally use smokeless fuel like extraheat or phurnacite. They will burn anything but coal soon clogs it up so you need to clean it more often. Wood is fine if you have a free or cheap source of seasoned hardwood but it's not as hot as smokeless fuel and needs a lot of feeding. My last tonne of smokeless cost £312.
Mine is plumbed to a gravity-fed hot water cylinder wired to a cylinder stat that switches on the heating pump when the cylinder is up to temperature. This can be overridden for constant heating. If you plumb it like this you need an injector tee to stop gravity circulation to the rads when the pump isn't on.
It's a great waste disposal device. It evens burns bones. Ideal if the wife gets too lippy.
I wouldn't be without mine but I'm home most of time and can live with the inconveniences. It all depends on your lifestyle.
RedLeicester said:
pikeyboy said:
I guess it should be possible to have a divert valve on the heating pipes to allow use of eithier the ray burn or oil boiler.
Or use a thermal store.Agas / Rayburns et al are ace. Heating AND cooking, and if set up right and maintained well will sip oil.
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