Do you own an Aga/Rayburn?

[Mogs]

We are about to embark on an extension and my dream kitchen would have an AGA or Rayburn Oven,

The Pros are

- Due to working at home 3 times a week the house and kitchen will be toastie

- No waiting for oven to pre heat for meais

- Potentially can be used for heating water and rads

- They look fab

The Cons are

- They are only on or off which means it can get too toastie in the summer months

- Expensive to run

[El Pibe]

Agree they look amazing, we were considering it for the house in Ireland, but the cons weighed agasint it.

We were really agasint using oil and they are VERY expensive to run, a friend of mine had one and it cost a fortune, in the end they moved house!!!

[david_carnell]

In summer you'll need another oven to do any cooking unless you want a 35 degree kitchen.

[Mick Mac]

In my recent experience, by the time you have priced a good quality kitchen.... :0

[KidKruger]

I have a Rayburn in my country place, it was installed in 1973 and still works fine - just had to replace pilot fitting a few years ago. I cooked apple pies in it before Xmas as we like to use it a bit when it's on during winter months. It has a back boiler which runs hot water up to a tank in the loft (I fitted the indirect system myself) and also heats the water for the radiators which an electric pump pushes around the house.

There is no radiator in the very big kitchen because the Rayburn provides the heat aplenty. Great for standing washed laundry in a rack next to it.

For cooking on the hot plates it takes a bit of getting used to. It does have separate settings for the boiler / cooker and a temperature gauge, but adjustments take a while to take effect (it cools down far slower than it heats up).

In summer I use an immersion heater to heat the same hot water tank in the loft and the rayburn just runs on it's pilot. As mentioned already, if you cook on it during summer you'll be in a proper sweat, so I have a regular gas stove / oven too and this is where most cooking actually happens any time of year.

You don't buy them to save money or to make life quick and convenient. I think there are good deals getting 2nd hand stoves (i.e. ebay) because they're such a pain to collect/transport/install. For me, they're ace.

[El Pibe]

Can't you get reconditioned old ones one that are converted to run on gas and so on?

[david_carnell]

Rayburns will even runs on logs if you happen to own a woodland and have a plentiful supply.

When the revolution comes etc....

[fl0wer]

The Aga / Rayburn mystique is based on ignoring a huge environmental cost.

First - making the thing in an iron foundry [vastly wasteful]

Second - transporting it [it weighs a ton]

Third - whatever fuel it uses. [Always lots, don't be fooled!]

Some have only a titchy little firebox, forcing housekeeper to guage whether you can have a bath OR cook something. The smaller fireboxes require smaller logs and all solid fuel, wood or coal (not wood for an Aga) has to be dried for one year, so you'll need a shed.

There is little point in taking a range out of a kitchen if it's still working OK, but they do need new spare parts from time to time. 2nd hand and 'vintage' market is unreliable. Not enough plumbers & heating engineers care to do up these antique ones. They like installing the lucrative oil-fired or Gas new kind best.

How expensive in ??? is running your Aga or Rayburn really going to be in the coming decades? How costly in ice-melt and so forth, to the Planet?

They were designed for year-round warmth, in colder climates than London's, and before we had to concern ourselves with climate change.

[LadyNorwood]

We inherited one (gas) in our old house - great in the winter but switched off in the summer so buy a BBQ or another oven; actual oven size is titchy (wouldn't take a whole turkey, had to chop it up first) as they are narrow but deep (found a yorkshire pudding three weeks after it had gone in as it was right at the back of the oven in the dark); even gas ones have to be on all the time unless you switch it on and off which is very expensive (ditto the heating - gas engineer told me it's cheaper to keep the heating on low constantly rather than switch it on and off as it takes longer and therefore uses more gas to get the house up to temperature)...

On balance - AGAs/Rayburns look good but are a luxury - perhaps this thread should be merged with the one in the Lounge about the gentrification of ED??!!

[nashoi]

The new electric agas can be switched on and off as desired. Years ago I spent a few days working with someone who installed them (I think was actually a Stanley we installed on that occasion) and electric was his recommendation.

[KidKruger]

I think you can also get regular Aga/Rayburn 'extensions' to the traditional stove, so when not firing-up the big boy you can revert to a more practical / economical stove.

[dulwichmum]

I always wanted an Aga until I met my husband. My mother in law has a Rayburn and it takes two hours for it to get going in the morning just to boil a kettle. They say their ventilation is all checked and fine but there is always a wood smoke smell off their clean laundry. In the summer, the house is far too hot with the Rayburn on so they seem to just live off sandwiches and salads, which is not ideal. In the winter, the conservatory is full of damp logs and strange insects.

It's Miele gas for me. Romance over.

[ClareC]

There is a big difference between new and old.

I had a new gas fired Rayburn installed in my house in Hampshire, it cooked, heated water and 16 radiators. Not expensive given it did everything. The kitchen was large so no need to switch off in summer. I loved it. The only negative being two ovens a squeeze when cooking for large numbers.

I now have an Aga in my current house. It came with the house and dates to the 30's! It's been converted to run on oil and is far from economical but is lovely!! Food is far nicer cooked in an Aga (and Rayburn) and it makes the kitchen very cosy. I wouldn't have one that isn't on all the time (electric) as you lose that something special of the kitchen being warm etc. We will be replacing ours with a modern version when we do our kitchen, my preference would be gas but that's not an option so we will have a new oil fired one. I will also recommend the 4 oven version or getting the companion. 2 ovens can get crowded!

You do need a large kitchen though and handy to have an alternative means of cooking for when it's serviced / if you want to switch off.

[KidKruger]

Out of interest ClareC, what will you be doing with your old (30s) Aga ?

[Huggers]

in the for sale section today...

.http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,1243267

[ClareC]

Sell it I suspect.

[Townleygreen]

Have an Aga AND another cooker for the summer? Seems crazy!

Why not get a range cooker instead?

[fl0wer]

Mogs, I appreciate there is a romance associated with Agas and Rayburns. It's usually followed by the break-up, which sees us all heave a sigh of relief as the bloody thing goes out of the house.

Wondering whether your extension would be better served by a wood-burning stove.... but mankind has got to curb its fire addiction PDQ. Woodsmoke is a polluter, make no mistake. We are in a Clean Air zone too.

Everything eco-friendly you can design & build, will benefit yourselves & future generations.

You want the extension to be toastie - get it built to top specs for insulation and have controllable, luxurious underfloor heating.

You want real flames - light a candle or two in the evening.

You want to cook - choose an ordinary, modest, practical hob and oven.

Your house's present system of central heating and bath water can remain in place, yes?

[intexasatthe moment]

Well put fl0wer .

[KidKruger]

Great for wet socks too..

[El Pibe]

I was under the impression that wood was essentially carbon neutral.

I reckon we could solve global warming by genetically engineering trees impervious to fungi once they fall.

http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/amazing-facts-about-carboniferous.html

[Huggers]

how about a normal cooker plus a small woodburner in your soon-to-be huge kitchen. We did that, and have all the practicality plus the romance.

[Mogs]

Hmmm we have a wood burner in our lounge and love it, not sure I would want another in the kitchen.

I do love the look and feel of AGA but such a big decision and potentially expensive mistake to make.

Thank you for all your feedback