Solid Fuel Rayburns

[confusedwhippet]

We are looking to buy an old solid fuel rayburn and would like it to be able to run the hot water and underfloor heating. Does anybody know if you can retro fit a boiler to a Rayburn?

[camillitech]

We are looking to buy an old solid fuel rayburn and would like it to be able to run the hot water and underfloor heating. Does anybody know if you can retro fit a boiler to a Rayburn?

morning confused whippet

yes you can (i've done it) but it is a big job. you do have to cut a few holes in the side and some of the screws especially on the top can be stubborn but it can be done. i can't remember the exact order as it was 15 years ago but i've done 2, well i took a back boiler out of one and replaced it with fire bricks (don't ask ) and i fitted a back boiler to another that didnae have one. they were both different models but i'm sure the procedure was the same.

are you sure a rayburn is what you need? i love them but they are very hungry

regards, paul

[confusedwhippet]

If you can offer any alternatives that would be great. We have no mains gas and don't really want oil.

[camillitech]

If you can offer any alternatives that would be great. We have no mains gas and don't really want oil.

hi whippet,

depends what you're doing with it. if you're at home all day and do allot of cooking they are great and i would consider getting another as mrs camillitech is at home nowadays looking after the animals, so she could feed it and do the cooking thing but for years i was out all day working so it was allways hot at the wrong time i used to fill it up early in the morning so it was hot all day (when i was out) then fill it up when i went to bed so it was hot all night (when i was asleep) i never really had time to bake so it was a bit of a waste and boy was it hungry in the end i bought a morso multifuel stove which produced as much heat for allot less fuel and you could still use the top as a hotplate.

i later converted this to oil because i used to run it off the fuel i used in my fishing boat but that's another story and i would not recomend it if you are paying for the oil it worked well for me because i was living on my own and had no electricity to run a CH system.

in short i would say (and bear in mind i'm no expert) if you love your kitchen and are gonna use it get a rayburn, esse, aga or something. if you just want to heat water and look at some nice flames get a good CAST IRON not welded stove.

hope someone else posts whippet cos these are just my own experiances.

good luck, paul

[paddy]

One thing you could do Whippit is have a fairly cheap purpose fabricated boiler that lines the flue pipe....would have to be stainless and lagged on the outside.

This is something you could do if a boiler couldnt be fitted at the back or inside the Range.

The flue of any heating appliance is hottest where it comes out of the appliance so i would put it there.

[confusedwhippet]

I've never heard of this type of system before. I will investigate this and when I find some information I will post it back here. Many thanks for the responses.

[paddy]

As i see it whippit what you would need to do is make two cylinders....one would be the inside one which would be part of the flue and the inside of the boiler jacket and the larger outside cylinder would be the outside of the boiler jacket...........this would have to be as near to the range as possible to be effective and fairly long aswell at least as long as the flue inside the room and also insulated.

I dont know how effective it would be but i should imagine you would recover a decent amount of hot water for washing from it but nothing would be as good as sticking your boiler on top or around the fire..common sense really i suppose.

[Thurston Garden]

If you can offer any alternatives that would be great. We have no mains gas and don't really want oil.

hi whippet,

depends what you're doing with it. if you're at home all day and do allot of cooking they are great and i would consider getting another as mrs camillitech is at home nowadays looking after the animals, so she could feed it and do the cooking thing but for years i was out all day working so it was allways hot at the wrong time i used to fill it up early in the morning so it was hot all day (when i was out) then fill it up when i went to bed so it was hot all night (when i was asleep) i never really had time to bake so it was a bit of a waste and boy was it hungry in the end i bought a morso multifuel stove which produced as much heat for allot less fuel and you could still use the top as a hotplate.

i later converted this to oil because i used to run it off the fuel i used in my fishing boat but that's another story and i would not recomend it if you are paying for the oil it worked well for me because i was living on my own and had no electricity to run a CH system.

in short i would say (and bear in mind i'm no expert) if you love your kitchen and are gonna use it get a rayburn, esse, aga or something. if you just want to heat water and look at some nice flames get a good CAST IRON not welded stove.

hope someone else posts whippet cos these are just my own experiances.

good luck, paul

When we refurbished our house 4 years ago, we put in an oil Rayburn. We wanted a Rayburn, partly because I grew up with one, partly because we both cook lots and make everything from scratch, and partly because it suited the house. At the time we were both commuting to Edinburgh to work and living rurally, oil was the only practical solution. 18 months ago, I burnt my suit and now kick myself for not getting a solid fuel one - I am here to look after it, and to gather the oodles of firewood in our landlords woods.

The oil (new) Rayburn is 88% efficient, and has 3 programmable timers, one for the cooker, one for the hot water and one for the heating. Oil is now twice the price that it was 4 years ago. Double kick myself!

Having said that, I would not be without a Rayburn! Aga's - what are they all about??

[Shirley]

We've just got a Wamsler - actually it was David's from about 6 or so years back but has never been installed and his ex wife didn't want it any more so now we've got it.

Now got to work out how to get it installed and to find out what we can do with regards to flue/chimney etc. We've got ONE chimney in the living room and hope to attach a wood burning stove to that ( we have one ready to fit and it has a hotplate on the top).. the Wamsler would obviously be better in the kitchen as it's a similar thing to a rayburn and has hot plates and ovens etc. Trouble is, there is no chimney in the kitchen.

[baldowrie]

You have to make one with steel flue, which incredibly expensive

[camillitech]

You have to make one with steel flue, which incredibly expensive

stainless steel i'm affraid even more expensive though well worth it in the long run shirlz, trust me do not cut corners on your flue as it will come back to haunt you. i very reluctantly bought a ss flue liner 15 years ago (cost me more than the stove) but it's been worth every penny.

good luck, paul

[baldowrie]

sorry meant stainless steel...was in a bit of a hurry yesterday

[camillitech]

sorry meant stainless steel...was in a bit of a hurry yesterday

i know the feelin' (only kiddin')

[Thurston Garden]

I bought a flexible liner for my oil Rayburn and fitted it myself - the oil fitter quoted for 3 people for H&S reasons.. I climbed on the chimney, lowered the rope down whilst the OH fed the liner in as I pulled the rope up. Easy and took about 15 minutes. It took me about 30 minutes to get down due to a severe attack of Disco Dancer's Knee......

I don't think the liner was that expensive......I would have remembered if it was. I am a right tighty...

[paddy]

I bought a flexible liner for my oil Rayburn and fitted it myself - the oil fitter quoted for 3 people for H&S reasons.. I climbed on the chimney, lowered the rope down whilst the OH fed the liner in as I pulled the rope up. Easy and took about 15 minutes. It took me about 30 minutes to get down due to a severe attack of Disco Dancer's Knee......

I don't think the liner was that expensive......I would have remembered if it was. I am a right tighty...

A solid fuel liner is about 3 times the cost of gas and oil but still only works out around 200 quid not that much really as they come with a 20 warranty i think.