Wood burning cooking heating hot water stove

[delineator]

Hi All
We are in process of buying a rural property in Co Mayo Ireland it has 4 acres of land which has a small wooded area included. To take full advantage in the logs/wood available we'd very much like to install a wood burning cooking stove in the kitchen. The property is a small traditional cottage type house we fireplace/stove opening in the kitchen currently the opening has been blanked off. We would like open up the fire place and install a cooker/stove space permitting.
We've had several wood burners/Multi stoves in the past but not had one that we could use to cook on and that provides us with hot water and possible heating of rads. We understand that cooking on this type of stove is going take some time & patience.
We would prefer something a little smaller than your average AGA/Rayburn size stove and like the look of the esse ironheart but the price counts us out. A good old second hand wood fired cooking stove is what we would like.
Any advice on sort of thing we could expect to find at reasonable price and would suit our needs.

All advice/help very welcome
Go easy on me it's my 1st posting

[British Red]

Hi delineator,

I'm not sure the Esse would suit your needs anyway (I have one) - they do have a back boiler option - but its really only enough for a couple of radiators rather than a full central heating system. They are very hot to cook on in the summer due to the glass door. I think of our Esse as a woodburner with cooking capability rather than a cooker. Its great, we cook on it a lot, but for full time cooking It has to be a Rayburn. Aga don't make solid fuel stoves anymore - it is just Rayburn.

Any new stove worth having will cost - the thin metal ones just won't last. Plenty of second hand ones around though - there really isn't much to go wrong with them and parts are available. Perhaps look around for one in Ireland and get it reconditioned?

Red

[delineator]

Hi Red
Thanks for your reply, to be honest if the Esse ironheart does 2 rads and hot water that would be plenty as its only a small cottage and we would have a separate woodburner in the living room.
I really like the look of the Esse but couldn't find any used ones for sale and the new ones were around £3600 which is some what out of my budget considering all the other jobs I would like to do on the property. I take it the Esse ironheart is a fairly new model and this is why secondhand/used models are like hens teeth.

[greenorelse]

The following might not suit you, but it's what we do and you may get an idea or two from it.

We have an Efel multi-fuel stove (we only ever burn wood though) and it has a heavy hinged 'trivet' type lid which reveals the hot plate. During cold weather, we try to make simple meals which can be cooked on this - there's not that much room on it. Two or three pans' worth, perhaps. It's a few steps from the kitchen, so simple meals are better, those you can leave for an hour or two.

The stove has a back boiler and can run six radiators. Thus, on a good day, we can heat the house, get a shower, dry clothes (there's a creel above it), cook food, do the dishes and enjoy a real fire all at once!

When we don't have a fire (you don't want to start a fire to cook with in summer), we have a butane gas cooker. There's also a SolarTwin solar panel for shower water, so we're covered winter and summer.

The stove is there in my avatar, with a pan and a kettle on it.

[delineator]

Thanks for your help/advice it's very much appreciated, I will certainly consider the option you detail above.

[123sologne]

Hi Delineator,
Welcome to the forum! We have the same idea than you, but in France this time and we are finding everything we look at way too expensive for our pockets... And looking for a second hand wood burner with heating water facilities in France is proving an absolute headache, so I doubt we will find a second hand one... We will probably have to buy new and I am really not sure what we will be able to get.... Good luck to you and keep us informed if you find what you want :)
I will tell hubby to look at the Esse and Efel burners to see what we could find here....

[delineator]

Hi Caroline
We used to have a property in France sometimes wish I hadn't sold it. Yes keep us informed how things work out with the stove.
Thanks for your reply

[Povester]

We have been cooking on the top of the Clearview wood-burner we have here and using an electric cooker for anything that needs to go in the oven. The problem is that the wood-burner is not in the kitchen so there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. We currently have an electric immersion water heater and storage heaters which are a nightmare so we are planning to get rid of them and do the same as you.

We have been looking at the Dunsley Yorkshire stove (http://www.dunsleyheat.co.uk/yorkshirestoveCH.htm) which looks amazing but expensive. I think I came across it on this forum somewhere. I'll be interested to hear what other people have had success with.

[boboff]

http://www.windysmithy.co.uk/html/woodburners.htm

I have been looking around for something at home, and these struck me as excellent, the reiviews are pretty good too. They are not the cheapest, but bespoke, and hand made, and not that much more than e-bay china shite.

[battybird]

Ooh, forget the woodburner...I want a Tow-a-Vardo! The do woodburners look good too and as, Boboff says, not very expensive with great reviews!

[boboff]

Yes those Tow -a Vardo's do look pretty dam lush.

I like the idea of a real man making something for me.

[janeISH]

I am feeling quite lucky as I have just managed to pick up a two year old Esse Ironheart for £1250, in France, for our house in France. It needs to move 60km so that will cost a bit, and it weighs 300kg+. Very excited about the prospect of tasty meals and a cosy kitchen!
Jane

[delineator]

Lucky You
Wish I had one
All the best