Heating a home

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I am looking at getting a range aga/stanley/rayburn etc.

I intend to cook, heat the water and run approx 10 rads, most are doubles, it needs to be a multi fuel runs on coal, wood anything that will burn

Do any of you have any experiance in living with one of these - can you give me any advice - things to look out for any tips at all

[Busy Bee]

Sorry to be the first to reply as I can't help you at all! We are looking to do this in our new house as well and I was going to post a similar question.

In addition to what WGA has said I have further questions (hope you don't mind me tagging along...)

We are moving house and I wondered if there is anything we should be looking out for with regards to whether or not we can have a cooker/heating appliance like the one above? Can we put one in any kitchen, anywhere? Or does it need somewhere with some kind of flue already in situ? Say the house already had an oil cooker which did the same, could the same pipework we used if we changed the cooker to wood or multifuel? If the house has central heating could we easily change it from running from a gas boiler, say, to the cooker without any major changes?

So many questions! Sorry! I just don't want to move into a house then discover we can't have the cooker/heating set up that we want.

:)

[Annpan]

I am looking at getting a range aga/stanley/rayburn etc.

I intend to cook, heat the water and run approx 10 rads, most are doubles, it needs to be a multi fuel runs on coal, wood anything that will burn

Do any of you have any experiance in living with one of these - can you give me any advice - things to look out for any tips at all

My biggest problem with my woodburner ATM is Fuel... I was trying to burn wood, couldn't secure local/cheap/regular deliveries... tried burning anthracite which just turned into powder and was a reall bugger to get going... currently working through my old store of house coal (slowly)

So the main lesson I have learned is to get a good fuel delivery sorted out before you get it fitted, and certainly before winter.

I have yet to get ours plumbed in for hot water and central heating, but I would imagine that you will have a limited choice of models that will be that powerful... Rayburn has been recommended to us, we prefered the look of an esse, but we were warned against its durability.

Busy Bee, I hope this helps

We are moving house and I wondered if there is anything we should be looking out for with regards to whether or not we can have a cooker/heating appliance like the one above? Look for an old chimney (Do you know where you are moving?) Even boarded up chimneys can be easy to bring back to life, ideally a working open fire or stove in the kitchen - then you know that a chimney is in working order. Thats probably the main thought... but you can put a burner anywhere... it might cost a fortune, but in theory it can be done. - Oh also make sure you are not in a smoke control zone, although you can still have a fancy woodburner.

Can we put one in any kitchen, anywhere? Or does it need somewhere with some kind of flue already in situ? You can (theoretically) have a flue put in anywhere but it costs... lots. It might be simpler to place it by an existing flue. You also want to take into consideration where you want the heat to be (ie. in the centre of your home) I personally would not put anykind of aga/woodburner/rayburn against an external wall. edit to add - an existing flue may not be up to scratch, or be the right type for solid fuel.

Say the house already had an oil cooker which did the same, could the same pipework we used if we changed the cooker to wood or multifuel? I guess you mean the central heating and hot water pipes? Yes... but you will need a new boiler and it would be best to check that your whole system is up to scratch...you may also have the option (depending on the type of oil cooker) of converting it to burn solid fuel, as alot of old solid fuel cookers have been converted to run off of oil - it might be a case of changeing it back... but this would incur costs and I do not know for a fact that it can be done

If the house has central heating could we easily change it from running from a gas boiler, say, to the cooker without any major changes? hmmm... in a word No... I mean it probably wont be easy, in general you will need more pipework and perhaps a new water tank - if it is a combi boiler you will need almost a whole new system, if it is not a combi it might be similar to the removeing of the old oil cooker.





Does any of that help you guys?

[Busy Bee]

Thanks so much for all that info, Annpan. :) We are just starting out on our journey to find a good cooker that will double up for CH and water as well. :)

What is the difference between the pipework you have for gas CH and that for solid fuel? I understand that you would need a completely new boiler, but had envisaged that you could just hook that up to the existing pipework.

Obviously I know nothing here! But it would be interesting to know why the same pipework can't be used. I think we will definitely be looking at an existing chimney or suitable flue. Another option would be to run the CH and water from a woodburner if we couldn't find a suitable kitchen with chimney.

Of course, the ideal house would have all this already in place so we didn't have to do anything at all! I've seen a couple of places like that.

We are moving west, by the way. Somerset?Devon/Nth Cornwall area.

Thank you once again for such a helpful reply. :)

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

Ann Pan - you say that you would never situate a boiler on a n external wall - why - how can you mangae this in a detached house ???

[Busy Bee]

It loses heat; it's better to have it on an internal wall so that the house gets the benefit and not the outside.

[mybarnconversion]

Go multi-fuel ... not the greenest option, but if wood only you'll either spend your life chopping wood, or need to buy in from who knows where...

+ I'm Welsh so I like coal ;)

Also consider where you place it - in a lot of cultures the heat source will be placed centrally within the building to ensure minimum loss to the outside...

[Thomzo]

I have lived with two Rayburns and would really recommend them. Both were second hand which saved a fortune. The first was just used for cooking and put in a new extension so we had a chimney built with the extension. The second also ran a couple of rads and supplied hot water. It was installed in an old dairy and we had to have a flue put in through the bedroom above. The flue pipe had to be double-walled for safety but did still heat the bedroom above.

One of the main problems with re-using old pipes or hot water cylinders is that the stove can't regulate the temperature of the water in the same way as a gas or oil boiler can. The water in our cylinder regularly used to boil. Many central heating systems are designed to take water at much lower temperatures. Also, pressure build up can be a problem as water expands as it heats. So you need a system that can cope with the higher temperatures and pressure.

When chosing where to site the stove, bear in mind that the top of the flue/chimney must be higher than the highest point of the roof. If the house is lower than surrounding properties or land then the flue will have to be even higher. You need a good draught around the top of the chimney/flue to get the smoke to "draw". Otherwise it won't burn well and you'll get smoke in the house. If you chose to site the stove on a wall under the lowest part of the eves then your flue or chimney will have to extend a long way up without support which could be difficult. This is a further reason to try to site the stove on an internal wall (or gable end wall) as the roof should be highest here.

Depending on the type of house, you might find the kitchen very hot in summer with the stove going. It might be a good idea to have say one electric shower somewhere in the house and a microwave. That way you can cook and have a shower without having to keep the stove lit all summer.

I would certainly have another one if I didn't live in a smokeless zone. Go for it and enjoy it.

Zoe

[Annpan]

Busy Bee - The pipes might need to be upgraded - maybe they are very old, maybe they are the wrong size (there are 2 main sizes 22mm and 17mm - I think ) they might have been used in the wrong places, creating problems... especially if you have a gravity fed tank, which we did, and we had some problems and will have to replace some pipework.

You may of course be lucky and only need to replace the small pieces of pipe leading to your boiler - fingers crossed


WGA - yes just to gain as much heat as possible, as others have said.
It won't always be possible but I would highly recomend it.


As an aside - I wonder what the fung shui ideas for heat are... as far as I can tell most cultures would have had a fire in the middle of there dwelling... It just seems right


I agree with MBC over the multifuel - a smart idea, as it might just not work out for woodburning, it would be wise to keep your options open.

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

A multi fuel set up is what we are going for my friend is a sculptor and has lots of offcuts for us, they currently run our woodburner ! we also have a supply of coal so we are covered on both angles.

The reason I questioned the siting of the range is that I haven't come across a house layout with central chimneys to accomadate it, I understand siting it on an exterior wall will heat the garden but most houses have exterior chimneys !

[Annpan]

You might find that's a local annomily (sp?) I don't know of any houses round here with external chimneys - there are odd building styles all over this country

Our wood-burner backs onto the hallway, a friend, who is in a similar age of cottage near us has a central room, with the 2 side rooms fireplaces backing onto it... does that make sense?

but I also know plenty of houses with gable end chimneys...

I am changing my words to - if I was planning from scratch, or had a choice, I would have it on an internal wall

[Busy Bee]

External chimneys seem to be quite a regular theme on some bungalows c. the 70s. I think WGA was meaning gable end chimney stacks, though.

You don't often see internal chimneys which is a shame, they are mostly on very old houses, I've found. (I have seen an awful lot of pictures of houses these past couple of weeks!)

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I live in a terrace (circa 1880's)and the chimneys are shared with next doors either side, the house I am looking is a semi (1890's)but shares chimneys with next doors and the kitchen chimney, whilst inside is still on an exterior wall, my local pub has a fireplace that does two rooms but its the only one in the area I've come across

[snapdragon]

I really would like one of these Esse witha backboiler but I think major building work would be needed to fit it into a 1200mm chimneybreast.
- plus it's v V 'spensive