TYPE OF WOOD/MULTI FUEL RANGE COOKER - ADVICE NEEDED

Ratchet · TYPE OF WOOD/MULTI FUEL RANGE COOKER - ADVICE NEEDED

Dear All,

Does anyone have any recommendations regarding makes of wood/multi fuel range cookers. For me price is an issue; not quite the cheaper the better but I'm definitely looking at the lower end of the market. Looks aren't important either. Although the aga/rayburn range look fantastic and are good quality they are way out of my price range even, second hand. I don't have the will/time to refurbish one. I will need it to cook on and provide water & heating for a 4 bed, well insulated (well it will be)traditional farmhoose, with under floor heating downstairs and skirting radiators upstairs; mainly for the winter months. In summer the solar panel will hopefully provide enough het water and I'll more than likely cook on an electric hob, with very occasional use of the range if I decide to roast something.

Thanks

Ratchete

JamesB

we've had a raeburn before and was ok but used a lot of fuel, we now have a danish stove from Hwam but they dont do cooking.

the only advice I can offer is seriously think whether you want to use wood or multifuel. A stove optimised for wood will burn wood much better than wood on a multifuel stove (wood needs a solid base and ability to restrict air more).

James

Ratchet · Thanks

Dear James

Thanks for your reply. We've thought about the wood or multifuel issue and have decided that as much as I would like to do the green thing we want the flexibilty to burn anything and use "dirty" coal especially when we want the fire to stay in for longer or when we've not got oor act together with chopping sticks (We've got a lot of trees that will be sticks sometime in the future).

We've got a knackered multi fuel stove with back boiler at the mo, make unknown. It's leaking air like a sieve and so it's nigh on impossible to control the burn. in the past we've always burnt coal & it costs a fortune (£117 every 3 weeks in winter). Anyhow I've been conducting a little experiment on whether I could happily change to wood. So far despite the increase frequency of going out to get fuel, I'm liking it. Heat output seems to be (subjectively) very slightly less, but the mess is much reduced. I'm emptying the ash pan much less maybe once a week as opposed to once a day with coal. I very rarely rake it as we allow the ash to build up to block the holes on the grate and there is much less ash produced overall. The only bugbear is that for me it's looking like it will be more expensive (bought in sticks) and that's with the weather improving ie the fire is not on as often. Anyway there is still a big pile of sticks left so when I've burnt the last one I'll be able to work out the cost per week. Giving that I know my coal costs I'm only going to be able to justify buying sticks if they work out the same or preferably less. We're not going to replace the stove as where we're now is a tied cottage so we just patch it up with fire cement now and again. But when we move to our farm we're going to install a solid fuel range with boiler and a little stove with back boiler. We want to learn from others experiences and choose makes that others have tried, tested and like. There's no point in reinventing the wheel.

Yours

Ratchet

JamesB

sounds reasonable. our multifuel stove only had a grate which is not ideal for wood. however you should be able to get a thick iron plate to cover the grate so the wood burns on the plate rather than a grate (wood should burn in its ashes unlike coal). the plate jsut sits on the grate so can easily remove if you want to burn coal again

james