oil rayburn conversion from wick to jet?

[skier-hughes]

Has anyone had their rayburn/aga converted from running on oil with wicks to oil and pressure jet, like so?

http://www.snughomecookers.co.uk/

I'm considering having the change

What are opinions?

Graham

 

[Flyfisher]

We had an old Rayburn Supreme that had been converted from solid fuel to pressure jet oil. It worked OK but made a lot of noise. My parents used to have an oil wick Rayburn and it was silent, so if you're currently used to that you should certainly arrange to hear a converted unit.

It also used a lot of oil but I suspect that was because it hadn't been serviced for many years.

Also, and I'm not entirely sure about this, I think the oil wick ones will operate without any electricity whereas the pressure jet ones won't. Might be a consideration.

 

[MdB]

Also, and I'm not entirely sure about this, I think the oil wick ones will operate without any electricity...

Ours ran fine without electricity.

 

[skier-hughes]

yep, the wick ones run without electricity, but it is either on or off, so we use lots of oil during the night, day etc when it isn't really doing anything except keeping the kettle warm. Takes hours to warm up to coooking temp, so it is turned up in the morning and ready to cok by lunch time and cooked by evening meal and cooled down by night time. Just doesn't seem to efficient to me.
The noise is an issue, but if we had an oil fireed boiler fitted, would we just get the same noise? Though I suppose we could look at locating the boiler other than in the kitchen.

Graham

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, a noisy boiler is one thing and can often be located away from the main living areas but an Aga/Rayburn is, almost by definition, the heart of the home and the noise can be intrusive - although I've not heard the modern systems, which might be much better in this respect. For what it's worth, all the people I've known with an Aga/Rayburn also had an electric oven/hob/microwave. While there's no disputing the wonderful feeling of a warm Aga/Rayburn on a cold day, it's an expensive option for a bit of heat. Our plan is to install a woodburner in our kitchen inglenook and stick with electricity for cooking.

 

[skier-hughes]

We'll have a microwave/grill/oven combi unit............ as it's all we have to cook with currently. We will have a double induction hob, but the rayburn will be the main cooking unit for the house. Perhaps need to find a unit to listen to.

 

[worms]

We have a modern double-burner pressure-jet Rayburn. I would agree that you want to hear one in action before making up your mind. Ours is by no means silent but doesn't bother me in the slightest. It is comforting to hear it fire-up on a frosty morning when you are still in bed. We left a space for an electric cooker but have never found the need to get one. We do use a fairly simple microwave (no grill/combi unit).

I would imagine the conversion will give you a single burner set-up, which is never going to be as efficient as a double-burner and a separation between cooking and heating.

 

[Flyfisher]

Our conversion was a single burner. Maybe that's why it was thirsty for oil?

 

[skier-hughes]

As we have 14 very large rads, equivalent to nearly 30 that a rayburn is supposed to supply heat to 8, we won't be using the rayburn for heating anymore, so it wouldn't matter if it was only a single burner.
I'm awaiting to hear of someone close we can go and listen to