Restoring Victorian cast iron range

[Popcorn]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. We are in the process of preparing to convert the basement to our late Victorian terrace into a family room, laundry room, downstairs loo and study area. The front room, which will be the family room contains a very dilapidated, rusty, cast iron range. I guess it used to be the kitchen to the house. The range is of this type (as opposed to a Rayburn type range) albeit in extremely poor condition.

(Source:www.britishheritage.co.uk)

Has anyone restored a cast iron range back to a proper working range- i.e. one with a back boiler that heats the hot water, and has an open fire to heat a room? To be honest, I'm not sure ours is even a candidate for restoration it appears to my untrained eye to be that far gone. However, our architect thought it would be a travesty to take it out and I'm inclined to agree that it would be a shame for it to be lost to the house.

We do need to replace our current wall hung condensing boiler. But is the answer, do you think, to look into restoring or replacing the range to provide some of these functions (albeit I'm guessing to a less efficient degree than a modern WHCB- a consideration too in these times where energy conservation is important.) Or would it be better to just try and restore the appearance of the range without it being at all functional?

I's really love to have your thoughts.

 

[Nemesis]

Keep it!


Post a pic?

 

[Gervase]

I'd vote to keep it - but restoring it to fully-functioning status might be difficult. Back boilers are often horribly furred up or cracked, which can lead to leaks and even the sort of explosions that can remove the side of a house if you're unlucky. Better to remove the water connections and just have the grate and hob for special occasions unless you're 100 per cent sure of the boiler and its connections.

 

[Ian Bond]

Agree with Gervase 100% - keep it as a wonderful feature.

One of my neighbours has her range in the cellar (kitchen / scullery) as well as her original 1860s windows.

Great stuff!

 

[Cloudscape]

A while back, I started this thread http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8708&p=96980 about our 1860s (ish) range, with back boiler.

It's cosmetically OK. The fire can be lit. The water heats - the heat and flames (if present) whoosh up a rear chimney. It's quite exciting to watch. I can stop the heat taking this route, and make it travel up the main chimney. We tried this and the water didn't really even get warm.

The oven (left) and the water heater (right) don't get hot. Nor does the carcase of the range. The sides of the grate burnt out long ago and have been replaced with (something like) sheet steel. The grate is lined with firebricks to protect the steel.

We don't use it much, partly because there a Rayburn in the next room, and partly because I have been putting off replacing the firebricks.

I hear the warnings and I know that explosions and boil-overs from these old back boilers are a serious consideration. The Rayburn has been slogging away since about 1978, and the previous owner used the old range all the time. It's pretty difficult to know if these things are safe or not. You can hear the water when it's getting hot, and you feel the flow/return pipes to see if the flow is working. Every so often, I purge some hot water.

They are such nice things to use, and the 'free' hot water is irresistible. Would newer back boilers be any safer?

 

[Penners]

Don't take it out, whatever you do! Whether or not you're able to use to heat water, or simply as a room heater - or not at all, it's part of the history of the house, and deserves to be renovated to the best of your ability.

Quite apart from the above considerations, it's a valuable period feature that adds immense character (and hence value) to your home.

As Nemesis asks above, could you let us see a photo?