How much oil does an Aga/Rayburn use per week on tickover?

[robgil]

Thankyouplease.

 

[JohnB]

My Rayburn Regent solid fuel with oil conversion used 750 litres last winter. It was just ticking over keeping the kitchen warmish and heating water (no radiators). I can't remember dates, but the oil ran out just as the weather warmed up enough to turn it off!

 

[Flyfisher]

I think that question falls into the category of if-you-need-to-ask-you-can't-afford-it.

Our old Rayburn (should be called a Cashburn) could burn its way through about £350 of oil in a month - and that was at 37p/litre! - though it was also powering a couple of radiators and all the DHW.

The only good news was the £400 we got for it on eBay.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Looking at my boilerjuice account I can see that we've consumed 4000 litres of oil in one year in our 4 bed detached house with 4 reception rooms. The average price is 55p per litre. That's £2200. £42.30 per week. The Rayburn heats the downstairs area and also fuels 9 large radiators upstairs, as well as heating the hot water tank daily. The rads are only on for three- four hours a day in depths of winter. The oven temperature is a continuous 150 degrees C, with the temperatre set to "low". I rarely use it for cooking, but the above price does include very occasional days where I've needed to run two hot ovens simultaneously. (I prefer my electric oven which is quick and can get much hotter)

We add £1000 of yearly electricity in electric heaters and 4 - 8 hours per day of burning our own wood in two or three of our 5 fireplaces. We still need fleeces, thermals, electric blankets, etc.

 

[robgil]

Ah, see the thing is we only want to use it occasionally for cooking only and thought it might be an idea to let it tick over.

 

[MdB]

We used to light our old rayburn daily as otherwise it would boil the water in the pipes. Never had a problem doing this.

Ours was useless for cooking on at tick over, it just wasn't hot enough, you needed to turn it up a lot which we never remembered to do early enough.

 

[skier-hughes]

I think if you look up your instruction mnaula on the aga website you'll find what it should use when new, so just add a little more for not being so efficient. I'd hazard a guess at around 500l for our wick fired rayburn on tickover for around 4 months.

 

[robgil]

This sounds as if it could get expensive for an occasional cooker.
Does anyone know the regs for a solid fuel cooking range flue through a wooden shingle roof beside a thatched roof?

 

[tobydog]

Joce - £4,000 for oil plus £1,000 for electricity, you don't use it to cook and you still need fleeces and electric blankets? :shock: :shock: :shock: I'd move in with your girls if I were you. I know Rayburn's are the last word in country kitchens but after reading most of these posts, a Rayburn has just been struck off my unattainable Christmas wish list.

 

[Lindsey]

I don't want to depress you but we have just had our beloved aga coverted to electric because it was an unsustainable expense on oil. In order to power this, we have erected a wind turbine on a fifteen meter mast. This now runs the aga,mostly on slumber mode,for cooking and an emersion for hot water. We also receive a nice cheque from the power company every quarter instead of paying through the nose for oil. Anyone remember last year when they were very creative with the price of oil during the snow?

 

[MdB]

... a Rayburn has just been struck off my unattainable Christmas wish list.

We sold ours for similar reasons...

 

[MdB]

This sounds as if it could get expensive for an occasional cooker.
Does anyone know the regs for a solid fuel cooking range flue through a wooden shingle roof beside a thatched roof?

Part J - http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/

 

[tobydog]

Joce - I've done it again. Not using my glasses and reading PPUK posts on my iPhone. I now see it's 4,000 litres not £4,000. That's still a lot of oil.

If you don't really use it for cooking, isn't a new A rated boiler a better option for running your radiators in the long run? It might pay for itself in a few years.

I think my suggestion of moving in with the girls is probably something you've considered anyway despite the oil crisis!!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, don't worry Toby, easily done. It Is a lot of oil either way. The previous owner put the system in in the 80s but the time he was selling, in 2006, he couldnt afford the Rayburn and didn't light it. He boiled water on the electric stove for washing up and lit a fire once a week for his weekly bath. ( the 30s back boiler off the music room works fine)
We can't live like that, but the suggestion of converting the heating system to something else sounds good. Freely, we have wind, and wood.
It's worth doing some serious research once the house is as insulated as we can make it.

Moving in with the girls a good idea too!

 

[Feltwell]

It's worth doing some serious research once the house is as insulated as we can make it.

Insulation is of course a good thing to do, but may take some time. Why not look at the heating options now? It has an initial expense of course but if the rayburn is that poor in efficiency you'll start to make decent savings on fuel straight away.

 

[JoceAndChris]

But it would necessitate an up front payment of many thousands, which we don't have, and pulling the house to bits!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Apologies if this appears again, thought I posted the following:

Our 4 oven oil Aga in NN ran on 1,000 litres over 16 weeks. Oil was 17p a litre then (2003) !!!!

Our 3 oven electric aga in the Holy Land made very little difference to the electricity bill.

Your nearest Aga shop will give an accurate weekely running cost for each type of fuel!

 

[Flyfisher]

Our 3 oven electric aga in the Holy Land made very little difference to the electricity bill.

That's interesting Jocelyn. Am I right in thinking this could be because Agas have much more internal insulation than Rayburns and, presumably, they don't provide much 'background' heat?

They are still fearsomely expensive though, although I could just about be tempted if the running costs were sensible.

 

[Penners]

my boilerjuice account

Joce - I don't know whether this is of any interest to you, but I "spot" buy my oil - that is (as I'm sure you know) when we need a tankful I ring around all the local suppliers for their best price - playing one off against another.

"No, I'm sorry - that's too expensive. Bloggs & co have quoted me XX.Xp." *

Every time I do this, I check the price that I end up paying against the Boilerjuice quoted "best" price. I find that Boilerjuice are always more expensive. I invariably find that the best price is to be had from a fairly local supplier, rather than one of the big oil companies.

Twenty minutes on the phone really can save you several tens of pounds (or more, depending on the size of your tank).

* By the way, it doesn't work to fib. The companies all know what the others are currently charging, even if they ask you what others have quoted you.

 

[tobydog]

I used Boiler Jiuce for my first fill up but I've now joined a local oil syndicate called HOOPS. They spot price from several companies and I've just filled up at 54.75p + VAT with Behzad Fuels based in Essex. Boiler Juice were quoting over 60p + VAT.