range cooker with heating

Hi

building a house shortly and planning to install a range cooker. Will also have oil central heating. Just wondering is it worth getting a range with central heating capability or am I better off with separate heating and cooking?

Any advise / experiences appreciated.

Hi Tipperary,

I have an oil fired aga - it doesn't heat radiators - the stanley or I think the rayburn do heat radiators. The oil fired aga is left on 24 hours per day until you decide to turn it off in summer. The stanley has a jet fired burner inside which heats up pretty quickly and in turn heats radiators. Like you might be building sometime in the next couple of years and trying to decide on whether to go for an aga or gas range. I find the aga invauable in the autumn, winter and spring. Even though it doesn't heat radiators it keeps house at an even temperature. Ours is 2800 sq foot house and we turn on boilder to heat radiators when it gets really cold however on saying that we have a solid fuel stove which does heat radiators which we light most evenings in winter though it wouldn't heat to same degree as oil. I find the aga range great for cooking and drying clothes also. As oil increases in price though so does running the aga. If you are out working though the stanley or rayburn might suit better.

We have a Rayburn which is incredibly fuel efficient. We bought it 10 years ago, we have changed the boiler once (look through the posts for an item on chnaging boilers in this model) and the only slight problem is its slightly noisy but maybe latest models have addressed this problem. I'd highly recommend this as you halve your fuel bill.

Hi Tipperary,

My parents have a Stanly Range which they are very happy with. About 5 years old, and it does everything - the radiatiors, water, and two ovens and the top of cooker also. It's heat retention is great, kitchen and house is always warm long after heating has been turned off.
The timer sections also mean you can turn on or off what ever section you want.
It looks great also, and for cooking casseroles or roasts it is great once you get used to it.

They bought in Stakelums in Thurles ( no connection - just very happy customers)

I have a Rayburn range also. It also contains the boiler for the central heating. We are very happy witht the system. We have it for three years now, excellent for cooking and loads of hot water and very oil 'efficient' I think! We use about 1300 - 1500 litres of oil per annum for all our cooking and domestic hot water! The only downside might possibly be that it is recommended you service the Rayburn system every year and we had it serviced recently and the 'Authorised' service man charged us €180 for less than an hours work which I thought was a little expensive! Is it essential to have it serviced every year and if so is €180 the normal amount?
All replies much appreciated