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Replacing electric heating/hot water with coal rayburn?

 
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katesdream



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:00 am    Post subject: Replacing electric heating/hot water with coal rayburn? Reply with quote
    

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and need some advice please.

Moving into a 3 bed rural cottage run on electricity only. No gas mains to the village.
I am concerned about the bills currently at 135.00 per month and perhaps would like to replace this system with a coal fuelled Rayburn.
Would it be more cost effective and efficient to heat the radiators , hot water and oven this way?
And how high maintenance is it?
I have teenagers who love their showers and baths.

All advice appreciated.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Welcome to the forum.

Unless you have the Rayburn running in the summer then you'll probably need to heat water by electric anyway. If you have a Rayburn think of the hot water as a by product rather than the other way around.

Coal isn't a particularly environmental fuel but if you have a good supply of wood, either self sourced or bought in, then that would IMHO be a better option. My ideal would be a wood burner with solar hot water (great for summer) backed up by electricity.

katesdream



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks vegplot.

If you have a Rayburn think of the hot water as a by product rather than the other way around.

Why is that?
I would probably keep it running through the summer for the oven and the hot water.
I am just not sure about the costs. Having always had access to mains gas uptill now, it is hard to establish which would be the most economical way to do this.
I do have access to wood but assumed coal would be more efficient?

There are currently fan heaters in all the rooms (there are only 6 rooms in total).

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Welcome Katesdream.

As VP has said, summer is where your problem lies.

I remember as a child we had a Rayburn fire with back boiler. Maintenance was easy and cheap, just every now and again the bars that the coal sat on would need replacing (not all at once though) and cleaning the glass every now and again. That was about it.

So back to summer, we had to put the immersion heater on in summer to get our hot water.

shopgirlsue



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 197
Location: Nr Shaftesbury
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We had a coal fuelled Rayburn in a 3 bed bungalow and spent approx £600 on coal each winter - summer we used solar and electric for hot water. It was an old model and struggled to heat the place and give adequate hot water.

We've just installed a new one - Heatranger 355 which in theory can run up to 8 rads when using coal but it's obvious that it will use a lot more coal than the old one. Luckily we have a good supply of wood so we'll be running it during the day on wood and topping up with coal overnight

Mrs R



Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I would think carefully about the summer running unless you live in a cave-like house. pretty much between april and october we can't have the stove on at all or we're gasping.

chicken feed



Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 2677

PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mrs R wrote:
I would think carefully about the summer running unless you live in a cave-like house. pretty much between april and october we can't have the stove on at all or we're gasping.


same here we run a multi fule rayburn oct - april/may would not dream of using it through the summer way too hot.

ours runs 9 rads the hot water and cooking we only use coal at night to keep it in but there is only the 2 of us here now.

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have friends who live in a tiny cottage & cook & heat their water year round with a rayburn.
When it's to hot they just open the doors & windows.
Whether it's more economic if you are only burning coal, I don't know.
Unless you have access to free firewood & a chainsaw I doubt it will be cheaper than all electric.
You might be better installing a more fuel efficient solid fuel boiler to heat your home & water.
Rayburns tend to be Jack of all trades & masters of none.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 11 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

katesdream wrote:
Thanks vegplot.

If you have a Rayburn think of the hot water as a by product rather than the other way around.

Why is that?
I would probably keep it running through the summer for the oven and the hot water.
I am just not sure about the costs. Having always had access to mains gas uptill now, it is hard to establish which would be the most economical way to do this.
I do have access to wood but assumed coal would be more efficient?

There are currently fan heaters in all the rooms (there are only 6 rooms in total).


If you opt for one it's best to think of a Rayburn, or similar, as a general heat source to be used for a variety of tasks but predominantly as a source of low level heat. Water heating, and baking, and stove top work are useful by-products. In the summer they will excessive room heat unless your house is damp and or cold in which case you'll be have reasonably high running costs depending on the type of fuel you use.

Mixed mode heating is generally preferred as you can select which to use to suit the task best. For instance an efficient multi fuel stove which supplies hot water, room heat and a few radiators during the winter. Cooking may be predominantly electric or bottle gas and perhaps your hot water requirements in the summer could be met by solar which is very efficient and low cost.

A single solution rarely works well under all conditions.

Edit to add: Always consider insulation and then more insulation before throw good money at technology, it's by far the most effective method at reducing heating costs.

Littlelugs



Joined: 22 Feb 2011
Posts: 6
Location: camarthenshire
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 11 1:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have a solid fuel rayburn that runs to 6 rads, it heats the water too the cost is roughly £72 per 3/4 weeks unless we suppliment with wood then it is cheaper, we also have an Emersion heater that in summer we can switch on for 20 mins and we will have enough hot water for bath/ dishes etc. We also have an electric range cooker with an lpg gas hob which is supplied by bottle so we have both options, in the lounge there is a log burner which turns the place into a sauna in winter we have a 3 bed farmhouse not sure if this post is any help but I hope it is

T.G



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 11 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have rayburns, which are in use now. We have a coal/multifuel one in the kitchen – which is lit atm. We have an oil fired one which is at the far end of the house, which has recently been located so isn’t connected up but will run 12 rads, we have another oil fired one (not yet installed) in the herb room and we have a calor gas one in the bunkhouse.

The main one we use extensively in the winter. It runs 4 rads, currently, it’s only a small one, it would run up to 6. We burn wood mostly, but coal overnight, anthracite and doubles. It copes amply with the work expected. Previously the rayburn prior to this one provided all the hot water but no radiators, it had an immersion heater for the summer months. The house has had rayburns providing heat or water for over 60 years that I’m aware of.

However, we never run the rayburns in summer, it would literally be unbearable. Our house is on the rather large side and it gets far to hot in mild autumnal and spring days to have the rayburn lit, so we have found we do need alternate sources of heat/water.

chez



Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 11 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If you put in a solid fuel appliance as well as solar hot water, that might work. You could have a tank that the solid fuel thing and the solar AND an electric immersion fed in to.

It need not be a 'kitchen-stove' - you could have a woodburner.

lnelder



Joined: 17 Jan 2012
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 12 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We've always used a Rayburn for all our hot water and heating - mainly coal, but supplemented with wood for daytime use. You will need the electric during the summer, but from personal experience you can fire the stove up for an hour or so on wood during the summer if you can get hold of it locally. If you are close to a river or the sea, the wood you can glean gets up like a furnace in no time.

The solar PV has just been installed so we are waiting to see how that pans out - but it's looking good so far.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 12 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When I lived in Nantlle I had a Bosky woodburner, plus solar panels for hotwater/pre-heat .(there were two water tanks and a system of valves to choose which you wanted to use) The Immersion heater was there for emergencies but was never used.

There was a gas hob in the kitchen and a small woodburner in the living room.

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