Slow comustion stove

[rovercare]

Ok, on my quest to being the ultimate tightass....well simply reducing existing costs I need to remove a couple more things, the expense of home cooking and hot water and beer, so 2 of those can be minimized by a slow combustion stove

So questions are, does anyone live with one, solid fuel version only as I will be only burning wood, I merely want it for cooking and heating water, I don't plan to retrofit my house with radiators, but may fit one back to back to the unit into the lounge that will assist in milder cool weather, I have a cheminee phillipe for primary heat source

More importantly has anyone ever rebuilt one? there appears to be a few older rayburns second hand cheap, the guys you refurb them say its not worth the expense to refurb anymore, 2.5k parts 5-6k in labour, but I could happily make it a project

What about the reality of cooking on/in them? do they suffice well? I'll be moving warm weather cooking outside so its only for 6 months of the year use

Also has anyone done the research to find out the good and bad ones to look for? the only thing is wife don't want one that looks like white appliance, so I think it mainly leaves aga, rayburn and Stanley

Any personal experience would be great

Now to start beer thread

[austastar]

Hi,
we built new in 1986 and installed a Bosky wood burning stove.
It has 7 radiators in the hot water circuit and a 30m coil of copper pipe in the 300L hot water storage cylinder.
The wetback surrounding the firebox is filled with a glycol mix to prevent rust between cast iron and copper and steel fittings in the heating circuit. The hot water cylinder is also filled with this mix and potable water is heated instantly in the 30m copper coil.
We burn less than 4t of wood a year, and use less than 1000 kWh of electricity per 3 months, it burns 2-3 buckets of wood most nights in winter to supply a little extra heat to the house, and and 1-2 buckets of wood every second night in summer for hot water.
We cook on it most nights the fire is lit.

A microwave oven complements the stove top cooking brilliantly. Veges are brought to the boil in a minute or so in the microwave, and finished off on the stove top. We use Pyrex cookware for this.

It does a beaut roast in a roasting dish, pork, beef, lamb or chook.

It needs cleaning once a week, ash drawer, and draft chambers around the stove. I use a Triton sawdust collection bucket as a pre filter on the nozzle of the ducted vacuum system.
The clean and resetting the fire takes about 20 minutes.

If the weather is really warm, we light it after we have finished in the kitchen if the hot water is getting a bit cool. Hot water lasts 2-3 days with just the 2 of us in the house.
If the kids come home, it needs lighting every night.

Would I install another one if we built or moved to another house?

Maybe.

But I'm not sure how the other residents would take to me dumping 4 ton of wood in the yard and taking to it with a chainsaw and block buster.
Matron might get cross!

cheers

[101 Ron]

For more than 35 years we have been using a slow combustion stove with a water circult for the house hold hot water at the family farm.
The original stove was fitted in the house in the early 1970s and had to be replaced about 1995 with exactly the same type and brand
and that one is still going strong.
The hot water tank is very large and holds its heat for about one day.
If the stove is fired for about a hour a day there is plenty of hot water.
The cook top is just as quick to use as a normal cook top.
The oven cooks very slowly , but it cooks food much better than modern electric/gas ovens.
it doesn't use much wood, but it much be split into smallish sizes.
Ever hot is the brand........Aussie made ??????????
The stove doesn't heat the kitchen much and is not designed too. so it is OK to use in summer.
Ron

[101 Ron]

Everhot

[130man]

HI Rovercare, like Austastar we also run a Bosky and are very pleased with it. We use it throughout winter to cook on, heat the water and warm the house. However, our climate is moderate and therefore we don't need the central heating feature. This means the water in the hot water tank heats very quickly and it is not uncommon to have it boil. We feel it is very efficient and doesn't need as much cleaning as Austastar's. During Summer, we use a gas cook top sitting on top of the Bosky. By the way, they are very heavy. We bought ours second hand and had to install it ourselves. Quite an effort. The main oven, which is quite large, has an electric element to back up the fire if the fire dies down while cooking or it can be used on its own but then it is like an ordinary electric oven. It takes a small armful of wood to run for an evening. We don't generally run it through the day. The fire box is quite large and has an adjustable height grate which is marvellous as you can bring the fire up to the top for fast heat and then drop it down to maximise heat into the water jacket. There are two insulated panels that hinge down across the stove top to minimise heat into the kitchen when not cooking. There is a warming oven below the main one. It is quite a large piece of gear and does look like a white appliance, which suits us as the rest of the kitchen is white. Hope this is useful. Cheers, 130man.

[JDNSW]

Installed a Stanley in 1995. Used for cooking throughout winter and major meals in summer (also have a two burner gas stove), boosts the solar hot water, and heats the whole house via underfloor heating. Burns only ironbark which I cut myself on the propeerty. Uses about one Landrover load a week in winter.

Cooks well, but takes a lot longer than a gas or electric oven to heat up, and control needs experience.

John

[worane]

We have a Rayburn royal. Unfortunatly it is a dry stove (does not heat water).
We drove to Sydney from Geelong to buy it for 1500.00 dollars. It was just like new.
I think they are now up to about $13,000.00 new
Do not buy an old one. I have gone and looked at old ones, sometimes several hundred kms. away. Most of these old ones were build in the nineteen forties and still get $1600.00 on ebay....... Madness.
Also I think you will find that aga's were designed to run on coke and coal. They have a very small hole in the top to load the solid fuel.
OMHO I would be looking for an ESSE also build in the UK. I think in Scotland. Just as good as a Rayburn but designed to burn wood. It has a much bigger fire box
Hope you find what you want. Regards Nick.