Oil Fired Rayburn

[allan tryfan]

Hello, I am fairly new to boating with the exception of some truly wonderful boating holidays. I am now in the middle stages of planning a 60’ live aboard sail away, which I hope to place an order for by next March. This will be my first boat purchase and possibly my last, so I would obviously like to try and get it right first time!! Rather than a mixture of gas and diesel for cooking and heating inc water, I am considering installing an oil fired Rayburn 400k or an equivalent, which will do the lot as well as look great for our cottage style boat theme. I have yet to meet anyone who has any real life experiences of cooking and running a Rayburn (Inc my girlfriend) hence have no idea how much they are to run in comparison to gas for cooking and diesel for heating and if they are practical for a life afloat. So If anyone can be of help, then any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks...

[mrsmelly]

Hello, I am fairly new to boating with the exception of some truly wonderful boating holidays. I am now in the middle stages of planning a 60’ live aboard sail away, which I hope to place an order for by next March. This will be my first boat purchase and possibly my last, so I would obviously like to try and get it right first time!! Rather than a mixture of gas and diesel for cooking and heating inc water, I am considering installing an oil fired Rayburn 400k or an equivalent, which will do the lot as well as look great for our cottage style boat theme. I have yet to meet anyone who has any real life experiences of cooking and running a Rayburn (Inc my girlfriend) hence have no idea how much they are to run in comparison to gas for cooking and diesel for heating and if they are practical for a life afloat. So If anyone can be of help, then any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks...

 

I used to own one in a house, it was solid fuel and brilliant so that would be my idea, not oil. They do kick out a lot of heat and are good ballast. Be great on a widebeam but there are a few fitted on narrow beam. What are you fitting out ?

 

Tim

[Chertsey]

I believe Wrigglefingers has one tho I'm not 100% sure it's diesel fired. Chris R (who doesn't post very often but might be worth pm-ing) owns a boat with one in. I know this because I nearly bought it off him. It sounded very good and the only reason I didn't go ahead was because we bought the butty which was fully fitted.

[BEngo]

Hello, I am fairly new to boating with the exception of some truly wonderful boating holidays. I am now in the middle stages of planning a 60’ live aboard sail away, which I hope to place an order for by next March. This will be my first boat purchase and possibly my last, so I would obviously like to try and get it right first time!! Rather than a mixture of gas and diesel for cooking and heating inc water, I am considering installing an oil fired Rayburn 400k or an equivalent, which will do the lot as well as look great for our cottage style boat theme. I have yet to meet anyone who has any real life experiences of cooking and running a Rayburn (Inc my girlfriend) hence have no idea how much they are to run in comparison to gas for cooking and diesel for heating and if they are practical for a life afloat. So If anyone can be of help, then any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks...

 

 

Great in winter, once you have overcome the effects on trim and ballast (350 Kg + hearth is a significant concentrated weight in a narrow boat). Maybe a bit hot in summer so you may need some back-up cooking method.

 

Talk to the boat builder about how you are going to get it in- it might be easiest before the roof goes on and will surely be difficult if it has to go through front doors.

 

The 400K seems to only come with vaporising kero burners. Kero is not the same as red diesel so you will need to have a tank for it and work out how you get a new supply of kero. Most suppliers have a minimum drop (usually about 500l)and some will not deliver direct to boats. Vaporising burners need 240v so factor the electrical load [plus the lossses from the inverter into your power audit.

 

Find out about flues. Boat flues tend to be shorter than most makers and Rayburn recommend at least 3m of 125mm flue. That is too long for many canals. 125mm flue is also larger than the commonly available flue collars, so you will need a special. Powered flues are available, but will require more power.....

 

Mike the Boilerman may be along in a minute.

 

N

[sueb]

I owned a solid fuel version. It was a PITA although it did seem a good idea at the time. Will you be on the boat all the time and are you flexible about meal times. We had jacket potatoes for breakfast . If you are living aboard a gas cooker is quick & easy with no dust.

[David Mack]

Hello, I am fairly new to boating with the exception of some truly wonderful boating holidays. I am now in the middle stages of planning a 60’ live aboard sail away, which I hope to place an order for by next March. This will be my first boat purchase and possibly my last, so I would obviously like to try and get it right first time!! Rather than a mixture of gas and diesel for cooking and heating inc water, I am considering installing an oil fired Rayburn 400k or an equivalent, which will do the lot as well as look great for our cottage style boat theme. I have yet to meet anyone who has any real life experiences of cooking and running a Rayburn (Inc my girlfriend) hence have no idea how much they are to run in comparison to gas for cooking and diesel for heating and if they are practical for a life afloat. So If anyone can be of help, then any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks...

Some folk will tell you a Rayburn is too big for a narrowboat. The Heritage Uno is a smaller alternative.

[carlt]

The performance of your solid fuel Rayburn seems to be closely related to your ability to control it.

 

We could have ours kicking out heat 20 minutes after lighting it and boiling a kettle 10 minutes later.

 

Dinner was always on time and a range cooked Sunday roast was miles better than any other, as was the bread, cakes, pies and wine it helped produce too.

 

Once up to temperature the oven was stable and far more predictable than a gas oven and was performing several jobs at once.

 

I really miss ours and, as soon as we have a kitchen big enough again (ironic as I now live in a house) we will be getting another.

 

I have no experience of oil fired Rayburns but I loved my Dickinson Diesel cooker but not as much as the SF Rayburn.

[deletedaccount]

Sounds great in the winter, awful in the summer.

 

Personally I'd want something I could use in the summer that didn't involve heating up a massive lump of metal in a massive metal tube that's already massively hot.

 

We always had rayburns or agas or somethings when I was growing up but there was no way we'd run them in the summer. 6 months a year things they were and great for it. Visited lil deleted's friend once, his mum had one of those double fronted agas in the kitchen pumping out full heat in the middle of june. Mental.

[carlt]

Sounds great in the winter, awful in the summer.

 

 

I never lit my Rayburn in the Summer.

 

I have an Origo spirit stove that cooks a meal perfectly, if the weather precludes a barbecue.

 

You can even buy spirit burners that drop in the hob ring holes, for summer cooking.

[allan tryfan]

I used to own one in a house, it was solid fuel and brilliant so that would be my idea, not oil. They do kick out a lot of heat and are good ballast. Be great on a widebeam but there are a few fitted on narrow beam. What are you fitting out ?

 

Tim

 

I used to own one in a house, it was solid fuel and brilliant so that would be my idea, not oil. They do kick out a lot of heat and are good ballast. Be great on a widebeam but there are a few fitted on narrow beam. What are you fitting out ?

 

Tim

 

Hi Tim, I'll be fitting out a reverse layout 57' - 60' Trad and will be running a total of 4 rads including a towel rail.

[carlt]

 

Hi Tim, I'll be fitting out a reverse layout 57' - 60' Trad and will be running a total of 4 rads including a towel rail.

 

An oil fired Rayburn will be more than adequate for this.

 

My Out-Laws heat a 4 bedroomed stone cottage perched on a hill in the Yorkshire Dales with an oil fired Rayburn.

[canals are us?]

If I was going to install a rayburn it would be a solid fuel one like the old royal.

 

I installed a reconditioned supreme that looked new and heated the 8 rads great.

 

I heard the 400 series rayburns were not very good and are not as reliable as the older models? I would avoid LPG/oil fired ones and keep it simple with solid fuel.

 

James.

[Arthur Brown]

If it's oil burning you will need a supply of the right oil, at the right tax rate. Kerosene is available delivered to tanks at houses for oil fired heating and cooking, but no longer available from hardware shops. The stove may use a heavier similar to derv/red but you will pay duty on the tank that feeds your propulsion engine but need not pay duty on the heating cooking and generating tank.

 

Getting the right oil from suppliers within your normal cruising area will be a hard issue.

[allan tryfan]

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, there's certainly been a mixed response and plenty of food for thought.

 

Great in winter, once you have overcome the effects on trim and ballast (350 Kg + hearth is a significant concentrated weight in a narrow boat). Maybe a bit hot in summer so you may need some back-up cooking method.

 

Talk to the boat builder about how you are going to get it in- it might be easiest before the roof goes on and will surely be difficult if it has to go through front doors.

 

The 400K seems to only come with vaporising kero burners. Kero is not the same as red diesel so you will need to have a tank for it and work out how you get a new supply of kero. Most suppliers have a minimum drop (usually about 500l)and some will not deliver direct to boats. Vaporising burners need 240v so factor the electrical load [plus the lossses from the inverter into your power audit.

 

Find out about flues. Boat flues tend to be shorter than most makers and Rayburn recommend at least 3m of 125mm flue. That is too long for many canals. 125mm flue is also larger than the commonly available flue collars, so you will need a special. Powered flues are available, but will require more power.....

 

Mike the Boilerman may be along in a minute.

 

Some great info there and it really is appreciated many thanks.

[mattlad]

Here are a couple of pictures of the range on our boat:-

 

It is a Bosky, they were originally designed to run on wood but this was fitted, from new with a pressure jet heavy oil (diesel / gasoil) burner. We found it used too much electricity so shortly after we had it we converted to a gravity fed burner. This in turn lead us to have to design and install a fan assistance system along with an extra length of chimney for when we are moored and need high fire. The cooker also does domestic hot water and central heating.

 

We have a hatch above the cooker

which helps to get rid of some of the heat but in summer we turn it off and cook on a combination of an Origo meths (spirit) stove

and a barbecue in the front well deck.

 

We are yet to starve! :lol:

Edited August 14, 2012 by mattlad

[Robbo]

Hello, I am fairly new to boating with the exception of some truly wonderful boating holidays. I am now in the middle stages of planning a 60’ live aboard sail away, which I hope to place an order for by next March. This will be my first boat purchase and possibly my last, so I would obviously like to try and get it right first time!! Rather than a mixture of gas and diesel for cooking and heating inc water, I am considering installing an oil fired Rayburn 400k or an equivalent, which will do the lot as well as look great for our cottage style boat theme. I have yet to meet anyone who has any real life experiences of cooking and running a Rayburn (Inc my girlfriend) hence have no idea how much they are to run in comparison to gas for cooking and diesel for heating and if they are practical for a life afloat. So If anyone can be of help, then any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks...

 

Did you ever get the Rayburn? I'm looking at the same and was wondering what your views were on it if you did go for it.

Edited October 11, 2013 by Robbo