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AGA Cooker ----- AGA Range Cooker ----- Range Cookers DESIGN NOTES & PRICE GUIDE FOR ELECTRIC, GAS & OIL FIRED RANGE COOKERS
The author’s Grandmother Polly Black, circa 1906 @ Withdean Court, Brighton. (Possibly an early Esse range with additional hob and oven) Withdean Court was pulled down and is now the grounds of Brighton & Hove Football club.Britain has always been blessed with a good energy supply, and coal gradually replaced wood as the main source of heat from the end of the 16th century onwards. Wood is best burned on a bed of ash but it was soon realised that, to burn coal efficiently, a smaller grate than that for wood was required, and it must be raised to cool the grate and allow for the collection & removal of ashes. In Europe there was less coal and distances were greater, so it is here that the wood burning stove has its origins. The British were introduced to the ideas in the 17th century where they saw them in the Dutch & German communities in the ‘New World’ where coal had not yet been discovered. In much of England, coal remained cheap, with female and child labour used in the mines. The British continued wastefully to burn coal in open fires, with the exception of their kitchen ranges. The 18th century saw rapid changes in England with the coming of the industrial revolution. Abraham Derby was one of the instigators when, in about 1709, he dramatically reduced the production costs of casting iron as he perfected his method of smelting iron with coke. This method is still used today in small foundries all round the world. Cast iron and steel are ideal materials for stoves and cookers, and this major production cost reduction allowed more efficient fires and stoves to be designed and built. Paintings of cottage interiors show large fireplaces with sides built in as in the diagram below. In the centre was a small wood fire or, for the better off, a small grate for coal, over which cooking pots were hung. This crude system remained current in poorer houses until well into the 19th century.
Late Georgian kitchen fire place 1765 - 1811 In large country houses and palaces where money was no problem and households larger, we can see the start of the modern range. Open spit cooking was used a lot for the meat and hobs could be used for pans.
A large country house or palace kitchen range Regency 1811 - 1837 The hocks or spits are driven by a ‘Jack’. A vane set in the chimney flue. Cast iron ranges were in common use from the mid 19th century as the costs of transporting heavy goods were dramatically reduced with the coming of railways. Large examples can still be seen preserved in country houses and palaces. This one shown below would have suited a large Victorian family with a small number of servants, but small ones with open grates (early Esse and Belle ranges) are often found in architectural reclamation yards. The early Cornish Range became a standard feature in mining communities around the world, and were also fitted into all British lighthouses, by Trinity House. Some of them lasted for a hundred years.
This is similar to the opening photograph of an early gas range cooker with single hob beside it. The comfortable, homely, solid enameled look, so appreciated by the British (and increasingly so in Europe) dates from the late 1920’s early 1930’s, with some of the original solid fuel models still in use, 75 years on. The ESSE foundry, dating from 1854, was probably one of the first with this look – Florence Nightingale used an ESSE in the Crimea - but the AGA, originally Swedish, has probably become the most famous and the name is often used as a generic term to describe heavy ranges.
The ‘Eagle Combination Grate’ Circa 1935 It had an open fire oven and a back boiler, a tiled surround was usual for this period Electric, gas, fan, microwave & steam ovens have come, but still they cannot match the delicious flavour, texture and evenness of food cooked in a heavy cast iron range cooker.
Modern cast iron ranges fueled by gas or oil come in many shapes and specifications, but can be roughly divided into three design classifications:-
Stored Heat Cookers. ( AGA, Dunsley & Redfyre) Dr Gustave Dalen, a Swede, invented this concept in the 1920’s. Hitherto, ranges had been open fires where the heat could be diverted around various ovens and griddles, giving a “range” of different cooking choices. The stored heat concept is nearer the ‘hot box’ principle; a small heat source (2-3 kW.) is constantly kept on heating a massive griddle and the top of a heavy, well insulated oven. The temperature rises slowly but stays relatively constant. There is a large temperature gradient in the ovens and the cook moves items up and down to control the cooking rate. For cakes a ‘cake box’ can be used inside the oven to give even heat. Because the heat up time is about 6 hours, the cooker has to be on 24hrs a day, 365 days of the year. Domestic hot water can be heated off a small boiler, but the burner has to be increased in power to do this. The only sop to modernisation from the original design concept is the change of fuel from coal to oil, gas or electricity. A chimney is required for all oil models. The AGA and Everhot Electric and the Redfyre and Esse gas flueless do not require a chimney but there is also a power flue and balanced flue gas AGA. MAIN POINTS TO CONSIDER. They give off a steady heat to the kitchen, which is very nice in winter and damp autumn days. A kitchen radiator can be removed (if fitted) with commensurate fuel saving. Oven temperature is steady and constant, as is the temperature of the hot plates. Due to the small power source they cannot run central heating, but can be used for domestic hot water. The heat up time is at least 6-8hrs from cold. Care has to be taken when doing large amounts of cooking as, if a lot of heat is taken from the oven or hot plates, it takes a relatively long time to build back up again. In the summer the kitchen can be hot if the cooker is left on all year for cooking. For this reason most AGA & Refyre Traditional cookers owners usually have a second cooker for summer use. The running cost of these cookers is about £700 - £1,000 per annum (oil at 35p/litre) about twice that of a single or twin burner cooker.
Single Burner Ranges.( ESSE & Stanley Super Star) Thousands of simple coal fired ranges were installed in British houses over the last 70 years, made by many different companies. These can heat up in about 2 hours and can run all the DHW and one or two radiators. At the end of the 1970’s one company, Stanley, from Waterford in Ireland took the concept into the 20th century and redesigned the inside to take a pressure jet burner, sealed doors, and a passageway between the ovens.
A pressure jet burner using a fan can give accurate air/fuel ratios, this means greater efficiency, lower emissions and instant large amounts of heat (3-4 minutes for hot plate cooking). The passageway between ovens means a beautifully even heat and a total heat up time of just 20 minutes from cold! Even on the Stanley solid fuel, one can be cooking in the oven in 40 minutes from first lighting the match. These ranges also run full central heating.
With a single burner, the concept is to move the heat around to where you want it at any particular instant. Most of the time the heat is directed at the water jacket, and the hot gases, instead of just being discharged to the atmosphere as in your existing boiler, are passed around the oven and hot plate taking even more heat from them. The baffle system allows one to redirect the heat for a short period of time at the hot plate or oven to obtain the rapid heat up times. MAIN POINTS TO CONSIDER A single burner system will always be the most thermally efficient, as the waste heat from the boiler is used to heat the cooker. The only time energy is used to cook is to top up the heat to the required temperature. Pressure jet burners are always more efficient than atmospheric burners and some models have a balanced flue, which means that you don’t need to have a chimney, just an outside wall. The rapid heat up time means you do not need to have another cooker, nor does the kitchen become unbearably hot in summer, as you only turn the cooker on when you need to. The running cost will depend on the efficiency of the boiler and the amount of heat you ask from it. If you already have a central heating system the running costs will be the same, or lower, as;- 1- You will not have an additional gas or electricity bill for your existing cooker. 2- The kitchen will be heated by the cooker in winter, saving a radiator in the kitchen (increased wall space, cheaper fuel bill).
The fact that it does not have to be on 24 hrs/day gives a fuel saving of about £400/annum over a stored heat cooker running on oil @35p/litrre
Twin Burner Ranges (ESSE, Marshall, Heritage, Sandyford, Stanley, Rayburn 400’s & 800’s, Redfyre Central Heating, balanced flue Marshall & Sandyford) To make a range cooker even more in tune with today’s cooks, and to get higher boiler outputs for larger houses in a smaller unit, all the manufacturers now make a range of twin burner cookers. One burner runs the boiler and the other the oven. You get timed warmth for your kitchen, instant cooking, a cooler room in the summer and efficient burners. When the water/central heating burner is on, the cooker does not heat up. Below is cut away diagram of a Stanley twin series cooker.
MAIN POINTS TO CONSIDER a) On a twin burner there are no baffles to move. b) The cooker controls are behind the top left hand door, with the time clock often built in to the cooker but more usually located separately. c) The top oven’s temperature can be varied to suit what you are cooking, and the bottom oven’s heat is proportionate to that of the top oven. This is very different to using an Aga/stored heat range, where the oven temperatures are set, and the heat recovery is slow. Using the hot plate is easy, too, as the thermostat will ensure the plate is always hot even if you are cooking marmalade or simmering a delicious soup. The oven temperature will not be affected by using the hot plate, again unlike the Aga. c) An efficient ‘S’ plan system of heating can be used, controlling domestic hot water, central heating and cooking individually. d) The fact that it does not have to be on 24 hrs/day gives a fuel saving of about £400/annum over a stored heat cooker running on oil @35p/litrre
Electric Ranges (Aga, Esse, Everhot) ESSE make a pretty electric version of their gas and oil models for people who want the traditional range cooker look with a standard electric cooker. With 2 progressively heated halogen hot plates it mimics cooking on a range but is instantaneous. It does not provide heat to the kitchen, unless you leave it turned on low, so a radiator is still needed. For a heat storage cooker one has a choice of the electric Aga or the very clever Everhot. With the Everhot, each oven and each hot plate is individually temperature controlled. This is very economical and means that just one oven or half a hot plate can be left on in the hot summer, not wasting money and overheating the kitchen. Well worth a look if you do not have a chimney or external wall.
Wood fired ranges (ESSE, Broseley, Stanley, Marshall, Sandyford) The drive towards biofuels and carbon neutrality has inspired manufacturers to redevelop earlier solid fuel ranges, now burning wood cleanly and efficiently. The Stanley cooker has been around for years because they burn peat in Ireland, having no natural coal. To burn wood a long large firebox is required, as wood has a lower calorific value than coal. ESSE’s new wood burning cooker can take 24” (600mm) logs, this saves a lot of cutting. The new Marshall is the same, but larger and has 3 ovens. A separate cooker is advisable for summer as the kitchen does tend to get warm – ideal in the winter, though. The Broseley Range is excellent value for money: the Italians have been burning wood for many years as they do not have any natural gas, coal or oil. Do I get free hot water? One of the many misconceptions that we come across almost daily is that ‘it is a waste not to have hot water from the cooker’, or that the hot water is somehow free. This is just not true, you cannot get ‘ought for nought’: even in an AGA the burner is bigger and uses more fuel to heat the water. Furthermore, the boilers are uncontrollable and inefficient. So much so, that the work and parts to put the water on your efficient oil or gas boiler only attracts 5% VAT. The modern cooker boilers that do central heating incorporate a cooker and efficient boiler in the same beautiful housing, which not only looks good, but saves space. If your boiler is working well, or the pipework is miles away, it is not wasteful to have a separate, dry cooker. Most range cookers also do stalwart duty as drying racks, and the heat in the kitchen is not wasted if it is keeping you warm, especially in the autumn and spring when you don’t need so much central heating. ESSE & Marshall make wood fired cooker boilers, can I reduce my carbon footprint by heating the whole house with one? how green is it? Wood is a renewable fuel, and encouraged by this Government. Other countries in Europe do better, but here we have a reduced rate of 5% VAT on wood boilers over 7Kw, their installation and the installation of solar panels. Will we cut down all the trees? No, especially not in Kent and Sussex where we have abundant coppice woods. These need to be cut down/cropped every 12-16 years or the ecosystem at the base of the forest, wood anemones, bluebells, violets, etc die off. The current value to the cutter (so the woodland owner only gets a cut of this) is about £16.00 per tonne, which is a very low return on a land investment. A small house on wood heating alone would use about 7 tonnes a year so at 70 tonnes per acre, about 1.5 acres per household is required. Outside the large conurbations of London etc. we could be carbon neutral with our heating (four fifths of our energy goes on heating, the remainder on electricity for lighting, controls, music etc etc.) The problems that arise are;- 1/ You must store your wood properly and plan ahead. The secret of efficient wood burning is dry wood. This means you must store at least 10 cu/meters of wood, half of which is handily near the point of use and dry. 2/ To burn wood properly you need a combustion chamber temperature of around 4-500 deg.C. This is impossible to achieve if you just stick a saddle tank around the combustion chamber. Few stoves burn properly with water boilers; the ESSE wood cooker and the Strasbourg stove are probably the best on the market. 3/ The calorific value of wood is low so you have to keep feeding it to get the output, which is not easy if you leave early for work and arrive home late. 4/ You need to do some work lugging and storing wood, couch potatoes and those who think their nails are more important than the planet, read no further. They say wood warms you three times – when you cut it down, when you cut it up and when you burn it. 5/ The house get very cold when you go away on holiday, for weekends, or if you are ill in the winter.
All these problems can be solved though; the technical and installation one by using a combined system of wood and oil or gas and, to really reduce your carbon foot print to its minimum, solar thermal panels. With this system, all the boilers feed a common heat storage cylinder and water and heating are used as required. If you do not light the wood boiler, the oil or gas boiler will automatically come on and compensates the system without you having to interfere. In simple terms the more you light the wood boiler and the more the sun shines, the more carbon you will save. With added solar panels on the roof up to 75% reduction can be achieved for just a little thought and effort on your part. Following is diagram of the layout for up to a three or four bedroom house. COSI can supply all the parts in kit form for you to install with a plumber, or provide a full installation service in the SE. Please phone for advice for larger properties. Diagram of system layout for combining wood, oil or gas and thermal solar panels using thermal store cylinder.
Where to start;- The first decision for the homeowner or designer installing a range cooker or heating system is the type of fuel to be burned: wood, coal, oil, or Nat./L.P.G. gas. Oil and gas power a heating system using time clocks and thermostats to control the heat in your home automatically. However, they also require electricity, which is subject to power cuts. Oil and Natural gas are a similar price, but LPG costs about 45% more. Coal is considered a severe pollutant, as well as being non-renewable, whilst wood and solar are renewable and encouraged by the government. A solid fuel system is not automatic, as you have to load it and control the heat. All fuels except solar will require some type of chimney or venting and that can affect the finances and the final decision. 1/ Do you have a chimney near to where you require the cooker? If yes, the choice is open. 2/ If you have no chimney, all is not lost. Do you have a convenient external wall? If yes, then you can go for a balanced flue oil or gas model from the Sandyford and Marshall ranges. Note, the author does not recommend power flues as in his experience they are unreliable and expensive to maintain. 3/ If there is no external wall and no chimney, one can be built either in traditional brick or in a 'kit' form in stainless steel. Alternatively, the AGA power flue runs through 2 inch pipework for up to 6 meters. Heritage also sells power flue kits. 4/ If you have Nat. or LPG gas you can site a flueless cooker anywhere. ESSE and Redfyre make flueless cookers. 5/ If you do not have a chimney, natural or LPG gas and do not want the cooker on an external wall, there are electric models. Everhot, Esse and AGA all make such cookers. 6/ Most cookers can be combined with an external boiler, wood stove and solar panels for heating by changing the hot water cylinder to a twin coil or thermal store model.
Eur.Ing. Graham Thornhill B.Sc. C.Eng.
COSI offers a wide range of services from supply-only kits, to expert installation of your chosen appliance, through almost all of the UK and Northern Europe. We can offer all available appliances and can give advice as to the best and which will suit your situation. We believe the prices offered by COSI are competitive and reflect the size and efficiency of our company (if you find the same product cheaper elsewhere, please tell us, and we will try & beat the lower price). If you require information and prices on other items including stoves, fires and chimneys please ask for a copy of our other brochure or look at our web site.
Show rooms @ COSI , 58/60 Wincheap, Canterbury, Kent. CT1 3RS. Tel. 01 227 787 587 Fax. 01 227 787 588 or info@cosi.co.uk
Cooker prices 08click for PDF download.
Kitchens;- COSI also specialize in fitted and bespoke Kitchens, with a full design and installation service. Including granite and oak worktops from our own workshop.
AGA
Double click on picture to enlarge it. Click here to view the AGA-Rayburn web site
ALPHA 30th Sept. 2005. Sadly Alpha when into receivership at the beginning of Sept 2005 and some of the designs have been purchased by AGA who have no plans to continue production of the cooker. 6th Nov. 2005. Good news now. A company call Marshall is now in production of a cooker very similar in style and same size and size ovens as the Alpha called the ABA Contact us directly for price and delivery dates 20th June 2006. AGA Rayburn have changed there mind and now produce the equivalent or similar cooker and are calling it the Rayburn 800 series. 8th July 2006. Marshall is in full production, have produce a four oven version with or without a gas or electric hob, and have changed the name from ABA to Marshall. See below for full details. Spare for Alpha cookers can be obtained from www.alphacookerspares.com.
Marshall Cookers from just ( £5,370. inc VAT) The new Marshall comes in a two or 4 oven version with hotplate, gas(LPG or NG) or electric hob. Similar to the Alpha & Rayburn 800 series, it is 1065mm wide (1,500 4 oven). Both have the same sized ovens to the class beating Alpha cooker. They keep the bone shape hob of the Alpha & Sandyford Classic, but unlike the Alpha these do not require a long chimney and are available with a balanced flue out let. Click on pictures to view the new cookers.
Broseley Wood burning cookers and cooker boilers. Very reasonably priced. Gas version of the Rosa also available.
ESSE
Click her to view ESSE cookers web site
Everhot Range Cookers
Click here to see Everhot web site.
HERITAGE Range Cookers
Click here to see Heritage Cookers web site
RAYBURN
Click here to visit the Rayburn web site
SANDYFORD Range Cooker
Please click on item below to down load brochure. Classic
STANLEY, ( Now owned by AGA-Rayburn) Double click on picture to enlarge it.
Click here to visit the Stanley web site
Redfyre Cookers
Click here to visit the Redfyre Cookers web page.
Price Guide;- Please phone 01 227 787587 or email info@cosi.co.uk if you are offered the same item cheaper else where. Please have the price and web address to hand and we will be able to offer you a better price and service. Cooker prices 08click for PDF download.
COSI can offer a wide range of services, from, ‘cash & carry’, full installation kits, to expert installation of your chosen appliance, through almost all of the UK and Northern Europe. We can offer all available appliances and can give advice as to the best and which will suit you best. The prices in this brochure are the best at the time of going to press. Please phone to ensure their accuracy. We believe the prices offered are competitive and reflect the size and efficiency of our company (if you find the same product cheaper elsewhere, please tell us, and we will beat the lower price). If you require information and prices on other items including stoves, fires and chimneys please ask for a copy of our other brochure.Main show room for stoves & cookers:- COSI , 58/60 Wincheap, Canterbury, Kent. CT1 3RS.Tel. 01 227 780 830 Fax. 01 227 787 588 info@cosi.co.uk Kitchens;- COSI also specialize in fitted and bespoke Kitchens, with a full design and installation service. Including granite and oak worktops from our own workshop.
Conventional Range Style Cookers POA.
For advise email only to info@cosi.co.uk For more information and if you have found a better price, Phone 01 227 780 830
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A 1939
AGA (earlier model had legs)
