Huge rayburn fuel bill

[Nathan Folland]

Hi all

Im after some advice regarding my mothers rayburn .

I think its a rayburn supreme (sorry i can't give a more definitive answer , she has just been around worrying about it so not had a chance to go and get a serial number ) .

Basically it uses huge amounts of oil (1500 litres in 6 weeks ! ) . It runs the heating and and she also cooks on it .

We have been told by the guy who services it it was once a solid fuel rayburn that has been converted to oil . She has got to the point now where she can no longer afford to run it and no engineer seems to keen to get involved .

last winter she ran out of oil in january and she lives on the highest point of dartmoor in an old cottage where the temperature can hit - 15.

money is a bit of an issue so I have been looking at second hand rayburn 480k but there seems to be quite a few issues surrounding them . so my question is what in your opinions would you say is causing the inefficiency with the limited info i have given and what would be your choices of a good 2nd hand model .

Any advice would be gratefully received .
Thanks in advance
Nathan

 

[Ermintrude]

Incorrect set up? Poor maintainer. Oil stolen

 

[morganb]

An obvious question is to ask what the insulation is like? Also many older customers I know run the heating 24/7 at 25degC, how does she run the heating?

Even so, it seems massively excessive.

 

[lame plumber]

a normal rayburn solid fuel conversion throws out around 7kw and uses around 13cc a minute on high. your figures of 1500 litres in 6 weeks equates to some 25cc a minute, somethings wrong there, more like its been syphoned off, or is leaking away. has anyone inspected the tank, is it a rusting metal heap? What ever you do avoid rayburn nouvelles, 30kw output with 50cc plus fuel rate per min!!!!! My other query is how a solid fuel conversion can mange HW, heating and cooking?

youdbe better putting in a decent oil boiler and a small 208/308k rayburn for cooking if she still wants one.

 

[WHPES]

1500 litres in 6 weeks sounds like a leak or fuel theft.

However the oil conversions are a bit of a fudge - the combustion chambers aren'r really designed for oil and you are never going to come close to the kind of efficiencies you would get from an up-to-date model such as the Rayburn 680KCD. We have the previous version of this fitted in our house (The 480KB), and it is very economical.