Oldest Rayburn Conversion yet - Rayburn no. 3

Recently carried out a conversion on this no3 Rayburn. It was originally installed in 1953 as solid fuel, then was converted to oil, and is now electric.

Not bad for a 68 year old!

Lot's of Rayburn action, and my own new converted Rayburn

The Rayburn conversions are proving very popular, with record levels of enquiries. There is still space to have yours converted before Christmas (if there will be one this year!). Recently converted models include Royal, Nouvelle, OF22, 480K 400G, 200SFW, and I will be converting my first Supreme next week.

I recently acquired my own solid fuel Rayburn, which I have now converted with the Energiser kit. It has only been running a couple of weeks and is housed in our conservatory with my converted aga, so we are spoilt for choice!

It was a 200 SFW. So far results are showing a warm up time for the main oven of about 1 hr to get to 200 degrees C, which is fine for roasting, and a good background heat is provided when the oven is set to about 150 degree C.

The hob is independently controlled from the oven, and heats up very quickly, so we are able to cook on just the hob, or just the oven or both. As we use it more over the winter i will be trying to keep a track of running costs, which I will share when I know more.

Recycling waste from an aga conversion

Here is a picture of some of the components removed from a 2 oven aga during a conversion as they are no longer needed.

So what happens to them all when they are removed from site?

Only a very small proportion of everything removed from the aga goes to landfill, and this is because it cannot be reused, repurposed or recycled.

All the metal components are either passed on to other aga owners or servicing companies for reuse, or are repurposed into something completely different from which they were designed for. This has included boot scrapers, letter boxes, plant pots, barbeques and patio heaters, shelf brackets, garden steps, paving slabs, shed supports, table centrepieces, and ‘steampunk’ lamps – the list is growing! Anything left over is recycled at a local scrapyard.

What is not shown in the picture are the typically five bin bags of vermiculite insulation we remove from an aga, and replace with a much more efficient thermal blanket. As long as the vermiculite is not contaminated with oil or small amounts of asbestos (which it can be in older agas), it is sold to local gardening club members for soil enrichment, and proceeds go towards supporting the Hamble Life Boat Fund. It can also be used to fill the cavities in a chimney when a flue liner has been inserted, as it is completely fireproof.

Oil and gas burners, and oil control valves are reconditioned and sold as spares, or scrapped if no longer viable.

If any panels are removed for re-enamelling, the originals are returned to the enamelling company, to provide newly enamelled panels for the next customer.

Currently, the only waste product from a conversion going to landfill is the layer of woolly fibreglass insulation found under the top plate of an aga, or inside the lids. This is unrecyclable and currently cannot be reused.

Converting your aga generates very little waste. The conversion kit components are designed to have a long life, and your aga then should provide good service for many more years to come, without costing the earth.

Latest Rayburn conversion to electric

Just converted this beautiful dark blue Rayburn 212 SFW to electric power. It now has a far more controllable main oven and hob., and much easier and cleaner to use than coal. An electric timer is fitted to the power supply, sothe oven can come on automatically in the morning to provide room warmth at breakfast time, and be switched off overnight when not being used.