rayburn cookers - oil fired

[Grahams]

Small disaster has struck our initial plans for kitchen renovation in newly acquired Bourgogne farmhouse - Rayburn have stopped production of oil fired cooker (with central heating) Heatranger model we intended buying in France. UK model still in production but uses different fuel type.
Some time ago in Living France I remember someone advertising renovated Rayburns. Anyone used them or know how I might contact them? Tried searching the Forum but no joy.

[Will]

Rayburn have never, as far as I know, made a model for French heating oil which as you know is heavier than most others. Rayburn did at one stage make a diesel fired version, which might be what you are thinking of; if you can get one of these in France you could run it from agricultural diesel which would work out very economical.

The person to speak to about Rayburns in France is Barry Charman at http://www.tradcookers.com - he has supplied several reconditioned and used Rayburns to France and knows all about the potential problems. I think he told me that he can supply a burner which will work on French oil, though it may need cleaning more frequently. He was also looking into an additive for the oil which could improve matters. There are other companies offering new and used Agas and Rayburns but I have no experience of them.

[Les Flamands]

Standard Vapourising shell burner needs 28sec fuel (kerosene/paraffin) which is not available in France. PJ (Pressure Jet) models are available, the recommended fuel is 28sec kerosene but they will run well on French 35sec diesel. These burners make some noise but should be readily available secondhand, if not new.

Regards

Charles

[GK]

Very interesting replies so far and I will now add one to confuse you even more.

Domestic heating oil in the UK is 28sec and all 'oil fired' appliances are manufactured to use this oil.

Aga and Rayburn are manufactured by the same company and they have an agent in France near Toulouse...Paul Gee (see living France mag).
When we enquired about an oil fired rayburn for our home in France he e-mailed me some details on certain models along with the prices.
We choose one model and then phoned up our local agent to compare the prices. We quoted the model number and were advised that this was for 35sec oil and only available in mainland Europe.

The plot thinkens!!

Mike