Aga/Rayburn

Any Aga/Rayburn or cast iron range cooker owner will probably tell you that they would never want to switch back to conventional ovens. Many people covet owning a classic Aga or cast iron range cooker. However, there are often concerns from prospective purchasers about how economical or environmentally friendly this stylish addition to their home would be. Things have changed significantly in recent years with Aga/Rayburn introducing new appliances and features as well as items that can be 'retro-fitted' in order to make existing appliances more in keeping for an age in which green issues are at the forefront of everyone's minds. Aga, celebrating its 300th anniversary this year, with a range of free cookery demonstrations in its Aga shops, has introduced a system called AIMs (AGA Intelligent Management System).This allows your AGA to slumber when you're not using it to cook, but to be ready to use when you need it. The system was introduced in 2006 and has proved so popular that in the first two months of 2009 over half of all AGAs sold were AIMs models. It can also be retro-fitted to some existing models and offers a reduction in energy usage and consequent savings. Aga has also developed a biofuel ready cooker which can currently run on oil or diesel but with a minor modification will be able to run on biofuel as soon as it is readily commercially available. And as Aga enthusiasts will never tire of telling you AGAs are never found on scrap sites, are made from scrap metal in the first place, reduce your need for small electrical appliances and give a lifetime's service which means that you are not creating landfill either. For more information about AGAs including their running costs visit the AGA website at www.aga-web.co.uk The much overlooked sibling of AGA, and nowadays made by the same company, is the Rayburn. Rayburns are very similar in appearance to AGAs and some models offer the controllability of a conventional oven. Rayburns can be either cooking only models or provide central heating and hot water. The new Rayburn 380CD is the only range cooker with an 'A' efficiency rated central heating boiler built in. The boiler has been awarded this rating after being independently tested. Tests have shown the boiler is more than 90% efficient. As well as pioneering condensing technology, the Rayburn 480 CD also uses modulating technology which ensures it only produces the output required for the size of home. This means it can heat a two-bedroom property as efficiently as a five-bedroom home. For those looking for a carbon-neutral solution to reducing their footprint, Rayburn offer solid fuel models and for a more recent innovation the Rayburn Heatranger can now be combined with Solar Thermal Collectors to enable the sun to provide up to 65% of a home's hot water needs and achieve fossil fuel savings of up to 60% a year. For more information on Rayburn visit www.rayburn-web.co.uk