WHICH FUEL?
Country STYLE need-to-know
Range cookers used to only be oil-fired, but you can now buy models powered by gas, electricity and even wood.
if you don’t Have access to the mains gas supply, oil is still a popular choice. As a basic guide*, a four-oven range will typically burn 50L a week and cost £20-22.
gas is cheaper than oil burning, costing around £15-18 a month for a four-oven storage heater. Remember though, these always-on designs will use significantly more fuel than a cooking-only range cooker.
all-electric Heat storage Range cookers are extremely convenient to install, requiring nothing more than a plug and a socket, but it comes at a price, with always-on designs costing upwards of £40 a week to run.
dual-fuel (gas and electric) cookers such as those from Rangemaster, Leisure or Smeg are far more efficient, costing from £20-30 a year to run, purely because they’re not designed for space heating.
Wood-fired Ranges offer an ecofriendly alternative. However, you’ll need to factor in log storage and delivery, and unless you own your own forest, wood remains an expensive fuel. For this option, we love this Esse 990 model, which boasts an energy efficiency of 85% and is suitable for use in smoke-control zones. Featuring a six-pan hotplate and three large ovens, each of which can be set to different temperatures, it’s quick to light and once hot will stay that way for eight hours.