The Sandyford Cottage cooking range

Early on in the design, I'd decided I really liked the idea of a Heritage oil-fired cooker/boiler.
I'd seen pictures of boats like Barolo and Quaintrelle which had them fitted and thought they looked lovely.

Not only that, they have some big advantages: they are very compact, being only standard kitchen unit depth and only about 830mm wide, but with an oven big enough to take a large turkey!
The cookers can also go from cold to 200C in 10 minutes or so - not much longer than a domestic gas or electric oven. This is very different to the Aga I grew up with - almost impossible to light and which took forever to get up to a decent cooking temperature!

There are two makes/models of these cookers, identical in all but styling: The Heritage Compact Duette and the Sandyford Cottage. They both have 60,000BTU boilers and twin burners - one for cooking the other for hot water/heating. The slightly scary thing is the price - budget for around £6,500 for a new one!

However, when you offset this against the cost of a 'normal' diesel-fired central heating unit, plus a cooker, plus the gas bottles, etc, it begins to look more attractive. And of course, it meant the possibility of a gas-free boat!

A point of concern was whether the cooker would make the boat too hot in summer, but a conversation with Quaintrelle's owners confirmed 'it's the best thing on the boat!'

Being on a strict budget, I ran routine searches on eBay and other online sites for a second-hand unit. Finally, I struck lucky and found one for sale on eBay (albeit in a rather startling yellow!). I 'sniped' it at the maximum I was prepared to pay and won the auction at £785! Happy days. A specialised transport company moved it very carefully from Kent up to XR&D in Ollerton.
https://www.rangeremoval.com/

I then called in a local specialist to remove the burners, give them a good overhaul and install the necessary diesel pre-heater to convert it from kerosene operation.

Bearing in mind I'd taken a big risk by buying this unseen, I was a bit anxious when I lifted the cover off to take a look. But to be honest, with a good clean, I think it will look fine. The yellow colour is nicer than it appeared in the photos, too. It might be worth getting the top re-enamelled, but otherwise, I think I've got a bargain. Now I just need Lee and Gary to build the boat round it!!