Luckily, it's remained mild here too - up to 15°C yesterday afternoon. I say 'luckily', as Tuesday evening the Rayburn suffered a 'firebox' malfunction. (I discovered half a grate bar in the ash pan, which allowed a good proportion of the fire to descend into said ash pan) The Rayburn has a complex barred riddle arrangement with seven grate bars where the end of each individual bar is recessed and then dropped onto a pivoted crankshaft looking bar which you can push and pull to agitiate the fire. When the range had cooled on Wednesday morning I cleaned it out, recovered the other half bar and found that the adjacent bar was badly warped as well.
I am a little peed off, as although I bought the Rayburn second hand it had never been used. I stupidly thought that I would get more than a Winter and a half before firebox parts needed replacing. I've found an online supplier in the UK where I can order a set of seven (seemed silly just to ask for a couple of replacements) for about £185 plus carriage. I'm not even sure whether they'll deliver to France, though I have a plan to have them brought over if it's exhorbitantly expensive to get them posted. The supplier chirpily notes 'the grate bars are prone to warping and should be checked and replaced if needed'. At £25 - £30 each I bet he's laughing!
Today, I am indeed 'a grumpy old man'.
