Saturday 13 April 2013

Induction, Dave & The Doors


The Redfyre range we bought for the house operates on the principle of witchcraft, or at least that's what it seems. I'm reminded of Arthur C Clarke's adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

It has an induction hob, a technology with which I'm unfamiliar. You can use cast iron or steel pans on it, but not aluminium (which is why we also have a separate Calorgas hob to one side). The induction principle works on magnets (somehow), with the result that the hob itself doesn't get hot. Place a cast iron pan on the hob and it immediately starts to heat up - alarmingly fast. Remove the pan and the hob is still cool to the touch, the only heat in the hob itself being that radiated back into it by the hot pan.

Allegedly, it's very efficient, both in terms of energy used and heating ability. At a cost of 4 Grand it has to be! It is not something I would normally buy, but given the house was a once-in-a-lifetime project and we were looking to make the house as energy-efficient as possible, it was something I was willing to consider as part of the project cost.


The upper right oven is a fan oven, the lower right is a grill and conventional oven, the door on the lower left hides the oven controls and the space behind the Redfyre logo contains empty space - what a waste!

It has a nice little energy wasting device called Warmfont. It heats the upper front of the top so you can dry your tea towels on the rail. It allegedly uses no more power than a 60W bulb, but I have my doubts.

Finally found a suitable place for Dave - he's in the kitchen now:


The interior doors arrived yesterday - apparently they're made in Romania where their manufacture keeps the entire female population of a village in employment while the men-folk are off seeking work in the rest of Europe...


Not sure whether to oil them or not. Hopefully they'll be hung next week - especially the ones on the loos, much to the relief of The Boy, who can hear me knocking about in the Great Hall at 5am!


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