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Whatever happened to eye level grills? (And any sugestions?)

  • 15-05-2013 10:02PM
    #1
    Fogmatic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,012 ✭✭✭


    Sorry this is so long, but it's that sort of story!

    We urgently need to replace a now gas cooker that we bought nearly 20 years ago. It was bog-standard at the time; just a single oven, 4 burners and an eye-level grill, 55cm wide, and usable with bottled gas (butane).
    The eye-level grill is important for us, especially as my husband has a back problem, and bending down can bring it on/make it worse.
    The width is also important, as we built the kitchen around it. Failing a 55cm one, 60cm would be the less difficult option (though that's not saying much!). But I haven't been able to find any eye-level grill one wider than 50cm.

    Our original supplier (The Cope, Dungloe) doesn't do cookers any more. Our local shop can only get one model with an eye-level grill, a 50cm Beko one Ditto Ben Sweeney's, who cautioned that its output wouldn't be very good (something to to with recent Irish regulations - can anyone explain that?) Our nearest Expert store (McGroarty's) can't get eye-level grill ones at all any more. (Why? Anybody know?)

    I breathed a sigh of relief last night when I found the 55cm New World NW55THLG, available online from Currys. Their website didn't specify if it was suitable for bottled gas, but we'd gathered that conversion kits are usually supplied (or an option) with gas cookers in this country. New World's website was being impossible to navigate, and I rang Currys this morning to check (at their number for UK & Ireland, so I made sure they knew I was in Ireland). They assured me it did come with a bottled gas conversion kit, so I immediately ordered it.
    However, shortly after, a sharp-eyed man in their online order department rang us, because he'd noticed we were in Donegal, and wanted to check that I hadn't made a mistake ordering a cooker that can only work with mains gas. So he cancelled the order for me, and we're back to square one.

    Any ideas? An electric oven would be acceptable (we gather modern ones are less expensive to run), but we really, really want gas hobs; and what about the high grill? (Also gas, if at all possible).


Comments

  • #2
    byte
    Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 19,179 Mod ✭✭✭✭byte
    byte


    There is only one model that I know of available in Ireland and that's the Flavel/Beko one, which as you already know, is only 50cm. Not exactly an impressive cooker either. It's quite basic.

    The main brand for eye-levels some years ago was Parkinson Cowan, but Electrolux, the parent company, put paid to those. Presumably, eye level cookers weren't very popular, hence their rarity and demise.


  • #3
    Fogmatic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,012 ✭✭✭Fogmatic


    Thanks for the confirmation, byte (I don't think I'll waste any more time looking!).

    Yes, high grills don't fit with today's fashions (and I can understand it for people who don't really use the grill, being a lifelong wall-cupboard hater!). I'd guess it's not for health-and-safety reasons anyway, with the grills down to child-level (and ovens practically on the floor)!

    Belling seems to have started bucking the trend though http://www.rangecookers.co.uk/files/belling_cookcentre_with_eye_level_grill_launched.html .

    Anyway, we'll just have to get the Flavel/Beko one and somehow add a bit to the worktop etc. It is basic, but that's all we need (and if we go for the dark model, we get a glass door!).


  • #4
    byte
    Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 19,179 Mod ✭✭✭✭byte
    byte


    Interesting about that Belling, haven't seen that one before. Must check on Monday if it's available in Ireland, or if it will be.


  • #5
    Fogmatic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,012 ✭✭✭Fogmatic


    For any fellow-searchers; I googled freestanding gas cookers on Irish sites going back a year, trawling the first 20 pages of results. The following suppliers had 1 or more of the 3 Beko models in question (white with non-glass door, white with glass door, black with glass door). These were their prices (excluding any delivery charges) for the only variation they all stock, the white with glass door (BA51NEWP);

    gasproducts.ie €355
    Currys €370
    Calor €370
    Argos €455
    The Gas Company €600.

    Gasproducts.ie, Calor, & the Gas Company also have the glass-doored one in black (for the same price as white).
    The non-glass-door one was stocked by Argos (€315), Currys (€350) & The Gas Company (€500).

    Gasproducts.ie is based in Scotland but delivers €100+ orders free to R.O.I.

    The Gas Company's offering is pre-converted to LPG. (Is that any big deal? I thought it was a simple job, with a bag of nozzles being included/an option with most gas gookers in Ireland?). Calor's are also pre-converted (to propane, naturally). Calor didn't supply cookers when I last looked a year ago, so only the more recent web knows it's started/restarted doing them.

    So I'm going for the glass door option (all the way from Scotland!). It's not much more than the the cheapest non-glass one, especially once Argos's €18 delivery is added.

    Oh, and the gas cooker suppliers in my search results that don't have the Beko models;
    Power City, D.I.D, Redmond, Delta (Euronics), Harvey Norman, Mullen Domestic, Electro City, Soundstore, Armagh Electrical. Amazon has some but doesn't deliver such heavy things to this country (and were dearest apart from the Gas Company anyway).


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