Origio Stoves

[Ohdrat]

I am almost definately going to install one and was wondering if anyone has anything to say good or bad about them..

NB I don't like gas, would rather use the external locker space for sailing gear, and the equivalent parrafin stoves are somewhat larger than I ideally would like in a "slightly" space challenged galley

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[clouty]

I lived aboard with a family and an Origa for four years -

Plus side: *They dont blow you up *The oven is good for bread, as wet heat. *They dont blow you up

Negatives *Expensive to run - a litre of meths for baked potatoes. In winter it may be worth it for a warm cabin *If anyone suffers from seasickness, the meths definitely doesn't help *Slow.

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[Guest]

I fitted a 2-burner Origo stove at the start of this season to replace an old gas installation that I didn't trust.

I've found this to be an excellent piece of equipment. It boils a kettle in the same time as the gas stove, and makes a fine job of a fry-up.

My local builders merchant sells meths in 5-litre containers. I can't remember the price, but it was £5 to £8.

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[Windfall]

We installed an Origo 3000 (two burners, no grill or oven) earlier this year and have just had a 12 day holiday. We are very, very pleased with it.

Haven't found it uses much fuel (one litre of fuel has lasted all week with copious tea & meal making - dinner for 8 on two or three occassions).

Its safe, clean, easy to install & use, & is just as quick to boil a kettle as our former gas stove. My only neg. comment? The meth is a bit smelly & a bit sooty. We've got over that by buying denatured alcohol (freely & cheaply available in France or continental Europe).

Will never go back to gas, can't speak highly enough of the Origo. Every boat should have one!

Sharon

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[MG31Man]

An excellent piece of kit - I used one for two years and found it to be first class - very little to go wrong and easy to clean and use. I had the two burner type and I believe that they are cheaper to buy at Compass - it may be worth consulting their catalogue before buying elsewhere.

<hr width=100% size=1>Les Prior

 

[Ohdrat]

Many thanks.. it is somewhat heartening to get real life reports from people who have used the product.. as aposed to sales man speel. Many thanks for your comments everyone

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[kds]

I agree with the positive comments above - and don't find it that expensive.

My last 2 or 3 boats have had them. It is worth keeping them draught-free and the lighters from Origo are the best - but expensive.

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[charles_reed]

Re: Origo Stoves

I had one in my first boat and very quickly converted to gas.

It was expensive to run, produced little heat for cooking, made people below feel seasick and caused several near conflagrations below.

It did have a very good fiddle system.

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[graham]

Re: Origo Stoves

Charles, are you sure yours was an Origo stove?? Ours has NEVER flared up and it seems hard to see how it could as the spirit is all absorbed by cotton wadding inside the tank.

I agree the smell is unpleasant but only really noticeable after refuelling.Also it does blacken the pans a bit.

For the safety bonus I can put up with the above niggles.

Also make sure you get the excellent pan holders and gimbals.

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[kingfisher]

Advantages: safety, availabilty of fuel, small installations (no pipes), easy to light (cfr parafin)

Dissadavatages:
Smell and acridity: has to do with the fuel. if you buy meths at B&Q, they're usually just 80%, with additives (colouring, perfumed). The vilest ones are the bottles with alcohol for cleaning windows; you can't stay inside when burning these (hey, it was that or a cold meal). So buy only the 100% pure stuff, or as pure as possible. Also: the purer the alcohol, the less soot, but also the less the flame is visible (watch out on hot days)

Flaring: all my flare ups were due to user stupidity, i.e. filling up whent the metal is still hot, re-filling from above. But all were easily put out with water from the tap. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY FUEL THAT CAN BE PUT OUT WITH WATER. And that sais it all, I believe.

And coocks somewhat slower than gas.

But I wouldn't want anything else on board.

<hr width=100% size=1>Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
http://sirocco31.tripod.com

 

[charles_reed]

Re: Origo Stoves

Definitely an Origo.

Mind you it was in a small boat and a single-burner - personally I feel the alcohol stove is OK for a weekender but I spend 2 - 4 months at a time on the boat and I cook a lot on board.

Methanol is expensive enough in the UK but reasonably easy to get hold of, go to Europe and both price and unavailability rise geometrically.

The "dangers" of LPG are oft repeated but as nothing compared to those of petrol - yet I hear of no-one proposing to run their outboard on alcohol.

Chacun a son gout, those who are obsessed with the risks of LPG are unlikely to consider the considerable disadvantages of an alcohol stove, especially if their cuisine only extends to tea, instant coffee and warmed baked beans.

My LPG stove has flame-failure on all burners, and excellent thermostatically controlled oven and a reasonably good grill. The piping is armoured high-pressure flexible on either end of 8mm copper. I have had a leak, caused by an end spigot on the gimballed working its way through the wall of the (then unarmoured) flexible my sense of smell picked up immediately, though le Four bank to Aberystwyth was a tribulation without a cup of tea to ease the pain.

The only risks with LPG are down to operator slovenliness, usually taps turned on inadvertently or trying to light the wrong burner.

In any objective comparison, as an effective means of cooking, an alcohol stove loses out to LPG. You only have to look at the comparative thermal co-efficients of the two fuels to realise that.

The primary risks are as great (flare-ups on lighting, spillage on filling), but the secondary are IMHO greater - seasickness causes more offshore accidents than any other single factor.

However where faith rules logic has no place and alcohol-stove owners are amongst the most faithful obsessionals I've come across.

PS I've yet to find a liveaboard who uses an alcohol stove.

In my opinion the most common causes of LPG

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[Mike2822425]

Re: Origo Stoves

Fitted a second hand one recently, anyone now where spares can be obtained?

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[graham]

Re: Origo Stoves

I remember seeing Origo spares in the Compass marine Catalogue.

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[oldsalt]

Re: Origo Stoves

For the past 6 years I have spent between 4 and 12 weeks on board with a crew of 5 , I have an Origo twin burner. Methanol is much cheaper in France than it is in the UK. I don't know about other countries, but I think you will find that despite some peoples views that the UK is part of Europe.

The Origo cooks in a similar manner to gas, and unless you do something very stupid, it is very safe, certainly safer and cheaper in terms of hardware than gas. I think that you will find that my cusine goes beyond beans and coffee...

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[poggy]

Re: Origo Stoves

Hi,

The one thing to think about is insurance and surveys. The rules for gas installations are very strict now and the majority of boats probably don't come close to meeting them. Insurance companies are well within their rights not to pay out if the installation is not up to standard.

We have a spirit stove and quite honestly unless you do live aboard, there seems little point having LPG for the 90% or more owners who only ever boil a kettle or heat snacks. Regardless of the situation, LPG is a very dangerous gas. The risks of spirit stoves are much less than LPG, with a spirit leak the fuel will evaporate, LPG will leak into the bilges and sit there. With proper spirit stoves you don't get flare ups and if you spill when filling it will disappear in a couple of minutes and will be unlikey to produce enough concentration of gas to ignite by spark.


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[Neal]

I can vouch that..

'Windfall's' cuisine goes far beyond instant coffee, tea and warmed baked beans. They are independent, self reliant cruising types who anchor and eat aboard, rather than go into marinas and eat in restaurants.



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