Let's say you have. And you've got an Everhot cooker. You're feeling pretty good about your renewable energy setup. But one evening, you pop a casserole in the oven, flick on the kettle, and, wait a minute, where's all that lovely free solar energy gone?
Fridges that ran for 20+ years...
If you were a top chef, cooking next to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage, what cooker would you have in your own dream kitchen?
A quick way to do it is to compare it against the competition.
Well, in 2025, it's the new star of the show.
A customer recently returned to buy a second Everhot appliance.
It's fair to say kitchens in new-builds aren't exactly what you'd call spacious these days.
That "I'm still young, right?" moment can hit you like a frying pan to the face. Well, in November last year, Everhot celebrated its 45th anniversary. That's 45 years of cooking up something a little different...
200 years ago, people would've been cooking over wood-fired stoves. 100 years ago, it was coal. And today, it's mostly electric cookers.
There's something about them that stays with you, no matter how many times you've been to them, you always come back next year.
And in the past year that I've been sending out this weekly email, I realised I've neglected to mention them...
There's a bit of trivia for you!
And for me, there's one kind of cooker that really is in a league of its own this time of year: The wood-fired cooker.
But it's more than just that. It's one of the most eco-friendly heaters out there.
But the most popular cooker in my showroom is usually NOT put in the kitchen.
You see, I've always thought there's something special about a cooker that's built to last, and when it comes to one cooker in particular, they've been proving their worth for nearly 170 years...
I had one customer in today who was dreading them...
So, I've put together ten ways you can put your range cooker to work which may surprise you, and none of them involve cooking.
Maybe a car that's from the wrong period, an actor whose outfit suddenly changes in the same scene, or a misplaced camera that gets caught in a reflection, things like that.
Well, that's me, but with cookers.
(If you've not heard of it before, take a look here.)
Now, here's the fun part...
Everhot recently unveiled their latest shade, and it's already turning heads...
Picture this: the magnificent Blenheim Palace, glorious sunshine, and the temperature soaring to a toasty 28 degrees. Now, what would you expect at an event like this?
I don't think so.
A customer was telling me about her fond childhood memories of spending time in their kitchen around a wood-fired stove.
If you have, I'd really recommend watching this quick video.
There's one for practically everything these days, and cookers & kitchens are no exception!
All things were going swimmingly until a customer asked a question about our wood-fired cookers. Since we'd about finished showing everyone the electric cookers, we figured we had time to add a wood-fired cooker into the mix.
And so the question inevitably pops up: "Do you do the whole kitchen or just cookers?"
It seems to me like every day, more people are curious about making the switch to induction.
However, let me tell you from personal experience that trying to clean an Everhot cooker while it's on is a little tricky!
And I find that when it does, it's because the other half isn't fussed with whatever cooker they end up with.
But what I didn't expect was to see Keith walk through the door of the showroom one day...
And I get it - when you buy something new, you want to use it right away. But that's not always possible. Especially if it's a custom-built cooker.
However, there was a lovely lady who visited just before Christmas...
It's a video of chef David Pengelly as he walks you through a full day of cooking using an Everhot cooker.
They know you by name, yet you're left scratching your head without a clue to who they are!
You either play along and pretend you know them or awkwardly reveal you've completely forgotten.
But having a his-and-hers cooker was a new one for me!
However, that's exactly what this couple wanted...
They quite literally cannot believe it.
An Oxford Professor was one of the latest to be amazed when I told him...
We immersed ourselves in the specifications and thoroughly explored all the customization possibilities. Then, when it came time to choose a colour, let's just say things got interesting...
So I thought, challenge accepted!
Honestly, I'd be the same if I were investing in something that'd be a centrepiece in my home for the next 20+ years.
They visited the showroom and brought along two friendly Jack Russell Terriers.
After they'd settled on an Everhot cooker, they said:
"The dogs are going to love it".
It's been 20 years since I opened the showroom in Princes Risborough.
That's flown by!
More than 40 years ago, a watermill owner had a problem:
He needed a cooker that could run on a small, steady stream of electricity that matched the supply generated by his watermill.
Do you know it?
After a quick Google search, I have to say it's shot to the top of my 'must visit' list!
It's down in Cornwall. Imagine the quintessential seaside village. The sort of place you'd picture on a postcard.