Model of an open range, 1841-1850.

This is a model of an open range. For domestic cooking and heating, the open range was an intermediate technology between the inefficient open hearth and the relatively efficient close range. The increasing use of coal for fuel in preference to wood, which was in short supply, required the redesign of the primitive free-standing fire grate. In rural areas, particularly in the north of England where wrought and cast iron was now more widely available, open ranges enjoyed a brief popularity.

This maker's model shows the typical arrangement, with baking oven on the left with its own fireplace, a large open fire grate in the centre (which could be made smaller by the movable cheeks) for roasting meats on a spit, and the hot water boiler at the back, which was filled by hand and heated by conduction from the fire. Constant hot water was drawn off from the tap on the right. Contemporary models of open ranges, other than toys or ornaments, are now exceedingly rare.