agas-heating and cooking

[superwoman]

Building a new house and considering installing an aga. Does anyone know if they will heat as well as be good to cook on? Any advice would be greatly apperciated.

 

[stonewall]

hi
my parents have an aga from around 1985 great for loads of hot water and baking but a bit impractical since the family have left home It can not be turned off when not required as it must cool for a day before you can re light it. It now produces too much hot water for their needs and can not be used for central heating.

We have a rayburn which we use for central heating, hot water and cooking it is more practical, heats up fast and looks good we also have a gas hob for times when we dont want to heat up the cooker for a small cooking job.

 

[Kelmar]

We have an aga and when it was installed we looked at whether we should have it plumbed to heat the water as well. We used some technical data sheets (available from AGA) showing fuel consumption with and without water heating and in the end we decided not to because firstly it burns more fuel if its heating the water as well as cooking and secondly you end up having too much hot water which is not needed and is wasted. My parents do have the hot water plumbing and they have to turn on the hot tap regularly just to release the excessive build up of hot water.

Hope this helps...

 

[march_hare]

Hi Superwoman, I am currently weighing up the pros and cons of installing an Aga or other range in a new build. Having visited the Aga store and seen their fact sheets plus speaking to Aga owners and users, I am discounting it for us. Primarily because of the outlays involved - yes it heats water, and to some extent your kitchen and cooks beautifully but a separate heating boiler is still required. Running costs for the two items have to be considered as well.
I am leaning towards the likes of a Rayburn or Waterford Stanley Brandon at the moment - as one of the previous posters said you get your heat, hot water and cooking and they can be easily turned on and off, unlike the Aga. Most users also have a gas hob ,and even an electric oven too in some cases.
The Aga is beautiful though and if I was at home more by day and biofuel was readily available (which incidentally the new models can run on) it might have been different.

 

[paintpotmen]

Hi we used to have aga at home, kitchen was always warm and inviting.

We're building soon and thinking about putting in an aga- does anyone know how much they are costing nowadays?

Cheers

Paintpotmen

 

[Disposition]

I too am looking at buying an aga for a new build. Wondering whether to go for Oil or electric. I notice on the aga website that they now do an electric version that can heat up at different times of the day, ideal for houses that are not lived in by day. Cost of oil 'classic' is about 11 or 12K I think. Currently live in a house with an old oil aga and love it, infact I find that I burn things I cook on the electric cooker!

 

[jemu]

Hi we used to have aga at home, kitchen was always warm and inviting.

We're building soon and thinking about putting in an aga- does anyone know how much they are costing nowadays?

Cheers

Paintpotmen

hi 2 oven aga a little over 11000euro, 3 oven 13000 and the 4 oven 14600 this is for the electric ones with the AIMS system. hope this is a guide think the gas and oil are slightly c heaper. think i am going for an s series myself as it haS the look with out the running cost only cooks, around 8500.

 

[angela59]

Hi there,

I've had an aga since we built our house 15 years ago. I had a reconditioned aga put in - you don't necessarily have to go for the brand new ones, out looked brand new going in, new ovens, new burner etc but the front was the original just repainted. It is oil and on gravity feed so if the electric ever goes, the aga still runs doesn't need the electricity. It doesn't heat radiators but it does keep the house at a certain temperature throughout even upstairs. In my opinion the main advantages are, you can dry clothes shoes during winter, you can boil kettle, tons of hot water, keeps kitchen area warm no need to have rads on there unless it is -1 or -2 outside, brilliant for cooking, grilling, roasting, baking. There is a knack to them though, if you're doing alot of cooking the heat can go down in the oven. If you have oil, they brilliant they are on 24 hours a day and not a timer but you wouldn't have stanley on 24 hours a day with the jet burner inside they would be very expensive to run the idea of a stanley is you have it on from time to time morning and evening. I've been very happy with mine, but we are hoping to build next year and are going geothermal and away from oil so it would not be feasible for me to have AGA in but will miss it.

 

[Abbica]

Hi, we are in the process of a new build and we are putting an aga in, through a bit of debate and a lot of persuasion from myself. It is kind of a family tradition so I really wanted one as I know the pros far outway the cons, i.e.cost, but whatever you buy there is always going to the positives/negatives/costs.
I have done a bit of research on this and we have decided to get a re-conditioned aga as it is exactly like new (it's going to be midnight blue to go with our cream kitchen, yummy). We are going to use this during the winter months (sept -Mar/April), only need one full tank of oil, we were told. Supposedly the better way to go and electric AGA ends out costing a wee bit more to run, due to re-heating etc., and costlier to buy.
Along with this we are getting the new electric aga companion which sits on the end of the Aga or you can put it elsewhere in the kitchen but we like the four door aga look. This will be used inthe summer months. Altogether it looks fabulous.
Our re-conditioned oil Aga is €6,500 (england quotes generally the same) and the companion is €2,500 but shop around as the price difference can be huge, e.g. one place quoted me €5,000 for the electric module!! We haven't fully decided yet on heating hot water also but that can be decided on in a few years down the line, some cold winters day when we are sitting in our toasty kitchen with a lovely pot of tea!