Considering getting rid of Aga

[ChocolateWombat]

Hello. We live in a Victorian 3 bed semi, which had an Aga when we moved in. It is about 60 years old and was solid fuel but had been converted to gas.
It is an attractive egg blue and is good for drying washing and keeping the kitchen warm. However, I am not a keen cook and don't make the best of it in terms of doing lots of slow cooked stews etc. I feel like it is gobbling gas and costing lots and that I can't justify it just for looking nice and drying clothes.

Has anyone ever had one taken out? Was it expensive? Did it create a massive mess and mean you needed a lot of work done in your kitchen? Did your gas bills drop dramatically? We're you pleased you did it?

Just trying to work out if there is a big benefit to removing it or if we should stick with it.

Thanks so much for your help.

[anapitt]

I would never remove an aga ! I love them

[Armadale]

I've never had one taken out, I don't have one where I currently live and really, really miss it.

Before you have it taken out, can you check with a knowledgeable estate agent- I know the area where I am from an Aga easily adds 10k to the asking price, so might be worth checking you aren't losing out by getting rid.

Also, I'd wonder how much colder a 3 bed semi would be without it- the heat it generates does tend to lift the overall temperature of the house, not just the kitchen, ime.

[LibraryBook]

Do you have a radiator in your kitchen? If not you are going to have to have your central heating extended to include your kitchen. Has your boiler got that spare capacity? You should have that bit costed.

I have an Aga and wouldn't dream of taking it out. Even though it's costly to run, I think it saves us money ultimately. Our food shopping is much cheaper as we can slow cook brisket on Sunday, instead of rib of beef. And most days in the winter I slow cook a casserole or soup/stock. When our apple tree is full of apples I make slow caramelised apples in the Aga to put in Kilner jars and we grow tomatoes and slow roast them overnight and out them in Kilner jars with garlic & herbs and topped off with olive oil. And it dries masses of our laundry. Ours works really hard for us.

Perhaps you should try to learn how to use it better?

[TunipTheUnconquerable]

My parents have saved quite a bit of money since they started regularly turning their Aga down rather than leaving it hot for most of the year.

[LibraryBook]

Our Aga (a mains gas 4 oven) costs about £45 a week to run iirc. I don't think that's bad for a beast that cooks all our food, dries our clothes, irons them, heats our large kitchen. We'd probably need 2 large radiators (and where would they go?), a triple oven (we are a family of 6), a huge hob, a kettle, a toaster, a toasted sandwich making machine, more clothes drying, more ironing. I'm sure that would all work out similarly.

[Rockdoctor]

A friend of mine had theirs taken out. Main problem was getting rid of it (yes they're worth lots but it costs as much to shift it), and also finding a cooker to fit in the space as its not a regular size. Having said that, she has no regrets and I'm just a wee bit envious of her lovely new range cooker!

[apricot72]

Our oil fired aga was in the house when we moved in 7 years ago. We can't wait to get rid of it, it is hugely expensive to run, ridiculously big and the most un-environmentally friendly way to cook on earth. Yes it is good for cooking stews, soups etc and you can dry your socks on it and the dogs like it and you don't really have to clean it much but that doesn't make up for the fact that every time I see it, I see crisp tenners going up in smoke and the world's oil resources gently flowing down the plughole....

Anyone like to buy a 2nd hand aga?!

[fresh]

There is a secondhand market in Agas, but you do have to factor in the cost of moving the damn thing. You'll may find that it's bedded on concrete which will need to be removed. I know someone who replaced her Aga with a Mercury range and she's much happier with that.

[ChocolateWombat]

Thanks everyone. Food for thought. Haha!
Yes we would need a radiator and there is the Q is where to put it and the costs associated with that.
Our gas and electricity is £108 per month combined. What do you think about that as a figure. Of course we don't know how much is related to the Aga.

[RandomMess]

Your gas and electric sound reasonable for you property.

I live in an incredibly warm very tiny 3 bed mid terrace and we pay £60 per month for combined fuel bills. We hardly have our heating on at all and have low ceilings etc.

[enriquetheringbearinglizard]

The combined gas and electric bill sounds reasonable to me.
Have you got any space for a second cooker at the moment? even something small with a couple of rings on top. Then you could leave the Aga in situ and switch it off for a while, see how you get on without it.

[ChocolateWombat]

Hi. no room for another cooker. Some years we have turned it off for about 6 weeks if it has been very hot. Have had a 2 ring burner we have plugged in and used the microwave which also has a combi oven and grill in it. Those weeks are not very easy for cooking. For thatvreason, we haven't turned it off last couple of years, but are then rather hot. Our house is a typically sized 3 bed semi, so the kitchen is not huge. I imagine most Agas are in bigger kitchens.

[RandomMess]

Hmm you can get plug in induction rings now as well...

I just think the cost of removing etc. I think it would take a long time to recoup any savings?

Could you make your kitchen/diner more open plan to make the most of the heat it pumps out?

I loved cooking on an aga in a previous home.

[enriquetheringbearinglizard]

Well, on the one hand I think life's too short to put up with something you dislike if you can do something about it, but on the other, what it would cost to get the Aga moved out would probably swallow most if not all, of the second hand sale price and then you'd have to buy some kind of similar sized cooker to fit the gap. If you didn't do that you'd have to sort out something for the gap a regular sized cooker would leave.

All in all I'd keep the Aga if it were me, but then I cook on one and love it, so perhaps not the best person to ask. There are quite a few companies who buy old Agas if you Google, you could try one and just see what they say without obligation? One I found says they buy any pre 1974 two oven model and they also say they make an offer from photos you send them and then they'll stick to that offer.
At least then you could work out the financial side of changing.

[LtEveDallas]

We have just bought a house with an Aga, I've been panicking about it ever since. But bloody hell it looks beautiful

Have you looked into Aga Intelligent Management System (AIMS)? I've had a nosey at it and it seems as if you can get it 'added' to your Aga to get make it programmable - so that it turns down at night and when you don't need it. It costs a bit (over a grand) but that's probably what it's going to cost you to move it and replace it I think.

I'm persevering (haven't moved in yet- I'm jumping the gun) and have suggested to DH that we chuck money at it before we get there.

[tobiasfunke]

We got rid of ours - it was just too expensive and inflexible. We have a very cold farmhouse and it heated our big kitchen dining room. We found when we took it out that one large radiator did the same job but more cheaply. We tired to sell it in situ but all the dealers were coming down with AGAS so they were going to charge about £200 to dismantle and take it away.

So we got rid of it ourselves- got the plumber to do the gas bit and then DH took it apart. You can buy an ebook on the internet for about £10 with a step by step guide to removing it. It was really easy. It's basically a few doors, a couple of filmsy sides and the space is filled with vermiculite. When you see how it's constructed it is scandalous how much they charge. We then sold it on gumtree.
I now have a lovely big range cooker instead and have never regretted it.

[PigletJohn]

there are people who have an Aga for show, and a modern cooker hidden away for actual use.

Don't like them myself. But it's no worse a fantasy possession than having a Ferrari in the garage that doesn't go.

[Tweedjacket]

Before you get rid of it, I'd recommend going on an Aga course at your local Aga shop if possible, as for about £10-15 they'll do a two hour workshop in how to get the most out of your Aga. I realise you're not a keen cook, but you might find there are things you never realised you could do on it and that might mean you can get more out of your Aga and justify your running a costs a little more?

[ChocolateWombat]

Thanks for the advice about going on a course and also about looking into AIMS. I should def explore these things before making a decision. Of course,mooing nothing is the easiest option and I will need to really believe getting rid of it, with all the bother than entails, is worth the gain. So yes, perhaps trying to get more out of it is the right approach.
If I was moving house or choosing a new cooker,mi definitely would not go the for an Aga, despite all the things many of you love about them. But here I am with one, so should get every benefit from it that I can.
Thanks for all the really helpful comments.

[MadamMadness]

I'm delighted that someone has asked this question because I have been trying to get rid of my very old AGA for 2 years now. The cheapest quote I have had is for £300 to remove it. Several people have suggested I take it apart myself and there is an e-book out there which will tell you how. (Get a plumber to disconnect the gas or have the oil connection removed first).

However, be warned!!! AGAs that are over a certain age are not filled with insulating vermiculite, they are filled with Fuller's Earth instead. Fuller's Earth is a harmless powder but I have been warned it makes a dreadful mess and goes all over your kitchen. If the AGA has been reconditioned fairly recently, the powder will have been replaced with vermiculite which is much less messy.
Sadly, I'm not sure how you tell what you've got until you start to disassemble it.

I've chosen a wood fired range to replace it btw since I have a plentiful supply of wood.

If you do find out how to get rid of it, please let me know what you did.

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

I can tell you what we did, Madam. Had a gas powered 4 oven job, were moving house and buyers didn't want it. Didn't have much time to do it ourselves in the end, so paid about £400 for an engineer to come and dismantle. Even with the vermiculite filling it was messy and took two days (the guy wore a big protective mask).
Turned out we couldn't install it in our new house (would have looked fantastic under the mantlepiece), but when we actually totted up what it had been costing us we were quite sanguine about letting it go.
The 'range' cooker we have now has three ovens and a grill (includes a slow oven), abd does everything yhe Aga did except press clothes. And we can now make a proper stir-fry.
It now sits dismantled in the shed so we need to sell it, but don't anticipate getting a great price for it. Even Aga themselves have given up trying to justify them on cost; why else are they making umpteen different 'evo' models now?

[Sunnyshores]

Sorry a rude interuption!

could anyone who's replaced their beloved Aga pop over to my thread and give me a hand please...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2326799-Gas-hob-large-Range-oven-suggestions?

[hereandtherex]

Agas are fine if you are cooking all day - think a busy hotel, or (old) farmhouse, where you are constantly doling out food and cooking. I know - I worked on a farm and at a hotel. The aga was great for those.

If you are a normal - less than 10 people - family then Aga are a stupid, expensive waste of time.

I would never buy a house with an Aga in place. I would ask for it to be removed.

[bilbodog]

Agas are a one off purchase. Whilst my aga will still be going strong in another 15 years every one else will have replaced their more modern cooker or range at least twice. Factor that in to the price. If you learn how to cook on an aga properly it should cost less to run. Most t hings should be cooked in the ovens and very little on the Hobbs which is where the heat loss comes in. I love love my aga and moved it from our last house to the one.