AGA SAGA

[Bowerbird5]

Hi,
We have had the same kitchen for thirty years and I have been procrastinating over a new one on and off for a year. Yes, I know!
So it is a country cottage with an outside door in the corner. Then a short run of units under a new window which at present has a double and a half sink( one was for horse bucket, chicken feeders, other for people) then worktop to corner. Under is sink unit, dishwasher, washing machine at a bloody awkward angle because I bought dishwasher because I had four kids and was studying full- time. Turn. There is presently the original No. 2 Rayburn which we had put back in after damp proof done (30 yr) which was working and was a Godsend when I was living on a building site with three young kids( 8,5, 18mths) but later on when it needed new fire bricks and a new thermostat and money was tight ( still, baby 4) DH said it was taking too much wood and refused to fix it so it was disconnected but left in situ. Houses all my pans. I did miss it, especially in winter. We had put a Coalbrookdale Severn in for CH originally in inglenook in sitting room.
Then continued run of units including a single electric cooker in middle of these. Dresser at back wall. Radiator on next wall and doorway to house.
Are you still with me, sorry?
So we have had some kitchen plans drawn up in the summer and changed one lot twice ( too clinical for us) but not including any range. Now it is winter and I have been ill for seven weeks and so Christmas and then off work. Of course it has got me thinking and changing my mind a bit. The house is very thick stone two inside walls are 15 and 17 inches thick including kitchen 17" and the planners made us change the rotten oak solid door for a full glass panel door as it only had one smallish, half sash window and we knock down a wall inside. So it is often cold in winter. We had a big table for six squeezed in but now have a small one for two and put the other in dining room/ playroom as was. So when I retire I'm thinking that I would quite like an Aga, Rayburn, Esse. We don't have mains gas and will never be getting it, too many hills apparently.
So to all you knowledgeable Range owners I would like to know the pros and cons. DH will not go for solid fuel although it would keep him fit Ashe retires in a year or so. Older than me😁 I think part of me just loves the country kitchen look being a bit of a rural romantic but I wonder whether it is the right thing. So types, cost of running and would we need the flue where there is one or I see some photos where I can't see one. I know they have moved on a lot since our baby. We could put one into design where cooker is now. Another problem as I love it and intended keeping it but the oven went off with Christmas Cake and twice since that we have noticed,so part of the reason for a re think. Counting up it is about 12 yrs so if I am going to replace it could I have my Aga? Don't know anything about the electric ones. We have a decent size garden and could put oil in I suppose but means my veggie patch will have to go probably or could swap chickens over.
I thought I had this sorted until I was off ill but not sure if we would eat in kitchen in winter if retired.
DH is not keen and rolling his eyes about Range. I have a secret stash and can afford one but it is a lot of money on top of a new, possibly bespoke kitchen and I am half Scot. I'd have to live to 90's to reap full benefit. We do have some hardy Senior citizens here 80's , 90's and one reached a 100!
Sorry for such a long post but I know SOME people on Mumsnet don't like drip feeding so I think all the info is here. I must say I prefer this corner to some of the other bits. AIBU - some would say LTB if if wont agree to a Range! AIBU? I would like to know about any pitfalls remembering we will both be on pension in six years 😳 where did that time go?
Look forward to your opinions. Remember it maybe life-changing.
Oh and unfortunately our AGA shop closed down so it is a bit of a trek. If I had known that I might have been in there for a cheaper deal but I try and avoid the city centre. It was last year I think.

[Bowerbird5]

😳 oh it was long! Sorry!

[justforthisthread101]

I just about made my way through all of that

I grew up with an Aga and when I was redoing our house four years ago (we're at the lifestyle you were at 30 years ago!) seriously considered one. But....
...they are very expensive to buy (even reconditioned)
....very expensive to run
....not environmentally friendly as they're on all the time

and (we live in the SE) redundant in the summer as you'd have to switch it off so you'd have to have another source of cooking anyway.

Sorry to pour cold water on the idea.....could you get a cooker that looks a bit more rangey to go with the look you want?

[schloss]

We have oil fired AGA. Very old stone house with thick walls. It is our only source of cooking. We keep it on all year. It is oil fired. There are various website with the runnings costs for different fuels. I cannot think of any cons with ours. There is a part of the house which is always warm, the cost of oil is offset against using electric for other cooking applicances in addition to using central heating less as the AGA does warm parts of the house without the need for the radiators.

Ours is over 40 years old and 5 years ago we had it refurbished so it had a facelift and lots of new insulation added.

[schloss]

Sorry pressed enter too soon!
I think with an AGA, part of it is accepting it will be more expensive to run and purchase (would always suggest reconditioned) than a standard electric/gas cooker but they do bring other benefits as I have previoulsy mentioned. I have no experience of the electric ones or the ones with the AIMS (I think that is its name) where it is on a timer but for us it works. They are not for everyone but as you are already used to traditonal ranges it may be right for you.

[DuckOffAutocorrectYouShiv]

What about an Everhot electric range? Same chunky countrified good looks as the AGA, Rayburn et al but more controllable and you just plug in and go.

I have a more modern dual fuel (gas/electric) range style in my city kitchen, so can’t advise on what the Everhot is like to live with.

[Battleax]

Have one for the sheer joy of it and live to 100 to make it pay

[bilbodog]

I wanted an AGA for years and eventually got one 18 years ago. Love it and we moved it with us 7 years ago to our new home. We will be moving again in about 5 years and will either take it with us again or budget to buy again. I bought a new one first time round but if buying again would go second hand or refurbished. They are expensive but friends who bought ordinary modern range cookers are on their second ones now and mine is still going strong. They do need servicing every year like a boiler (although i think electric ones dont) and occasionaly something like the gas valve goes but thats only happened once in 18 years (£300).

I think if you have an old cottage it will be perfect and get the traditional one - if you can turn it on and off then its not an AGA and wont cook the same. I dont think you will regret it. Even my DH loves it now - but he probably wouldnt admit it!

[RandomMess]

I think if you get one you will live in the kitchen, eat there etc especially in winter! Fit in a table for 4 rather than 2?

What room is above kitchen?

[Merrylegs]

I have an Everhot.(They are electric). It just plugs in to a 13 amp socket so no flue. And therefore portable if you move. I don't notice that it's that much more expensive to run, plus keeps kitchen warm so you can turn the radiators down. It's got a control box. But I think modern AGAs are also controllable now. Huge ovens, really nice to cook with. Like an AGA it makes you cook in a different way (i.e. most stuff in the oven and because it's on all the time there's no need for plugging in other electrical appliances, so e.g. no toaster (we use an Aga 'griddle' thing, stove top kettle, stove top coffee etc.) It does have a grill also. Also doesn't need servicing like an AGA.

[steppemum]

parents had a AGA in a farmhouse kitchen with thick stone walls.

pros:
kitchen was always warm, real heart of the house
it was great for my mum's style of cooking (lot sof stews and casseroles)
it looked great!
the idea of an armchair by the aga when retired is great
we always stuck our soggy wellie socks etc on it when coming in from winter walks
it kept us warm in power cuts
one of my abiding memories is arriving at her house all cold and standing leaning against it to warm up.

cons:
cost to install
cost to run (theirs was oil fired)
it was on all the time, so too hot in summer (even in rubbish UK summer)
the 'rings' on top are rubbish for cooking on really, I cook a lot on the hob and they would drive me mad. You do need to become an AGA cook. Or get one with the proper rings on the side for when it is switched off. my parents had a small cooker in the utility room for July and August.
it is huge and takes up a lot of space
oil is expensive, solid fuel is a nightmare to keep feeding and going especially when you get old (you did say you were living there til you were 90) electricity?

[Oddbutnotodd]

I was brought up with a coal fired Aga and have a gas one now which was in the house when we moved here.

The pros are even when we have a power cut we can still cook and stay warm. I like having a warm kitchen all year round and never turn it off - even in a heat wave! Southern England too.

Ok. It's not environmentally friendly but as a lifestyle choice I love mine. The cost of running it aren't too bad. It's all relative. We all spend money on something in life.

If you have the money go for it.

[ThePartingLass]

I have a solid fuel Rayburn at one end of the kitchen, and a 90cm Rangemaster at the other! Love having both because it takes the stress out of having a Rayburn. If the oven happens to be at the right temperature for what I want to cook on it then great, if not it just goes into the rangemaster! My kitchen sounds like yours, solid thick stone walls so can be very cold. I love having the Rayburn and the constant warmth, it's really given the kitchen a heart.

[justforthisthread101]

You do need to become an AGA cook

And you need to unlearn that too! When I first left home I struggled to figure out how to cook when degrees between "a bit warm" and "fiery hot" were involved .

[StrangeAndUnusual]

I've got a gas Aga (inherited with house). Love it, but wouldn't put one in as they're super-expensive to run.

However at the last service the Aga engineer told me that the new type of electric ones work like an ordinary oven in that you can turn them on and off, and these are very popular with flat-dwellers and 'London-types' who are out a lot. So I'd look into that if I were you.

[UrsulaPandress]

It will be a cold day in hell before anything would part me from my Aga.

[steppemum]

Just to add, my parents one was a 4 oven one, and they are much much more flexible and easier to cook on than a 2 door, as you have 4 temperatures instead of 2!

(and the uses for the bottom left warming oven are many and legendary - baby lambs anyone?)

[Sunnyshores]

I could weep buckets over leaving my beautiful house and Aga... But it was a ridiculous cost and I like to think Im green so I couldnt justify having one in the new house. I did want an Everhot, even visited the factory on their monthly? open days. I dont think it would have cost much more to run than an ordinary electric oven (more as the ovens bigger I suppose), but other works to the house became expensive so we brought a £600 Beko range. Its great for a few years until I can upgrade to Everhot.

[Janus]

We have one and the cost is absolutely eye watering!! It’s a four door electric and I think we use about £250+ a month on our electricity bill - A MONTH. Ok, quite big house so that’s all lights, computers, TVs etc but central heating is gas. I’m very tempted to get rig and go for a massive range cooker but husband is t so easily convinced! Yes, it’s lovely, warms the whole kitchen/utility/play room but heating those rooms would be a fraction.
One thing we do have is an additional smaller oven so we turn aga off in the summer as it’s just too hot to cook over the thing.
I wouldn’t get one again tbh.

[butterfly56]

If I was in a position to buy an Aga or similar I would go for one that was not dependent on electricity supply. So my choice would be oil fired as I would not want the hassle of solid fuel.

[Battleax]

@MerryLegs, I'm intrigued by the Everhots. What size do you have and how much do you think it costs you to run it?

[Afreshcuppateaplease]

I only clicked on this thread to see if it was you bower nothing helpful to say sorry

[UrsulaPandress]

Ours is gas and a three oven.

And we never turn it off in the summer. It is in a big Kitchen/Diner/Sitting room and on the odd occasion it does get hot in the summer then we open all the doors to the garden.

[Ariela]

We have an oil fired Rayburn 680K, which is programmable - so you can put it on a timer for cooking as well as run the central heating and hot water on a timer. So it's not on all day, just when the heating and/or hot water is, and the cooker is a separate burner, works independently.

I generally have hot water on twice a day, and heating not on unless house temp drops below 17, there is no radiator in our 12ft square kitchen, just the Rayburn, however we do have a utility/conservatory beyond the back door which keeps the room warm. We last filled up with oil in October 2016, still got 2 bars on the oil tank sensor out of about 6 or 7, so it works out quite economical for a detatched bungalow.
I tend to do a cooked breakfast 3 or 4 x a week (daughter does manual labour on a dairy farm or mucks out horses before Uni) and the evening meal, and it warms the kitchen a treat as in cooling off that's enough. I can set the timer to heat up the Rayburn before we get home, or more usually ring whoever is at home and get them to put it on - my only complaint is that compared to the halogen rings on my electric cooker you do have to allow 10-15 mins to warm the hob up if you forget to set it/get it turned on in advance. The plus point is the whole thing heats and you can fit about 5 or 6 pans - great for big meals with lots of pans needed. You can also dry your washing next to it/above it on an airer, and it heats the room too

In the summer, as we've solar I use the electric oven.

So I'd recommend a 600 series Rayburn on the grounds that being programmable it'll be far more efficient to run. (They're 'A' rated)
www.rayburn-web.co.uk/products/rayburn-600-series

[Ariela]

Meant to say our oil tank is 2000 litres our oil cost is about £500/year.

[Viviennemary]

I saw a photo of one of those new smaller Agas in a magazine. I think if I was having a new kitchen I might think about one of them and have an ordinary stove as well. Anyone got one. Not sure exactly what it does but it looks quite nice!