To ask is an Aga worth it?

[bobstersmum]

We have currently got a range cooker but it is on its last legs. When looking for a replacement I keep seeing Aga's. I don't know the first thing about them though, can you fill me in? We do have a very long cold kitchen extension so the thought of that being warm in winter is appealing! Are they a pita though?

I cook stir fries frequently on the hot plate - and baking isn't compulsory.

Although they are best at slow cooking.

My parents have always had one, alongside a gas oven. It doesn't do anything other than heat up the kitchen and cook food (Ie it doesn't also heat the water). They have a big house and it's fab in the winter, my mother cooks brilliantly on it, and the dog loves it, but I think they are a ridiculously expensive luxury really!

Best thing we ever bought. Love it like a living thing.

I have an electric aga style (its not aga) oven - hot top with two sides hot and simmer, and then 2 ovens but I only have one on - its electric you can set the temperatures to what you want but need to add in time for the temperature to reduce or increase if you change it. We have outs set to around 180 and find most things are fine in that. Its a bit iffy with yorkshires but they are OK generally. Large cakes I have to fanny around with cold shelves and wrapping the tin (e.g. fruit cake in for a long time) if I don't want to mess with the settings. If I had both ovens on I would have more flexibility but that is about keeping the bills down. It gives an undercurrent of heat to kitchen and dining room used as an office by DH. It is always on so a baked potato for lunch is always a deal and stews and slow roasts/casseroles or crumbles are quick to sort. Also I have a set of 12 cup cakes down to 15mins start to on the rack cooling which can be handy as we don't have biccies in and often get visitors etc. Scones is about 20mins.

❤️mine.
We keep it on all year (no room for another cooker).
It makes a house a home

Should mention our bills are 100 a mth on electric but we have no gas here but lpg for the heating

I love ours. The heat circulates through the house so that we don't need the heating on until the depths of winter. It is an old one. We had it revamped by a chap called Julian Hodges who mostly sells reconditioned Agas that have been converted to electricity. I would recommend finding someone like him rather than going to Aga themselves. I found them really snooty.

I couldn't function in winter without it (no central heating) and the house is old enough with thick enough walls that even in summer it isn't too hot.

We don't have another oven, just a plug in job for when the aga is serviced.

It does all cooking (and I've cooked for 100+ on it) and, as I grew up with one, I am totally happy with "delicate " cooking with it.
Heats the water, heats part of the house, dries clothes, irons them (well, slight exaggeration - it won't do a shirt, but trousers/tablecloths will be sorted) and is generally a life saver.

I may be hugging one now...

Plug in job = hob...

There is no more depressing moment in life than descending the stairs and realising the Aga has gone out - only happened a couple of times in high winds but bloody hell you feel it before you get half way down the stairs.

Our family motto is 'Never turn your back on Aga toast'.

And the family tattoo is all the Aga burns on your lower arms

Yes a real Aga but electric oven and gas hobs - made for urban types!

I will definitely be looking into this more following the advice here. And possibly get an expert to come and look at where it would go to see if it would work for us. I am really drawn to the idea of a lovely warm kitchen, but it would need to work for us to justify the expense. Thanks for the replies.

There are some great second hand a gas out there at a fraction of the price of new ones.

Definitely worth it. And my lovely floofball agrees!

I have one because it was in the house when we bought it. 4 oven, gas fired. No other cooker. Love it. There is nothing I cannot cook with it that could be cooked on another cooker.

We hardly ever have the heating on, don’t have a tumble dryer. And the cat cuddles up to it too.

Definitely an Everhot!!!!

I’ve had agas, rayburns, Stanley’s and an Esse, and finally the Everhot.

It’s love.

Everhot doesn’t need servicing, doesn’t need to be on an external wall
Like an aga, needs no flue, no plinth.

They are cheaper to run. Get a model with an induction hob too and you can turn it off in the summer but still have instant boil etc

You can adjust each oven individually, and they have a grill.

I miss my aga! 😭. Just moved house and left it behind. I grew up with one and installed one in each if my last two houses, wouldn’t be without one! Except I am now...when we get the kitchen done we will put one in, but it will be reconditioned second hand because of the cost. And I’m a cheater because always have an electric oven with grill too as a back up (but no separate hob).

If you dry clothes above the aga do they not smell of food?

They are amazing. Running costs high but the constant background heat means less central heating, no tumble drier, toaster or electric kettle. Comforting and brilliant to cook on -the non adjustabilty is a bonus - just cook things until they are done -simple!

Stanley fan here, oil fired, installed 18 yrs ago and still great, ours does the heating too. Don't have another cooker. Works just like the AGA (had one previously) but has one big hotplate with 2 lids and a coffee pot hob - ideal for the kettle/soups etc, and 2 ovens. One advantage it has over an AGA is that you can alter the temperature easily and it heats up more quickly.

My grandmother had one in her house and I loved it, it was in the living room not the kitchen though.
She lived in a 200 year old farm house and it heated the house and all the water. I used to sit in the rocking chair next to it and warm my feet up
It ran off oil as they were so rural they. had no mains gas, she had an regular electric cooker in the kitchen too so she could cook in the summer but the aga always had a kettle on the top ready to mash the tea!

Absolutely love my Aga, DH grew up with one, I didn't, didn't take much persuading. We have an Aga total control which means it's electric and turns off and on when you need it like a conventional oven, but retains the heat for ages after you switch it off so you still benefit from having a warm kitchen. I had to adjust how I cook so it's a bit tricky at first when following a recipe but doesn't take long. I agree, go to the Aga demonstration workshops. I miss it when we're on holiday. I need to get a life!

If you can turn it on and off at will then that ain’t a proper Aga.

I have one and wouldn't be without it. It's a traditional Aga (on all the time) so the summer can be a bit too much with the Aga going.
There are electric agas that you can turn on and off. I suggest going to your nearest Aga showroom to a demonstration.

My parents had one in their large old house. It mostly got used to chtistmas dinner, warming pmates or feet, and drying things on. She had a seperate gas hob, and a portable counter top oven.