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Original poster

To get rid of an AGA

135 replies

Cookiedough123 · 08/08/2021 15:50

Can someone tell me whether they would swap an AGA for a range cooker for example..

We are possibly buying a house with an AGA. It's run on gas. Are they worth it? Apparently the gas bill is between 125-200 a month! These are people who have their heating on a lot though.. I am a bit more scrimpy. I am keen to keep but BF wants to get rid.

Can I have thoughts on an AGA please

OP posts:
LAgeDeRaisin · 08/08/2021 15:52

I love ours- it's an oil one. It does cost about £200/month though

smileandsmilessooooo · 08/08/2021 15:54

AGAs are on all the time, you don't turn them off hence the bill. Some will heat other things like the water, but it depends on the set up. MIL has one lovely in her kitchen in the winter, not so much in a heatwave 🥵

SusieBob · 08/08/2021 15:55

Incredibly wasteful things, both in terms of cost and carbon use. I got rid of the one in our current house.

LAgeDeRaisin · 08/08/2021 15:56

In terms of cost- we don't have a tumble drier (dry clothes on hot plate or on pulleyrailabove the Aga) we don't have a microwave, you can use it as a kettle... there are some ways to offset the cost by using it in place of electrical appliances.

Also if you cook it's wonderful. Things slow cooked overnight in the bottom oven, making stock is so easy and doesn't require any extra electricity via oven/slow cooker.

They're an extravagance but there is something homely and lovely about them.

TheDivineOddity · 08/08/2021 16:04

Definitely keep the Aga, yes they're generally expensive to run but it's also your kettle, your toaster, your slow cooker, your clothes dryer and airer as well as your oven. Your kitchen will also always be warm and welcoming.
If you do get this house op then allow yourself six months or so with the Aga and then make your decision.

mummymeister · 08/08/2021 16:07

in my opinion agas are female enslavement devices. we had one in our house when we first moved it. it was horrible. so tempramental. if you put it on say 170 it would heat way above that then cool down to it before the temp stabilised. so food took either ages and lots of planning to cook or it was burnt on the outside every time. hate, hate, hate them with an absolute passion. so pleased to have my lovely electric range cooker and a direct condensing oil boiler.

Theworldisfullofgs · 08/08/2021 16:10

I love ours. We turn our off for the summer but have it on in the winter. We don't use much other heating. I love cooking with it, but it took a bit of getting used to.
If we got rid of it, we'd have to have additional heating in the kitchen.

Daftasabroom · 08/08/2021 16:13

Gas is going to get increasingly expensive as we head towards net zero. Second hand Agas are still sought after so you should be able to find a buyer easily. I would go separate electric ovens and induction hob each on their own supply. Save the Aga money and fit an air source heat pump when the boiler packs up.

If it's an older property with solid walls look at grants for external insulation and air source heat pumps.

HavelockVetinari · 08/08/2021 16:13

Do it! You'll likely be able to sell the Aga - we got £500 for ours and they dismantled it and took it away so which was good as it weight 1.5 tons. We bought a lovely reliable range cooker instead. We hated having an Aga, so inconvenient in summer.

Thepathofleastresistance · 08/08/2021 16:16

Omg no! Live with it for a year and and then decide. I would never ever go back/ we have a newer electric one that you can switch to standby and no conventional oven. Cooking is much nicer and more gentle. And just brilliant for drying, sterilising, using oven floor to fry stuff. Doesn't need cleaning every three minutes! In fact I haven't cleaned inside it for 4 years. I just sweep out the lumps of black as needed.

Thelnebriati · 08/08/2021 16:17

Unless you own a pig farm and have an unlimited supply of methane to run it on, get rid.

purplesequins · 08/08/2021 16:21

do it.
and replace is with an induction range.

MauveMagnolia · 08/08/2021 16:22

Love ours- also gas.
Wouldn't swap it for the world (and removing it would devalue the house)

Costs a bit less than £200 I think. Ours is on all year- you just turn it low in summer. We dont have any other oven, no kettle etc

irregularegular · 08/08/2021 16:24

We're planning to get rid of ours soon on environmental grounds. Just can't justify it anymore. We've quite enjoyed it over the last 16 years (it was there when we moved in) but the guilt is getting too much.

irregularegular · 08/08/2021 16:26

We always swapped to a conventional gas/electric cooker (the Aga unit) in the summer as having the Aga on when it was warm seemed really silly! Just using it in the winter is not so bad.

I don't think removing it will devalue the house. They are very much slipping out of fashion.

flowerycurtain · 08/08/2021 16:27

I love love love our. But it really suits our lifestyle. I cook on it 2-3 times daily and it feeds various people at different times without the food going manky.

However ours is run off our solar panels so is
Cheap.

AnnaMagnani · 08/08/2021 16:27

I have an Everhot - all the benefits of an Aga and a range cooker but none of the expensive gas bills.

However the temperature is accurate, you can set it to any temp you want and you never have to clean or service it.

I'd get rid of the gas Aga but think of one of the electric alternatives instead of a standard range.

CruCru · 08/08/2021 16:28

I love ours. It’s currently covered in laundry, ready to be packed for a trip tomorrow.

Please keep it for a year before you decide for sure. Apart from anything else, a new one is at least £6k (do you have a two oven or a four oven?) and you won’t get anything close if you sell an old one.

However, please get it serviced.

It’s a different style of cooking. To do rice (say), you put the serving of dry rice in the pan then add just over the same amount of water. Cover and heat it on the hot plate then, when it’s boiling, put it in the back of the simmering oven. You can leave it there for an hour but it’ll be done in about twenty minutes (depending on your aga).

It’s a different style of cooking. The hot plates are only really for getting stuff started - if you leave them open, the main oven loses heat.

MsVestibule · 08/08/2021 16:28

I love my (gas) Aga as much as I love my husband, but perhaps a bit less than my children. It costs about £60pm to run, but it takes the edge off the cold in the rest of the house in spring and autumn, so we don't have the heating on as much as other people.

It came with the house and I was a bit dubious before we moved in, but I was very quickly converted. Don't make any hasty decisions - live with it for a few months and see how you feel.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 08/08/2021 16:29

I had one in a property I rented and hated the bloody thing, even though it was supposedly cutting edge because the hob "only" took 20 minutes to heat up Hmm. It made me feel like a Victorian kitchenmaid, serving its whims. It was a happy day when we moved to our own house.

Having said that, I agree with @Thepathofleastresistance that you might as well hang onto it for a bit and see if you grow to like it.

dementedma · 08/08/2021 16:29

Other than Agas, do people have heating in their kitchen? We dont have any, hadnt really thought about it.

CruCru · 08/08/2021 16:31

This is a very useful book.

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 08/08/2021 16:35

I did when I moved into Victorian terrace-it was very pretty but the previous owner turned it off and it wouldn't re-start.

Absolute nightmare and a fortune to sort. Put me right off.
Plus I hated the thought of it being on constantly in the hotter months-so wasteful and kitchen is not that big so I felt like I'd be living in an oven.

I do have friends who love theirs-think very marmite

I also sold it to an aga guy who came and removed it (not a small feat) and paid me for it, I know he will re-furb and sell on which is nice as it's not going to waste.

I have a lovely range cooker that I am very happy with.

3luckystars · 08/08/2021 16:35

I can’t believe they cost that much to run!! That’s shocking!
I pulled into a petrol station once and the car in front of me had put €100+ into their car I just don’t know how people afford to spend that much on fuel.
I could not pay that much for it to go up in smoke, it’s like burning money (to me anyway, I am not wealthy though so feel free to ignore my opinion) I don’t see the attraction of them, except the fun we had spitting on my grandparents one as children and watching it roll off and disappear, but that’s not worth €150 a week though. Grin Anyway, good luck with it whatever you decide.

BlankTimes · 08/08/2021 16:35

@mummymeister
if you put it on say 170 it would heat way above that then cool down to it before the temp stabilised

Was your Aga a newer one with an oven temperature control?

Mine's the sort you switch on and don't alter the temp, unless you need to turn it down a bit in a warm spell, then just allow a little more time for things to cook. It's 27 this year, built in from new and I couldn't live without it. As others have said, it's also a kettle, a toaster, a slow cooker, a replacement for tumble drier, a radiator replacement in at least the kitchen and a constant source of warmth.

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