Page 2 | Aga oven

Ilovecashews · 2024-09-21T21:07:06+00:00

Posting here for traffic. I’m buying a house with an aga oven. The house needs full restoring, so I’m wondering whether to get rid of it or not. Can I ask for advice/suggestions/experiences? I have no idea whether it’s a good one to have or not… thanks a lot

muddyford · 22/09/2024 07:56

I learned to cook on an Aga and would want to keep it.

wickerlady · 22/09/2024 08:25

We love ours but we installed it and it's one of the more modern electric ones.

What fuel is yours OP? I know some of the old oil ones can be a bit messy but my next door neighbour has one and seems to use without issue.

SprigatitoYouAndIKnow · 22/09/2024 08:57

I would be getting rid. Grew up with one and hated it. Temperature not really possible to control, so it was all a guess. It was lovely to lean against to warm yourself up, but that's quite an expensive luxury!

LadySummerislesApple · 22/09/2024 08:59

Where is old Crumbs when you need her.

Holidaysrule · 22/09/2024 09:00

JC03745 · 21/09/2024 23:49

OP- This was me nearly 3yrs ago! We bought a derelict property which had a 1990's Aga in it. Ours is gas. After much research, we found a family company to dismantle it whilst we renovated. The wall it was on, we removed to make an open kitchen/diner. All the parts came apart and they stacked it up. Once we'd built a plinth in the new kitchen, they returned to re-assemble it all again.
If ours was oil or electric, I wouldn't have bothered, but because gas was alot cheaper at the time, we went with it.
We also put a 'regular' oven in the kitchen, because its a waste and too hot to have the aga on all your round.
You need to maximize the use of the aga when its on. I use mine as:

as a toaster
as a kettle
Clothes dryer. I bought a brand new dryer when we renovated and 2yrs on, have never used the machine!
to melt butter/melt chocolate/warm things instead of using the microwave
You can apparently iron clothes over the top- although never tried this
It heats the room and always feels cozy somehow
The bottom oven replaces a slow cooker
To boil/steam veg along with the normal 'oven' uses for cooking food
It uses radiant heat, so cooks things perfectly from all sides
In the summer, we just leave the pilot light on and use it as a plate warmer

Even using gas, I notice the gas bill does goes up when its on. Its hard to actually calculate exactly, because we only have it on in the colder months, when the underfloor and other heating would be on more anyways. We love it though and DH said yesterday he can't wait till we turn it back on!

Sorry this is long, but happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for this, really useful info! We’ve just made an offer on an old house with a big kitchen and no aga, but the house is on mains gas. Everyone I know has had oil or electric agas so I was wondering about the gas ones. Yours sounds perfect! The house is listed and single glazed so I think a gas one will be the way to go. Yey!

TMMC · 22/09/2024 10:09

They are expensive to run now and as a result have no second hand value. Depending on its age you may have to pay somebody to take it away.

The electric conversion costs £3-5k ish depending on the size. Electric is still slightly more than oil to run , probably £10 a week.
so either pay and convert then sell if you want, you will get your money back, or bale out straight away before lots of expense.

They are lovely if you can comfortably afford them, if not it will be a frustration to you.

bridgetreilly · 22/09/2024 10:22

It is a lifestyle choice. If you do decide to get rid, definitely sell it, because they are not cheap, even secondhand. They last forever: the one my grandmother had installed in the 1930s is still going strong.

ATuinTheGreat · 22/09/2024 10:23

Holidaysrule · 22/09/2024 09:00

Thanks for this, really useful info! We’ve just made an offer on an old house with a big kitchen and no aga, but the house is on mains gas. Everyone I know has had oil or electric agas so I was wondering about the gas ones. Yours sounds perfect! The house is listed and single glazed so I think a gas one will be the way to go. Yey!

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I think all new Agas are electric now. You would need to get a reconditioned one. Rayburns still use other fuels though.

Holidaysrule · 22/09/2024 10:30

ATuinTheGreat · 22/09/2024 10:23

I think all new Agas are electric now. You would need to get a reconditioned one. Rayburns still use other fuels though.

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Yes, the gas ones have been discontinued but having had a quick look there are gas reconditioned ones available for around £6k. A lot less than a new electric one!

Gert12 · 22/09/2024 10:37

I had an oil Aga in my previous house. Yes it was lovely to look at and cook certain things in and also very useful to dry laundry. However it cost around £300-400 per month to run. A friend converted hers to electric but the cost did not reduce much. I actively chose to eliminate the next house if an Aga was the only cooking source.

Ginmonkeyagain · 22/09/2024 10:57

£400pm to run? Crikey, our entire energy bill is £70 a month!

MingingTiles · 22/09/2024 10:58

I’d love one but don’t have one as we don’t have space for a second oven, and I wouldn’t want in on all year- too hot.

JC03745 · 22/09/2024 11:03

@Holidaysrule You mentioned buying a house with mains gas and wanting an aga. The most difficult thing I had, was initially finding a gas certified person that could work on agas. Apparently its not just a qualified gas person, but they need to have also completed the Aga module. The aga website does have a list of engineers, BUT- nearly all that I called either weren't qualified for gas, or no longer worked on Agas- despite their name being listed there!

https://www.agaliving.com/contact-support/find-engineer

Our engineer had collected lots of 'bits' over the years, so gave us a toaster rack, baking dishes and various pots to get us started. Blake and Bull and the Aga shop also sell the trays that fit the runners perfectly, and pots that can be stacked. I've found them much cheaper on ebay though, especially in Summer! Our engineer was also able to re-enamel parts of ours, at a much better price than the main shops could. IF you find an engineer who covers your area, they might have a reconditioned Aga you could buy.

I found lots of youtube videos, but aga also have cooking schools. I also got some 2nd hand cook books off ebay (Mary Berry) but I found I didn't need them for long. It makes the most divine yorkshire puddings and I love it!

Find an Engineer | AGA Living

AGA Rangemaster have engaged a national partner, Repairtech Services UK Ltd, who can offer service and repairs for most AGA cookers across the UK. Repairtech have been providing specialist repair and maintenance solutions for international brands for o...

https://www.agaliving.com/contact-support/find-engineer

Saz12 · 22/09/2024 11:05

I grew up with one, and 3 years ago bought a house with one. They are lovely for cooking, drying clothes, etc. The older ones (eg solid fuel models) are very simple mechanically, and solid af so will last generations.

But i'ts just too expensive to run. Perhaps if the kitchen was huge, central in the house so the heat can drift into other rooms, and you're home and in the kitchen almost all of the time it would be less wasteful. But in terms of cost and CO2 they're really hard to justify.

We are getting ours removed - and they don't all have a great resale value - they need to be dismantled to be moved, and some models have asbesdos, they're often in need if re-enamelling etc.

yikesanotherbooboo · 22/09/2024 11:26

We have one which was here when we moved in 30 years ago ,and I love the warmth . They are not difficult to cook on at all , it is quite easy together used to. It would've hard to justify a tumble drier in the house if you have a constant heat source. I find we rarely need the central heating on as the kitchen is warm and in very cold weather we can light a fire. Although I love it I wouldn't buy one, this was here when we moved in, they are expensive to run and quite obviously not very environmentally friendly .

Magnastorm · 22/09/2024 11:28

I would absolutely get rid.

Stupid, expensive wasteful things.

MrsHollyhock · 22/09/2024 11:32

We were in your shoes 18 months ago, buying a house with a 30ish year old oil AGA. I thought we’d get rid of it when we replaced the kitchen, but I unexpectedly fell in love with it! It is a joy to cook in, although I also have a conventional oven and hob, so turn it off during the summer months. The kitchen refit is now underway, but the AGA is staying. It will be getting a makeover, however, as it’ll be converted to electric (eControl, £3,700) as the house is being moved off oil onto heat pump and solar panels. As far as I could tell, the oil AGA doesn’t have any resale value, and we would probably have had to pay for removal. So I would recommend you live with your new AGA for a while before deciding its fate!

ExitPursuedByABare · 22/09/2024 18:37

@LadySummerislesApple

Crumbs. There’s a blast from the past.

Holidaysrule · 22/09/2024 19:01

JC03745 · 22/09/2024 11:03

@Holidaysrule You mentioned buying a house with mains gas and wanting an aga. The most difficult thing I had, was initially finding a gas certified person that could work on agas. Apparently its not just a qualified gas person, but they need to have also completed the Aga module. The aga website does have a list of engineers, BUT- nearly all that I called either weren't qualified for gas, or no longer worked on Agas- despite their name being listed there!

https://www.agaliving.com/contact-support/find-engineer

Our engineer had collected lots of 'bits' over the years, so gave us a toaster rack, baking dishes and various pots to get us started. Blake and Bull and the Aga shop also sell the trays that fit the runners perfectly, and pots that can be stacked. I've found them much cheaper on ebay though, especially in Summer! Our engineer was also able to re-enamel parts of ours, at a much better price than the main shops could. IF you find an engineer who covers your area, they might have a reconditioned Aga you could buy.

I found lots of youtube videos, but aga also have cooking schools. I also got some 2nd hand cook books off ebay (Mary Berry) but I found I didn't need them for long. It makes the most divine yorkshire puddings and I love it!

More great tips - thank you! And I have to admit, it’s the yorkshires that seal the deal for me. I also have a Lacanche, I make my yorkshires in exactly the same way but they are SO much better in an aga/rayburn.

caffelattetogo · 22/09/2024 21:00

I'd sell everything I own before I sold mine. It cooks like nothing else. Today's roast was a joy to behold. Just looking at it makes me happy.

DuckyShincracker · 22/09/2024 21:33

We have an elderly aga and I'm very fond of it. I love winter slow cooking it's a joy. However we are not a wealthy household by any means. We sat down and did some big number crunching and the Aga works out cheaper than the central heating to run. So we run the Aga and limit the central heating. We also cook and dry our clothes on it so it's more economical than if we just had the central heating on. Our house is also quite damp and I think it helps with this.