Aga wobble - need reassurance (or not!)

[lexie01]

I am going through the process of planning a new kitchen and have always really wanted an aga. After much arm bending (and arguments) DH has finally (very reluctantly) agreed to have one. The problem is now that the argument has been won I have started to have my doubts....

We have a really cold kitchen in the winter (qurry tiles - freezing!) and I thought an aga would bring some lovely warmth to the room. However there is not enough space for a additional hob/cooker and I am worried abut the heat in the summer. I know this sounds silly but I have forgotten how warm the kitchen gets (or not) in the hot weather but i have to place my order within the next 2 weeks to fit in with the kitchen timescales so I cannot wait until the summer to make my decision.

I am also not a huge cook. I cook very 'normal' food most of the time - the odd stew, a roast about once a week, cottage pies etc - alongside fish fingers and sausage & mash. Everyone who posts on MN with an aga seem to be real 'foodies'.

I guess what I am trying to say is am I going to regret spending £8000 on an aga which will be too hot in the summer and hard to use the rest of the time or will be it be the best decision I have ever made????

lexie01 i cant tell you how pleased i am to read this thread. (virtual kiss" flying over to you...

i am in exactly the same position other than we are getting one with add on module althought it does take and awful lot of room. like you i am slightly racked with guilt about the cost of buying it and the cost of running it. Looked at all the others but dont really see that there is that much difference and tbh that much difference in price (we are however getting a recon).

i lived with one for a year and swore that one day i would have one. and the prob is its a sort of now or never juncture. this will prob be our "forever" house (bar lottery win, in which case i'll have an aga in everyone of my property showcase) so if you change your mind and decide you wish you'd gone for a new kitchen its at least 10 years down the line...

I started a thread on whether to get rid of our aga not that long ago, you can look for it on search

Much as I love ours, and have decided to keep ours for the meantime, I would definitely not install one in your forever house. They cost a FORTUNE to run and the AIMS thing only reduces running costs 20 per cent max and they're only really for people who go out to work at dawn and come home for dinner, not people who will use it all day when it needs to be running at full capacity.

Buy a range instead, there's loads out there to choose from (many made by Aga) that will look just as good and cost far less. Can't you install underfloor heating to get round the freezing in winter bit?

Thank you everyone so much for your replies. They have all made me think long and hard about what I really want.

Swanriver - you are absolutely right. My kitchen at the moment is absolutely horrible and I probably do see an aga as a salvation to all my problems - when in truth it may create more than it solves. We are having all the kitchen gutted - we are laying proper foundations as the tiles are laid on ash currently, all the windows are being replaced by lovely double glazed hardwood. So intruth the kitchen will become a much more sociable, warm space anyway.

I will spend the morning investigating the other rangecookers mentioned (Rayburn, Marshall etc) but I am very sad to say (sob..) that my best option maybe underfloor heating and a nice shiny cooker in a rangestyle.

Thank you all for giving me a dose of commen sense!

We sold our AGA last NOvember and replaced it with a wood burning stove and a range cooker. We alwasy turned it off at end of March as a)the kitchen woudl get to hot and b)it eats up oil, our oil usage has gone down significantly since we haven't had it.

Lexie
What did you decide to do in the end, and if it's all finished are you pleased with your decision. I'm in a similar dilemma to yours and am in the process of research sandyford and heritage cookers.

I was also on another aga thread with you a while back, am not stalking you, promise

We have an Aga 6.4, and it's marvellous. A complete cheat, of course, but it's still an Aga and looks fabulous. Which is all I'm worried about.