New Central Heating System Run Off AGA

[DancingDog]

Hi we are looking at buying a 4 bed cottage that needs a full refurb. At the moment there is no central heating (there are open fires in the main reception rooms and a wood burning stove in the kitchen with nothing in the bedrooms ).

We are looking at getting an oil AGA rangemaster partly to run the central heating. Has anyone got any experience of how much it might cost to put a new heating system in being run off an AGA? And who we would look at getting it from, is it a kitchen company or a plumbing firm?

We had a Rayburn 600K put in 8 years ago to replace our old oil boiler, it's fab as everything is on a timer, we also have solar hot water, which is set to heat to a higher temp, so the oil doesn't ever cut in during the summer. I think there wasn't much change from £10K (involved new floor and moving electric meter and making a built in cupboard smaller). We had it installed by a Rayburn/Aga specialist, and a handyman for the rest with electrician for the electrics.

Make sure you have an immersion as well for hot water. You don't want to be in the position in a really hot summer where you can't turn the AGA off.

I have a Stanley (part of AGA)which runs the CH and HW for my 4 bed 1837 house. It's an 80,000 BTU. It runs radiators in 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, the downstairs loo, the kitchen, 2 sitting rooms and the study, and there is still capacity for more radiators. It can also run underfloor heating. Much cheaper than an AGA, and bigger ovens I think.

www.waterfordstanley.com/stanley-cookers/stanley-cookers/cooking,-hot-water-central/oil/brandon. There are condensing models if you want, but it was the wrong dimensions for me, as I replaced my old 19 year old Stanley with the new Brandon, and it was take one out and put the other one in (with some tweaks).

The Brandon is also great to cook on and in, and the temperature control is good.

Meant to add, I'm in Cornwall, so don't be worried by Stanley being made in Ireland.

It is very possible. What everyone is referring to above though, is for a different type of cooker.For an aga system, you will need to invest in something called a thermal store. What you are basically doing, is heating up a store of water, which in turn heats up the water in your central heating pipes and for your hot water as it is needed. You will also need what is called a heatsink radiator, which is a radiator that is always on. The best idea for your heatsink radiator, is normally a radiator in a bathroom as it means you will always have warmed towels.
The good aspects of these systems are that you can add different types of input to heat up the water. If you have a log burner, you can add this to your system to heat the water, you can then add solar thermal (which just heats the water) and solar pv (which provides electricity, to heat the water through an immersion heater).
Aga cooking can take a bit of getting used to and isn't for everyone. It's probably best to find your nearest AGA showroom and book to go on a course for the day. This takes you through the different way to cook with an AGA.

It may be a better idea to look at either a Rayburn, Stanley, Heritage or Sandyford. These cooker/boilers will heat as required and are referred to in the industry as pressure jet systems. This means that you can run your heating when you want it, heat up your water when you want and turn your cooker on and off as required. It is also cheaper on running costs too.
As for costs, for a brand new Aga, plus fitting and installation of oil tank, radiators, pipework and a thermal store, a conservative estimate, would probably be around £20k upwards depending on what size AGA you need/want.
If you went for a pressure jet cooker/boiler, you would probably be looking at around £12k.
If you look on ebay, there are always people selling second hand cookers for a decent ish price, but I would never recommend spending more than about £500 on a Rayburn type on and probably £900 on an AGA. You will then probably have to pay a bit more to get it refurbished, but that can range from another £500 up to £3k dependent on the condition.
A heating engineer who is OFTEC registered, will be who you are looking to do this. Make sure that if you go the AGA way, they have their registration in vaporising appliances.
More than happy to answer any other questions you have.

You can haggle on price. I got quite a lot knocked off the cost of my new Stanley in 2014.

I have a heatsink for the Stanley, which is the bathroom radiator, but that is fine, as I have an airer by it to dry clothes when it's raining (as ever in Cornwall), and I like my bathroom warm anyway.

The Stanley has a control panel behind one of the doors which is where you set all the times for ch and hw etc.