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Original poster

Agas - keep or sell? WWYD?

47 replies

GingerPigz · 28/08/2022 06:50

Have at last found a house to buy that we both love!

There is an electric Aga in the kitchen. We have never had an Aga and know very little about them. DH wants to get rid of it (predominately because of perceived running costs) but I'm not so sure. I know they are considered to be quite a luxury item (if purchase price is anything to go by) and quite like the look of them (in a country style kitchen). Not sure we'd get much money for it and would need to buy a new oven to replace it. The house has air source heat pump heating (but quite a low EPC 🤔) and we would be looking to install solar panels.

Please give me your thoughts about and experiences with Agas to help us decide... TIA

OP posts:
eztiger · 28/08/2022 06:51

We had one and the power needed to run it was unbelievable. Very beautiful but very expensive!

PurBal · 28/08/2022 06:55

I learnt to cook on an aga and I would love one. So much better to cook with than a conventional oven.. But yes, very expensive to run. Are you sure the previous owners are including it with the sale? It’s not uncommon for people to take the aga with them.

Lemonblossom · 28/08/2022 07:01

I suspect the market has taken a nosedive. If your installing solar though I’d consider keeping it and just only turning it on October to April.

Lemonblossom · 28/08/2022 07:02

Youre*

yonce · 28/08/2022 07:13

I bloody love Agas!! They make the best fried eggs, and bread. Expensive to run - definitely in my experience. It would be worth finding some usage figures for the type of aga you've got and checking it against your current tariff to try and get an idea of cost? I wouldn't get rid of it personally, but that's just because I'm a huge fan and would love one now.

MintJulia · 28/08/2022 07:15

I lived in a house with an Aga for a year. The kitchen was unbearably hot for most of the time.

I spent a year trying to learn to cook on it and was thrilled when we finally dumped it. I found it impossible, no control, small pokey ovens, just horrible, but I know others love them, so clearly a marmite situation.

womaninatightspot · 28/08/2022 07:23

Old agas often have very little resale value and you have to pay a specialist to dismantle them and take them away. I have an ancient aga seventy/ eighty originally anthracite fuelled but converted to oil at some point pre me. At todays oil cost it’d be 350 a month to run so it’s off and
will stay off. I have an electric immersion hob on top of cold aga and a microwave. I do have an oven in an outbuilding if needed but I do lots of one pot cooking in winter.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 28/08/2022 07:38

Lemonblossom · 28/08/2022 07:01

I suspect the market has taken a nosedive. If your installing solar though I’d consider keeping it and just only turning it on October to April.

You can eat salads from May to September!

Or maybe buy ready made pork pies for the five months when you can't use the Aga!

🤔

misscockerspaniel · 28/08/2022 08:55

You say electric Aga? Is it just an oven? Aga also sells "normal" ovens under the Aga brand which look traditional but don't have any functions other than cooking.

Janedoe82 · 28/08/2022 09:01

Keep it. I can’t wait to get mine back on in October. They cook beautifully and I love coming home from work on a winters night to a cosy kitchen/ family room.

TheWildRumpyPumpus · 28/08/2022 09:04

We have one (it was in the house when we bought it) and are currently working out what to replace it with as it will be completely unaffordable once our fixed energy deal runs out next year. As a PP said, the kitchen is unbearably hot for many months of the year, I don’t recommend!

Hyacinth2 · 28/08/2022 09:08

It runs 24/7 which most people don't need heatwise.
But if you deided to make the kitchen your living room and spend the days in this one heated room, turned it low and adapted cooking to this lower power it might not be so expensive (can also dry clothes).

LizziesTwin · 28/08/2022 09:15

Different AGAs cost very different amounts to run, there are some modern electric ones which come on at specific times set by you and others that run all the time. We have a 4 oven oil Aga which is off for the summer, we have a separate induction hob & electric oven. I cook very differently in the winter, lots of roasted veg turned into soups & slow cooked casseroles.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 28/08/2022 09:17

Does it also provide hot water?
DM had an Aga all her life until a year ago? Only ever really needed to turn it of for July/August, but it was in a huge room in an old, high ceilings, drafty house.

Labraradabrador · 28/08/2022 09:26

Our electric aga (and older model converted to electric ) costs about £10 a day to run before price hikes - probably north of £20/day now. We turned ours off in spring, but don’t see it coming on again other than maybe Christmas. Fortunately we have a regular range in the annexe that we can use until we get our kitchen redone. At £20 a day, it wouldn’t take too long before cost of running outstrips cost of replacing.

I also HATE cooking on it - would be genuinely interested in what people like better? I found the hot side was too hot unless looking to get a quick boil or a quick sear, and the warm side was not quite hot enough so cooking took forever and difficult to achieve a nice sauté. The ovens were okay for most things, but difficult to get things crisp, and kind of a nightmare for baking when I wanted more precision with temperature.

it is lovely and cosy, but not really worth running costs.

H1Drangea · 28/08/2022 09:27

We have an old oil aga that has been converted to electricity , so not the same
It is ruinously expensive to run ( even before the price rises )
We only turn it on at Christmas , yes it does the hot water and dries clothes , but so does an immersion heater and a tumble drier that just get used when needed

Reallybadidea · 28/08/2022 09:43

Bloody hell, an ASHP, a low EPC and an electric aga - I hope you're made of money!

Without a doubt I would get rid. Cosy is all well and good but there are cheaper ways of doing it!

BroganLee · 28/08/2022 09:51

I have an Electric Aga but I used some cupboard space to house an electric fan assisted oven and had an induction hob inserted in my new counter top. I love the Aga and it would ruin my kitchen to take it out but it's turned off and we don't use it, except for storage. Smile

Cloudonthemountains · 28/08/2022 09:58

I hated my gas aga. It was lovely to look at and suited the house perfectly, but why have your cooker rings and ovens on 24 hours a day? It makes no sense. We didn't have a second cooker, and it was so hot in the kitchen thanks to the aga that I used to cook in a bikini sometimes. Plus I hated the lack of temperature control when cooking. I'd definitely get rid.

LibertyLily · 28/08/2022 10:35

We inherited a ten year old gas aga when we bought our previous house. Having tried living/cooking with it for a year we decided we didn't get on with it, so sold it to a company that reconditions them for resale. In 2016 we got £800 for it...plus they dismantled it too.

They look lovely and it did suit the house - although we planned moving the kitchen to a different room so would have to have moved the aga then anyway - but it was ridiculously expensive to run even then. I definitely wouldn't choose to buy one and would probably get rid of an electric one if I were in in your position @GingerPigz

LibertyLily · 28/08/2022 10:37

Posted too soon!

Our current house (far more rural than the last) had an ancient oil-fired rayburn which could have been reconditioned but it was the first thing we jettisoned after moving in 🙄

MrsWooster · 28/08/2022 10:41

Depends on the room if it’s too hot- north facing, or low room and it may well be ok to be on all year round.
With solar panels in the mix I’d definitely keep it, but I adored my old one and still miss it…

byvirtue · 28/08/2022 10:42

I have an aga and think they have had their day. Unless it’s a brand new one it’s likely to be very expensive to run. I worked out our (electric but older one) cost £100 a month last winter (we are on a fix so would cost £250 in todays rates)

They also don’t cook well unless you are happy to keep rotating food so it evenly cooks there are two temperatures too hot and not hot enough. I’ve had mine 6 years and will get rid of it when we redo our kitchen, very pretty and once aspirational but not anymore.

AnnaMagnani · 28/08/2022 10:51

Air source heat pump but a low EPC? Don't buy this house, it won't be warm and your electric bills will be huge aga or no aga.

There is a reason you are viewing it in the summer.

MissFranKubelik · 28/08/2022 11:11

I came into this board to ask the same question. should we stick or get rid?

My gas aga is off for the summer and was interested in what other aga users are planning to do with the cost of living crisis. We don’t have another cooker - I cook on a ninja foodie during the summer. I have learnt to love cooking on the aga and it does mean we have one warm room all the winter for homework, socialising etc. it also means I can get a wash done and dried within 12 hours. It also heats the kids bedrooms well which are upstairs next to the kitchen.

Pros and cons. Not sure what to do either OP.