Gas Aga - To sell or not to sell?

kari59

I inherited a two oven natural gas Aga when I moved into my house in December.
I think its ugly but also very expensive to run and maybe bad from a carbon footprint point of view.
All it does is cook, no hot water or heating from it (apart from warming the kitchen and part of the garage wall). I am thinking of replacing it with a range probably dual fuel, as thats the only thing that will fit in the space.:question:
So I guess the question is would my bank balance and the planet benefit from selling the Aga which has to run 24/7 to another cooker that you turn on and off when required.

Canucklehead

Good morning: There is a very strong market for second hand Agas...we bought and OH refurbished one for a previous property we were selling on...fortunately we only had to pay for one season of gas before we sold.:eek:
Make some dosh, get yourself a nice gas range cooker and you're quids in!

HTH

Canucklehead

Debt_Free_Chick

kari59 wrote: »

I inherited a two oven natural gas Aga when I moved into my house in December.
I think its ugly but also very expensive to run and maybe bad from a carbon footprint point of view.

Apparently not - and it shouldn't be expensive to run. It's designed to retain heat - but if you've not found that to be the case, then I can't argue with that Are you sure it doesn't simply need a service?

All it does is cook, no hot water or heating from it (apart from warming the kitchen and part of the garage wall).

Just FYI - Aga was intended for cooking only. Some (post 1974, I think) can provide hot water too, but only if a hot water jacket has been fitted.

Rayburn, OTOH, cook, provide hot water and fuel a CH system

So I guess the question is would my bank balance and the planet benefit from selling the Aga which has to run 24/7 to another cooker that you turn on and off when required.

If you think that the Aga is bad for the planet, then selling it to someone else to use is not going to have any effect

Are you sure it's the Aga that's eating gas and not the boiler (assuming you have one for CH & HW)?

Anyway - selling the Aga .... where do you live? Is there likely to be a market, locally? If you're in town (or City) then the local market is probably quite limited. Too rural and you might find the requirement is for oil fired (we have no mains gas in our village).

Also, you'll need a buyer willing to dismantle & collect, I assume?

Let us know roughly where you live and see what we can find.

I was given £800 trade in for my old oil Aga, which had been badly treated by the previous owner - but the dealer was still going to refurb it and then would have sold it on for about £3500. That said, it would have been fully stripped and completely re-enamelled, so a bargain compared with the cost of new (about £7k :eek:).

Yes - I am biased to Aga. Simply wouldn't have anything else

Canucklehead

Hi again...interesting blog here about Agas... http://www.housebuildersupdate.co.uk/2005/10/my-wife-wants-aga-help.html

Further details about gas consumption, Aga's DHW facility and much more available on the Aga website www.aga-rayburn.co.uk

Rayburn now offer a range with a condensing boiler to meet Building regs...addresses concerns about fuel efficiency;)

HTH

canucklehead

Debt_Free_Chick

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi again...interesting blog here about Agas... http://www.housebuildersupdate.co.uk/2005/10/my-wife-wants-aga-help.html

:rotfl: :rotfl:

"Mark" doesn't have clue about the correct way to use an Aga (many comments exaggerated for literary effect, methinks ).

That said, many users don't

ormus

makes me laugh, ive been to posh houses with a 7 grand aga, and they eat out all the time!
they only make real sense when combined with heating/HW and the cook is cooking all day.

its just another fashion statement. we really are a decadent society now.

Debt_Free_Chick

ormus wrote: »

makes me laugh, ive been to posh houses with a 7 grand aga, and they eat out all the time!
they only make real sense when combined with heating/HW and the cook is cooking all day.

Oh dear, another misconception - they store heat. They don't belt it out all day. The stored heat is only released when cooking is done. Then what's used is replenished and stored again until required. And .... they only do a two, three or four oven Aga - definitely not a seven-oven :rotfl:

its just another fashion statement. we really are a decadent society now.

Another misconception. First manufactured in 1920, I think. The design is little changed since then, so hardly "state of the art" fashion. In some rural areas, there was once little choice and as they last a lifetime, you bought one and one only. Many existing Agas have been converted from the original solid fuel version which was the only option in those areas without mains gas.

I replaced mine two years ago - the old one was 30 years old and only replaced due to lack of maintenance by the previous owner. Even then, it wasn't scrapped but refurbished and resold.

I can well understand that those who've not owned (and correctly used one) can't understand the concept - but they really shouldn't be rubbished through a lack of experience or understanding.

Granted - not everyone wants one, and nor should they - at least, not just because of enthusiastic owners like me

I've posted on very many boards in defence of the Aga - but the criticisms are usually owners who don't use them correctly or those who've never owned and .... erm .... can't really speak from experience Genuinely no offence intended, but I can't resist balancing criticism of the Aga

kari59

I did use the Aga for 6 months before turning it off when the (summer) arrived, so I understand how to use it pretty much, and I know its great for roasts and breakfasts and airing your washing etc., but I wonder if I use it enough to warrant the expense. The previous house owners left basic electric oven which I have used since, but its in the utility room which is a pain.

So is your Aga run on gas? If so could you estimate a weekly running cost?

Debt_Free_Chick

kari59 wrote: »

I did use the Aga for 6 months before turning it off when the (summer) arrived, so I understand how to use it pretty much, and I know its great for roasts and breakfasts and airing your washing etc., but I wonder if I use it enough to warrant the expense. The previous house owners left basic electric oven which I have used since, but its in the utility room which is a pain.

So is your Aga run on gas? If so could you estimate a weekly running cost?

No mains gas is our area, so mine runs on kerosene (oil).

I have no other form of cooking - no oven, hob, microwave ... nothing So mine is on 24/7/365 (except when I run out of oil )

Do you have gas CH too? And is that on twice a day to heat water? And is the CH on too? I rather suspect your boiler might be burning more gas than the Aga.

Have you tried turning the Aga down to low overnight - and any time when you know you won't be using it for several hours? Before you do this, you'll need to experiment to find out how long it takes to get back to full heat. It's not 24hrs as some suggest

When I have mine serviced, it's usually in the morning. It's fired up at around lunch time and ready to cook in the evening - so I mine takes only about 5 hours from cold to get to full heat.

Even so, you can cook on less than full heat but it takes longer.

Are you keeping use of the hotplates to a minimum? You know about doing 90% of your cooking IN the ovens? And you're using the cold shelf too?

I can't compare fuel consumption with mine as my Aga heats the water too. But we use about 3,600-4,000 litres of kerosene a year ... doesn't really help though

Debt_Free_Chick

Apart from using the Aga for 100% of cooking, I don't have a tumble drier either - so all washing is dried on/around the Aga when it can't go out on the line.

HugoSP

We were given an Aga. All I had to do was travel up the road to get it and it was rolled out of the front of the house on scaffold poles.

My wife doesn't like them, so it is due for an investment property that will have a large kitchen, provided we can sort the flu out properly. It doesn't do HW or CH.

But I think it will set the kitchen off nicely, and keep it warm. The kitchen will be the only lower ground floor room in that house and I would hope that the heat will permiate up to the other floors.