How to reduce running costs for Aga Dual control

Newnoel

Hello - as part of a recent house refurbishment, we bought an Aga Dual Control which Mrs. NewNoel loves, as it is on on 24/7 and keeps the kitchen toasty warm and you dont have to wait for ovens to heat up, saves on a spin dryer, etc.

My concern is the running cost. The kitchen is very large on the ground floor of a large detached country house, but even then the kitchen just gets too warm and we need to leave windows and doors open to let the heat out. 

The wife tells me that is not economical or practical to turn off the ovens - as they take up to an hour to heat up. Is this true? I am concerned about how warm the house could get in a hot Summer.

Is there a Summer mode or similar that I missed that would allow more efficient running of the Aga, to reduce overall running costs and not waste energy?

Reed_Richards

Look here https://www.agaliving.com/buying/aga-buyers-guides/aga-running-costs and work out which model you have.

dunstonh

The total control has three modes effectively.  cold, slumber and normal.
From slumber to normal it takes 45-60 minutes to heat up the oven but only around 10 minutes for the plates.   From cold to normal it's about 3 hours. 

I am concerned about how warm the house could get in a hot Summer.

We have a 30amp, that needs about 2 days to get fully charged.    Like many users, we turn it off from June to Sept.  Partly as we use it less in that period and partly to reduce the ambient heat chucked out.  We revert to the normal cooker.  My wife hates it as she prefers the AGA.  

The electric AGAs typically have a timer to allow you to turn off the AGA when not in use.  So, you can use the timer to put it into cold or slumber when it wont be used.
The total control was a relatively short lived model and it wasn't designed with the intention of having every oven/plate running on full 24/7.  It was the first step to provide a model that was designed to be lower energy use but they since have moved on to a newer model with more options to reduce energy.    It would cost you more than the 30amp, the last of the old 24/7 versions, and negate the energy-saving if left on full across all ovens/plates 24/7.

matelodave

As far as I know, an AGA is a bit like a Rolls Royce, if you are worried about the fuel consumption then you really can't afford one. They are a lifestyle choice but you have to accept that they will cost you a lot more to run than a conventional cooker/heater

Reed_Richards

Whilst the "Rolls Royce" comment is fair, half a million pounds will now buy you an electric model https://lunaz.design/cars/rolls-royce .  If you follow the link I gave you can see that not all Agas are equal when it comes to running costs.  Unfortunately the "Dual Control" is not one of the cheaper-to-run models and will cost you £14.70 per week to run for the ovens plus the cost of the hotplates.  And that is only with the ovens in "economy setting".  

Newnoel

Thanks all - what I've agreed with the missus is that we can switch off the hot plates overnight, which saves approx £45 per month.