Monbiot and the AGA man

[CHRIS]

But grew up in Hampshire, Chris.

Ah so did I for a while in Alton.

You only grew up for a while?

It was overrated!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I too am curious about references to Agas doing the heating as well. Before purchasing my first heat store Aga in 2003 I always thought that there was an Aga that did both, but when I asked about that, I was told 'the Rayburn does cooking and heating, the Aga is a cooking and heat store only appliance' Very odd, since I am sure I remember an Aga heating the home of a friend years ago. :?

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm pretty sure Aga made a separate, but matching, DHW boiler whereas it was all combined within a Rayburn.

 

[caliwag]

Mmm...I had an old coal fired one and I used to tell people it heated the home because it was such a fantastic change from having nothing, all the damp disappeared, including my bad chest. My view then (80s) was that every home should have one...a fantastic friend!!
There was a supremely hot cylinder (especially after I left the coal door ajar and went to the pub!) and a radiator/towel rail in the bathroom...that's all you needed, even in Hull.
An Aga has not done more than that...cook, ambient heat, water heating and a dump radiator in the bathroom...there was/is one in Falling Water...marvellous, admittedly for the servant!
but never full heating.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks for solving the mystery!

 

[yamin]

My parents still get all their hot water from theirs - more than they can use!

 

[Nina]

Our gas aga is over thirty years old. We are having it replaced ...we inherited it with the house but it is in a dreadfully shabby/scratched/dirty state. I have never previously had an aga and suspected that they were overated but have changed my mind. Our current aga has a boiler and supplies our hot water and warms the house so that we use the central heating much less. I also never boil a kettle, use a toaster or tumbledryer. It cuts back on my ironing. However, our gas bills are high and the aga chappie who came to 'advise' on the new one recommended not getting one with boiler as it is a very expensive way to heat water as most of this hot water is not used regularily (we have a 'normal' boiler and our appliances are cold fill). He reckons that this will cut down our gas bill significantly. They now do this 'AIMS' thingy on some of their agas that is also supposed to save fuel.
However, I still suspect that they are big consumers of energy. I fret about this as I am of the ilk that goes round turning off lights, heating and lowering temperatures on radiators and telling family that if they are cold, they should be wearing extra woolies, thermals or any old bit of winter gear they can find!

 

[Penners]

Our modern, oil-fired Esse is a wonderful device. It does the cooking, heats our domestic hot water and runs the central heating (16 rads). It has twin burners - one for the cooking and one for the heating/water. I reckon our fuel bills are about as reasonable as this house would allow.

 

[Penners]

An Aga ...marvellous, admittedly for the servant

What - just the one?

 

[Nina]

The lady in the aga shop said that the night storage agas were the cheapest to run at this time but were not much cheaper to buy than the usual aga... my husband reckons that they just have plenty of these in stock..... ah, such cynicism....

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I think that they actually assemble the Aga for each customer after the deposit has been paid--- normally a 6-8 week wait, except in the Autumn when it is around 10-12 weeks, before delivery and installation dates can be arranged.

 

[Penners]

A night storage Aga sounds like a cockeyed idea to me - unless you always like a cooked breakfast and a cold supper.

 

[MdB]

Just a quick note for those running any heating appliance from electricity and are thinking about Economy 7. What most people don't know is that there is also Economy 10 which is a little bit more expensive but gives you 10 hrs of cheap electricity (instead of 7) and crucially, these hours are spread across the day (1pm to 4pm, 8pm to 10pm and 12am to 5am if I remember right). These gives you heat closer to the times when you need it.

 

[sidd]

We have an oil Aga and it is a wonderful luxury. I am under no illusion that it is economical, and it remains partly because there is a limit to how much I am willing to piss my wife off and I think the house would be worth less without it.

What is wrong with it? Many things:

1. The combustion is inefficient and out of date (there is a 3rd party alternative but it's noisy and expensive)
2. There is no way to have a balanced flue, and the ventilation wastes heat (there could be a ventilating heat exchanger)
3. There is no condensing (the exhaust heat could be used for something)
4. The insulation is utterly hopeless.
5. The fact that it is on all the time without effective insulation is very wasteful
None of the above is insurmountable. All it takes is acceptance from Aga that it could be done better.

Imagine a pressure jet oil fired stove with triple glazing and always on hobs with real insulation. It would barely use any fuel. There would be a radiating section that took the heat out of the flue. And both the availability of the cooking heat and supplemental room heating would be on a double timeswitch.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Our modern, oil-fired Esse is a wonderful device. It does the cooking, heats our domestic hot water and runs the central heating (16 rads). It has twin burners - one for the cooking and one for the heating/water. I reckon our fuel bills are about as reasonable as this house would allow.

And how many thousands of litres of oil does it use roughly over the year?

I am trying to compare it with my oil boiler, 11rads and electric cooker.

 

[Nina]

Our new aga (like our previous one) will be run on gas. I have a two oven one at the mo and will be switching to a three oven one to give me more cooking space when we entertain. A lot of people seem to have a cooker and an aga but I don't want to clutter my new kitchen with extra cooking appliances especially as I am not keen on a lot of kitchen activity in this area . The aga people tell me that with the newer insulation that is now used and no longer having a boiler (for hot water) attached, our running costs should be considerably less ..... hmmm, we shall see.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Would your 2 oven aga be needing a home when you change over?

 

[Penners]

Our modern, oil-fired Esse is a wonderful device. It does the cooking, heats our domestic hot water and runs the central heating (16 rads). It has twin burners - one for the cooking and one for the heating/water. I reckon our fuel bills are about as reasonable as this house would allow.

And how many thousands of litres of oil does it use roughly over the year?

Evenin' marm. Our tank is 3000 litres, and I reckon a tank-full lasts a year. As we turn the Esse off for about 3 months in the summer, that represents all of the central heating for the year, plus nine months of hot water and cooking.

 

[worms]

Our oil-fired Rayburn 480k also uses about 3,000 litres per annum, for 12 months of all heating, cooking and hot water. There are only 8 radiators on the system but the house is poorly insulated and in a slightly cooler climate than chez Penners.

 

[Schoolmarm]

So you two are doing much better than me. I am using 3000 litres just to run the central heating.
That is so depressing.