Aga etc

[Joanne]

As it looks like we are now finally on our way to France (fingers crossed) I am now allowing myself to think about the work that needs doing in the house.  We will need heating and a new kitchen and were thinking about an Aga etc to do both.  Does anyone have any tips on buying/installing etc? We wondered if it was better to buy here and have delivered in France or perhaps if they are all the rage over there and easy to get.  We would like one that allows water to be heated in the summer months without the heat escaping into the room as we will be living quite a long way south.  Anyway I'd be grateful for any advice at all as my kmowledge of range cookers wouldn't even fill a postage stamp!

[Ewa]

Like you, we're on our way in the next few weeks and have just bought a second hand Aga locally in Devon. We're shipping it over and getting either somebody local (Aga do have representation in France) or someone from the dealer in Devon to connect it for us (more likely a French local as the Aga is an LPG one). We had considered getting an oil fired Aga but found out that the oil used in France is thicker than the stuff you buy in the UK - although they are developing new burners to allow conversion to French oil.

Range cookers are fab - all have limitations of some kind or another - but if you want a warm heart to your new home you can't beat it! Have a look at the French Aga website or the UK one which no doubt will have links: www.agafrance.fr or www.aga-rayburn.co.uk (PS you can tell I work for one of their sister companies!!).

[Tg1]

Don't want to be a killjoy but Agas are hot in summer. Here in Oxfordshire it was pleasant morning and evening but in a heatwave the kitchen became difficult to cook in late afternoon. I wouldn't want one any further south.

We have just had ours taken out as we are redoing kitchen and as the children have grown up and I have gone back to work it no longer fitted our lifestyle.

Having said that, now the evenings are chilly I miss it but I'm sure I will get over that when the central heating is put in.

tg

[Russethouse]

Recently saw an Aga than incorporated a ceramic hob - fab but top of the range (no pun intended !) I guess

[letrangere]

I don't want to be a killjoy either but echo tg's comment.  Don't know which part of France you are moving to but an estate friend in 24 says it's a common mistake for Brits to automatically install an Aga, she sees it often.  She maintains it's far too hot for most of the year to have one running but personally I would question that.  Correct me someone.  M

[LesFlamands]

We are in the Dordogne and have had our Aga for the past 13 years. We bought it secondhand in Devon just before we moved. It was oil fired but as mentioned the oil isn't the right grade here so I eventually converted it to LPG - ( had to go on a course in the UK to learn how to do it, not with Aga but with the supplier of the conversion kit). We don't have any other cooker except for the barbeque so we leave it on most of the time - it can get a bit warm in the kitchen in August. Our Aga has a boiler for the domestic hot water but Agas do not do central heating - you will need a Rayburn for that which looks similar but is not the same beast at all. Agas and Rayburns are available from Aga France. In my opinion old Agas are better than the new ones and I have imported a few over the years from a top quality renovator in the UK which are modernised to run on LPG. Agas running on wood are also not available and again you would need a Rayburn (and a lot of wood) for this.

[Jc]

Aga & Rayburn are part of the same group;because of so many complaints they now make cookers with gas/electric tops for better controllability and original style ovens.There are French cookers that will do heating and cooking but my French friends appeared to spend most of their time feeding it with wood.

[Montcigoux]

AGA 's do not provide heating. An AGA can possibly heat hot water and one radiator with the right fittings. If you want an AGA to provide central heating you have to buy an additional AGA boiler which is quite substantial in size which matches in style and is usually fitted alongside the AGA.

A RAYBURN from the same company can provide central heating for a limited number of radiators with a back boiler but they do that at the expense of the heat going to the oven agian you have to get the right model.

An AGA is a cooker and is always on and maintained at a static temperature so that you don't have to heat up the ovens or the hot plates  befoe you cook on them. There are in fact no hob or oven controls you  choose the appropriate hob or oven depending on the cooking temp. you want eg hot oven for roasting cool oven for long slow cooking. To cook on an AGA you can also learn techniques like putting a cold shelf in to cool down the hot oven. If you intend to cook on an AGA and you can afford it and have room for it get the 4 oven model the 2 oven is fairly inflexible. Note that there is no grill at all on an AGA and you have to learn a different cooking technique as an alternative.

A key problem with cooking in an AGA is heat loss from the oven and hot plates once you start to use them. Second nature to an experienced user but difficult for a novice as you have to plan carefully for cooking for large numbers and for safety's sake need a back up normal cooker.

A RAYBURN is also always on but you can in fact turn up the oven at the expense of any heating and it takes a long time for the oven to warm up. Rayburn's are not that good or flexible for cooking but you can get used to them again no grill.

You can turn the overall thermostat on an AGA down but if you do this then the all the hotplates and the oven will no longer be at the correct temp and there is no way you can turn them up without turning up the thermostat and waiting a couple of hours for them to heat up again.

Because an AGA gives off a constant dry heat they make large old kitchens feel lovely and cosy. I also think they look great.

Whether you would need to turn your off or not depends on whether your kitchen is south facing or not and how thick the walls are and how big it is. South of the Dordogne you would defnitely have to turn it off between June and September but in the Limousin they would be great. That means you will need to buy and find space for an alternative cooker for the summer months.

New AGAS now have matching and v expensive electric cookers which act like a conventional cooker ie you have to turn them on and set the temp to cook.

Some points to consider

Size  - your AGA has to fit and it needs a brick build plinth ( they are very heavy) and the plumbing has to be fitted exactly to the specification. There is no getting around the size specification double check carefuly that it will fit before ordering.Remember to allow for the thickness of plaster, tiles etc if you are still renovating.

Ideally you want the AGA tight fited into a chimney breast or against units. Once fitted you can't ever move them out to clean so avoid any gaps at the side or back that you can't access for cleaning where food will drop down and lots of fluff and debris will collect

Ideally if you can make sure you have a surface on each side of the AGA to put very hot pans and dishes down.

Flue it must be flued to an outside wall except for an electric AGA and the kitchen will need an adequate external ventilation source difficult to fit in thick stone walls

Annual maintenance one or two services per year and even in the UK they are eye wateringly expensive over £100 if no parts are needed.  Again parts are expensive. I would check before ordering one how near your nearest French agent is and how much the services  and parts will cost

Fuel costs again always on although insulated -so expensive to run and not very green they will add substantially to your oil bill.

Depending on the separate location fo your central heating boiler they may not work properly if they have to share the same oil tank seek advice from the supplier re this

Overall cost around up to 10k or more for 4 oven version if all the installation costs taken into account eg construction of the plinth, pipes back to your oil tank and so on.

Beware of second hand AGAS make sure you have seen it working and look at the service record and bills. Difficult to enforce a guarantee if there is one once you move to France.

Dust and dirt even the oil fired ones need constant cleaning and the solid fuel Rayburns like my one here in the Uk are horrendous  - film of dirt everywhere in the kitchen.

There are some excellent one day AGA cooking courses if you are an AGA newbie and some very good cookery and hints and tips books especially by  Amy Willcox and Mary Berry.

I would definitely have one in France if I could afford it even if it had to be turned off in the summer.