After todays Jeremy Vine Show where the AGA was attacked as an inefficient piece of metal that only people with Range Rovers have as another status symbol I like to say: 'where's my Range Rover please?' Does one suddenly appear after you get the AGA or is it the other way around. :-)
I can agree with some of the negative sentiments. An AGA Cooker is of an old design and in comparison with a modern condensing boiler that is 97% efficient their efficiency rating can't compare but I don't think people buy them for that.
They can be totally recycled and I think the current new ones are made from recycled materials. See the AGA site for the Green AGA Facts.
If you choose the right one - mines a 30 Amp Electric one - it won't cost you a whole lot to run - ours costs us about £10 a week. Sometimes when the boost comes on it (it's got a booster where it will start charging at normal rates rather than the cheap over night ones if it gets below a certain temperature) this cost will be slightly higher but in all the booster doesn't come on regularly. But it is certainly cheaper to run than an 13 amp, Oil, or mains Gas AGA which in all cost a lot more. See the AGA site for the official AGA running costs though the gas prices to me look rather on the conservative side as it was costing me £40 a month to run my gas AGA when I had it installed 8 years ago and prices have rocketed since then. But the new AIMS fitted to the gas AGA must make a difference.
