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I've just found an entry on AGA Central Forum about someone using this company to repair the control board on a 30 Amp AGA.
As I want to make sure I remember it if I have the same problem on my 30 Amp AGA here are the details:
30 Amp AGA Control Board Repair Company RadTronix offer a 3 day turn around of repair of control board for 30 amp AGA. www.radtronix.co.uk with 12 month warranty on repair.
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For me the running costs of an AGA are still an enigma, and I often get asked how much will this AGA cost to run by people who have just acquired one on house purchase, for example.
Firstly have a look at these figures:
Offical AGA Running Cost Figures
From my experience of meeting 100s of AGA owners there is a certain percentage where people express exasperation over the running costs, I mean why would they tell the humble AGA cleaner their running costs? Isn't there some differences in running costs between AGAs of the same type? I mean do different AGA oil burner systems cost more to run? Are oil conversion kits more costly to run? Are some electric AGAs more costly to run?
I have been told of high heating bills (whole house that included the AGA heating cost) of £600 a month in two Cotswold barn conversions. The running cost of the oil AGAs was probably about £100 a month and the rest was for heating the house space. Though do four AGAs cost more to run as both of these were four oven AGAs? Does the size of the space in which the AGA is positioned, i.e high vaulting ceiling, make any difference to the running cost of the AGA? I think it is pretty obvious that it does as large fuel bills go with large houses, having an AGA will be part of these costs. This is the reason that I am seeing a trend now with large house owners looking at alternative ways to heat their houses, with bore holes and solar panels etc.
For me any of these running costs seem way to much to even consider buying one of these AGAs. I changed my old gas heating boiler (1970s) in my house last year for a modern boiler and the fuel bill was 25% of what it was before, a huge saving. Surely AGA with all their millions of profit could come up with a modern fuel efficient green AGA? Although the AGA Total Control is being sold as being 'economical to run' see page 5 of their brochure page headed 'Why it's time for AGA Total Control', what is economical? Is it really the new green AGA?
The point I am trying to make is that my 30 Amp AGA is cheap to run, the figures for running costs are 100% accurate at £11 a week, month on month, year on year since I have had it.
The AGA Total Control which looks fabulous and reading all the information on it seems to be the AGA for the 21st Century. But I was told by the salesman in the AGA shop that running costs for it would be higher than the 13 Amp AGA. So what are the proper figures for running the new AGA Total Control? What does this equate to in pounds per month?
In the press release over the weekend AGA announced huge profits and also that 1 in 3 of the AGAs sold by the AGA group is the new Total AGA Control. So great news for the new AGA.I really don't think cost of purchase or running costs are going to put the people off in the demographic this aimed at though for some of us a fuel efficient AGA is the way forward.
And really if I could buy an AGA Total Control I'd love to have one to find out what it is like.
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Should you buy an AGA Total Control?
I'd say if you are thinking about spending £9500 on a Total Control why not get a 30Amp AGA? They seem to be on offer quite a bit. If you want to switch the AGA off in the Summer you could also buy an AGA module so that you have something to use in the Summer when the AGA is off or maybe just a small single oven and hob.
My 30 Amp is costing £11 a week to run - I can say accurately as it has a separate off peak meter. As we have smallish house it heats the whole house except for my front room (which is down steps from the main house as used to be the village shop). So for this running cost you could even leave it on all the time - like we do. It does mean our kitchen gets to 35 to 40 degrees in the Summer (we open the back door) but having the AGA on throughout the year has its benefits: we can dry things quickly on it and we can heat up our AGA kettle any time we need a brew, and of course we can cook on it striaght away without having to wait any time at all!
As I go to the local AGA shop regularly, to show people I am training for my business, I have got to know the people there. I have been told by them that the AGA Total control really is ideal for say a holiday cottage where you are going to be for the weekend and you want to turn it on whilst you are driving down the motorway. Or if you kitchen designer tells you that you must have an AGA in your kitchen then it would be the one to buy so you'd get the AGA look and the kudos of the AGA name. It could just sit there and you'd be able to just switch it on if you need to use it.
The AGA shop people told me that it is going to be more expensive to run than a normal AGA. As a normal AGA is costing about £30 to £35 a week to run - I have heard some horror stories on both the 13 Amp AGA running costs (£7 a day which was being metered) - this may have been a four oven AGA and also non AIMS.
The AGA Total control doesn't have that much in the way of ambient heat. I think this is because the amount of insulation they put in it on the production line reduces this. So your house won't be a warm or cosy as it would be with a normal AGA cooker, you may have problems heating a kettle when you want and you may have trouble drying things on it. So what it really boils down to is a very expensive but lovely looking ordinary cooker.
The AGA Total control arrives 80 per cent built as it is built on a production line. When AGA survey your house they will bring a pallet on wheels to check to see if it will go through your doors. As the AGA is approx 300KG steps up to your house are going to cause a problem as well as door widths. But if you have a new house build then of course you'll be able to plan the installation as part of the build. Ordinary AGAs are built on site and as they are made of cast iron it requires skill to get them all lined up properly. Is there going to be the same amount of skill required to commission the AGA Total Control? Hmm well that is a good question.
It may be unreliable as the reason they are building on a production line is that they are trying to get build consistency right. That is they are trying to make it as reliable as possible. The AGA service engineer who came to repair my AGA this year told me that a lot of their jobs are fixing 13 Amp AGAs - PCB board needs changing. As they charge £100 for a call out it is going to be expensive even when the AGA is in warranty. And out of warranty you've got to cough up for the parts too.
If you do get a 30 Amp AGA it comes with a five year guarantee and this only stays valid if you have the AGA serviced annually. What the annual service entails on a 30 Amp AGA God knows. A few checks on the wires with a ammeter I'd guess and then a clean bill of health award. But by doing this it means that if one of your banks of elements fails in your 30 Amp AGA then you can get them replaced under the warranty, so this might save you a couple of hundred quid.
We have had our AGA cooker for 4 years now - it was a reconditioned one from Mr Cooker see 30 Amp AGA Cooker - we paid £5500 for it and it still looks like new four years on . I'd recommend Tony from Mr Cooker if you are looking to get one. We have had to replace elements for the last two years. The cost of the elements have been £150 each replacement. So £150 last year and £150 this year. With a new 30 Amp AGA the elements are in banks of 14, so if one goes wrong then you'll have to replace the whole bank, it isn't cheap about £250 - my element replacement cost was for the replacement of one element as my older 30 Amp AGA has the elements in series - call out charge £80 plus thirty minutes labour £24 and the element replacement cost itself. As our AGA is older we don't bother with any sort of servicing. So you have to look at this cost compared with the servicing costs of say a gas AGA - about £120 a year for one service a year, or an oil AGA - about £240 a year with two services a year (they coke up you know :-)).
But saying that the Total Control AGA may be the way to go for you. It looks fabulous and really if cost or purchase and running costs aren't an issue I'd say go for it.
If you already have an AGA Total Control would you contact me or leave a comment below please as I am about to do a video on them. From AGAs press release today they are selling a lot of them. 1 in 3 AGAs sold are the new AGA Total Control. So it really is getting people's attention.
Yes just as I thought @jamesmcintosh has been on the case and put this fine video of the new AGA, the AGA Total Control which was launched yesterday. And as I thought the AGA is just like a normal 3 oven 13 Amp but with some big changes in the way it can be controlled making it a must have for busy people who want to have an AGA that costs the earth to run. The AGA Total Control has got the great new touch control panel and it looks like they have got that extra 10% in size on the top plates they said was an improvement by just making the plates larger and doing away with the rings which are usually around the top plates. From what I can see in this video there doesn't appear to be gap around the ring which means nothing can get down there.
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Here is my top five Ovens I Love to Clean with the best at number 1 ;-)
After my post of my top five ovens I hate to clean here is my list of my top five ovens I love to clean:
1. AGA Cooker. Well it had to be number one and is the reason I clean so many of them. They are far better, and easier to clean that a double oven range cooker, and you get a great feeling from the result and so does the customer, and they pay accordingly. Really the AGA was how I got into oven cleaning and if I could clean them everyday I would.
2. The Mercury Double Oven Range. A fantastic looking cooker with the great electronic knobs that contol the burns. Easy to clean as it hasn't been around for too long and the ones I have seen so far haven't required a full strip down - though of course this may change over time.
3. The Rangemaster 110. Every body who has one seems to love them and we just see lots and lots of them. Easy doors to clean as sealed - though I have been told that the newer ones have slits in the sides; oh dear.
4. The Bosch standard double oven. It usually is a relatively easy clean and as the doors are sealed there isn't a requirement to take the door apart and clean inside and if you have to it is just a case of flipping the glass off. It has that 'easy clean' grey enamel which needs some work but the end result is special.
5. The AEG standard double oven - Again easy access to door glass and oven bits are a dream to clean.
You probably can see a trend here it's the nice quality standard doubles with lots of self cleaning bits and sealed doors I like and the top three are all made by the same company are made by AGA Rangemaster. I don't like all of their products by the way, the AGA Master Chef is a really awful range which is very cheap finish and feel.
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I'm off to clean some more AGAs tomorrow, so an AGA Cleaning day. I'm cleaning two AGA cookers in Gloucestershire. So wish me luck. I've got a four oven one to start off with in Wickwar and then a two oven one in Amberley. So fingers crossed they aren't too dirty as dirty ones especially the four oven AGAs where we clean the inside of ovens 3 and 4 can be particulary tough.
Here is another video from James McIntosh which he did before Christmas. Here he goes through a quick check on the AGA cooker to make sure that it is ready for a day of cooking. Here he swiches off the AIMS (Aga Intelligent Management System) and puts the AGA onto manual and then gives his little saying 'Doors to Manual, Cross Check the Mercury'. He gives details of how to go about getting AIMS retro fitted to your AGA.
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I've been out AGA cleaning today and whilst there I gave the clients some AGA cleaning tips. Bascially you need to clean up after yourself and don't let it build up especially on top of the AGA cooker. I usually give clients some cooking tips too and I am currently recommending James McIntosh's AGa cooking videos that he did a couple of months agao. So here is another one: t looks like a great recipe and I can't wait to try it, all that Mango chutney will make it just fab. From this video I learnt that you need to put stuff at the top of the roasting oven to get it to brown.
After the cooking there's the AGA cleaning and with the pan as it's going to get sticky you need to clean it straight away. Don't just leave it or else that grease will carbonise and it makes an oven cleaner's job that much harder. Also of course you need to wipe the AGA too, any splashes on the sides need cleaning up straight away and be careful not to burn yourself.
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Here is another great video of James McIntosh cooking something really special on the AGA cooker which I'm guessing is a gas cooker as in another video of this series of videos he plays with the AIMS (AGA Intelligent Management System) and it's the same cooker. Again it is a video that was done for Christmas a couple of months ago. But the quality is fabulous. Watch and learn...
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