[Sylvia]

I wouldn't have an Aga if someone gave it to me!! They are too temperamental and can only run on specific fuel. I has a Wellstood years ago with a hot-water tank on the side of it and if I could find one that's what I would have. Mine burned mostly peat and got hot enough, with a bit of wood for all my needs.
I now have a Rayburn which runs on wood but will burn anything burnable and gets, sometimes, too hot

[jaykay]

 

I wouldn't have an Aga if someone gave it to me

  and I won't ever be without one again if I can manage it - maybe I've been lucky but mine has never given me an ounce of bother, I love cooking on it and it's endlessly useful for drying/warming etc.

[Crofter]

We have a Stanley Superstar which I think is now sold as the "Donnard".  Think it was about 20 years old when we bought it for £750 in '05. I installed it myself and it runs on peat and scrap wood. It powers 9 radiators and although the house is not roasting hot it's very comfortable. It heats our hot water and we do a lot of our cooking on it.

The peat is "free" if you don't count the work cutting it  and the pallets we cut up are free too. 

The boiler developed a leak last year and rather than mess about with repairs that may or may not work, I put in a brand new boiler which cost about £400.  I guess that it's now good for another 25 years.  I have to let it out to clean it once a week which takes about an hour (peat is not a very clean fuel) but apart from that it's maintenance free.

There is always at least one of us at home to keep it fueled up which is an important consideration. It would not be nearly as usefull if we worked away from home all day.

The output of the stove is supposed to be 17 Kw to water running on anthracite, but on peat I guess we are getting only about half that.

We certainly would not want to be without it!

Dave

[blades]

We have a Stanley Superstar which I think is now sold as the "Donnard".  Think it was about 20 years old when we bought it for £750 in '05. I installed it myself and it runs on peat and scrap wood. It powers 9 radiators and although the house is not roasting hot it's very comfortable. It heats our hot water and we do a lot of our cooking on it.

The peat is "free" if you don't count the work cutting it  and the pallets we cut up are free too. 

The boiler developed a leak last year and rather than mess about with repairs that may or may not work, I put in a brand new boiler which cost about £400.  I guess that it's now good for another 25 years.  I have to let it out to clean it once a week which takes about an hour (peat is not a very clean fuel) but apart from that it's maintenance free.

There is always at least one of us at home to keep it fueled up which is an important consideration. It would not be nearly as usefull if we worked away from home all day.

The output of the stove is supposed to be 17 Kw to water running on anthracite, but on peat I guess we are getting only about half that.

We certainly would not want to be without it!

Dave

Thank you for this information.... funny but I am going to look at a new Stanley at the weekend. I wonder if you can tell me something please? If you use a Stanley for cooking, radiators and water what kind of heat (if any) does the actual unit give off in the room it is fitted into?

[robert waddell]

our Stanley oil firred      when it is running central heating gives off very little heat you need a radiator in that room       when you are cooking it is to hot        good luck with the sales pitch

[Crofter]

I don't have any experience of oil fired models but our solid fuel one sometimes makes a 12' x 16' kitchen too warm and we have to open the door to the hall, even in winter.  I removed the radiator in the kitchen when I fitted it and have never regretted it.
I don't know if this is the same with oil fired ones but we get more heat to the radiators if we close the top damper and send the heat around the oven.

Dave

[robert waddell]

mine is different when the oven is on it cuts the heat to the central heating

[waterhouse]

When we moved in here there was a gas Rayburn already installed.  We then found out why all our friends with an Aga also had an ordinary oven.  It had two settings - too hot and seriously too bloody hot - and we had to run a bunch of radiators off it to keep the kitchen habitable, which it did without ever using the separate back boiler burners. 

We threw it out and put in two fan ovens.  Less romantic perhaps, but brilliantly practical and economical.  We also installed a warming draw which runs at anything between vaguely warm and too hot to touch.  It's wonderful when processing buckets of honey, reheating was, bottling jam etc.  Also heats plates and keeps the veg warm while you do the gravy. 

We haven't tried reviving a newborn lamb in it yet....