Coal Cook Stove

I have been seriously considering a "solid fuel" (i.e. coal) aga. My quick, back of the envelope calculations indicate that it would cost 50% of what a natural gas one would cost to run, plus I like the idea (but maybe this is naive of me) of tending the fire. I gather that they burn about 15 lbs. per day and radiate about 4000 BTU per hour into the room, similar to a 120 volt space heater on medium. Most heating stoves would totally overwhelm my kitchen, but this sounds about right. They are supposed to be excellent to cook on, once you learn them. My worry about these is that I gather that the initial set up can be tricky, getting everything right so it burns efficiently and at the correct temp. Agas are shipped in parts, assembled on site, and getting everything setup is an art, and most of the guys who install them in the US don't know how to do the coal ones, which require more care at the initial setup. Once everything is adjusted, I understand that they are quite easy to tend to, shake and add coal twice a day, remove ash once a day. Shut down once every month or two to clean everything inside. I have the old kitchen chimney in my house, and would love to get one of these hooked up and running!

Ramblerboy,

I too have a kitchen with a chimney and agree with your assessment on cooking and heating with the coal cook stove. Aga makes a beautiful and useful stove. I say go for it. Contact Aga directly and see if they can send you instillation literature. There may even be a PDF you can download on their site. Maybe there is a forum on their site and you can speak to someone that has installed on e already.

Keep us posted with any developments.

Steve