Energy costs and Aga cookers in 2024

A milestone has been reached! For the first time since 2021 the cost of running a multi element electric Aga cooker will be £980.93 or just £18.86 per week over the 2024 from the 1st April if the most recent forecasts are correct. Finally back under the £1000 mark!

The kWh figures I use are realistic figures based on my own use, I use it for heat a lot. In the winter I use my cooker in a very traditional way, its on all day every day cooking and drying washing but turned off overnight if the weather is mild. It will still dry a load of washing overnight and keeps the kitchen warm as it cools. In the summer I am more flexible as the kitchen gets hotter and the BBQ comes out of the garage! 

I've updated my running cost calculations today based on the figures announced today from Ofgem and the most recent predictions from Cornwall Insight.

There are lots of links to sources in the text below if you'd like some further reading!

How have we calculated the figures for fuel cost per kWH?

• The blended figure from April 2024 in the table below for gas and electric are created by averaging the actual per kWh figure for Q2 with the predictions for Q3 & Q4 from Cornwall Insight.

• Domestic heating oil was down 19% in January 2024 vs 2023, we've used the same figure to forecast an average for heating oil for 2024 vs the 2023 average. Oil prices are MUCH more volatile than gas or electric!  

How does this translate to the running costs of the cooker in your kitchen? For fuel used in oil and gas cookers we use the factory figures plus a small supplement for age related insulation breakdown. The single element figures are a blended estimate based on hundreds of conversations with owners of these cookers (they tend to be very keen to convert!).

How do we calculate our servicing & repair estimates?

• Oil cookers tend to cost more to keep going, especially as they are getting older these days. We have 25 years of data here showing 3 visits a year on average for servicing and repairs. In 2024 prices (£140 + VAT per visit) this is around £504 annually but we've gone with 2 visits for our chart above at £336 in case its an outlier. If you have more data from your cooker let me know!
• Gas cookers are more reliable so we've allowed for one service a year (the minimum by law) plus a new thermocouple annually. 

It's very pleasing that all Aga cookers are getting cheaper to run again. The biggest cost though to fossil cookers is in carbon and local air quality.

Even single element electric is super green compared to oil and gas. Even the poorly regarded single element cookers. This is because the UK electricity grid keeps getting greener. In 1995 our electricity production produced 230g carbon per kWh, now its just 130g, thats a 44% reduction! Over the next 11 years that number should fall to 0 grams. Net zero!

Meanwhile fossil cookers carry on as they are. A 4 oven Aga cooker on oil produces over 9 tons of carbon, burning 80 wine bottles full a week, natural gas is over 5 tons.

A multi element electric cooker? Just over half a ton! Thats a 93% reduction in carbon emissions vs oil. Local air pollution, particulate matter, is reduced by 100% of course. There are NONE from an electric cooker. Diesel cars are terribly polluting, diesel Aga cookers have no particulate filters etc to mitigate and are even worse!