So How Do Identify The AGA Model I have?

If you have a modern AGA - so with Chrome Domes - I think you can still take the serial number which you'll find in the control box and ask AGA in Telford and they should be able to tell you who sold it and when.

Other than that if it has a shelf at the back its a pre 1974 AGA made from 1959 to 1974 and after 1974 there was no shelf and they all look similar though there has been slight variations with special editions such as the Copper Edition (1996), the Millennium Edition and The AGA Classic.

The first of the most recent AGAs are the electric AGA Dual Control and the AGA Total Control. You can identify these in that the top plates are one piece and do not have a separate outer ring.

And the really new ones in the past few years are the AGA E7 (AGA Total Control rebranded) and the AGA E3 series which is the AGA 60 with additional bit to the side - so warming cupboards or storage cupboards. They may have an induction hob on the right hand side.

The AGA Patent 1929 -

Well lets start with some history. Although designed and originally made in Sweden AGAs were brought into the UK  in 1929. 

The early AGAs look very much as they do today. They were the same size and had the same dimensions as today.

They even had chrome domes which disappeared when the AGA Standard came out.

The first AGA Patent didn't have the chrome towel rail but the top was extended to give a towel rail.

The illustration of the AGA Patent taken from a book published in 1933. Illustrated by Edward Bawden. See the book on this link

If you fine one of these they are very rare. It would be best for it to be in a museum though as parts cannot be sourced any more.

Standard Model C AGA 1941 to 1972.

If it hasn't got chrome domes, the top plate is completely flat  and the towel rail is fitted to the front plate then it is a Standard Model C AGA known as the Standard.. These were made from 1941 to 1972. They only have two ovens.

Some of the earliest Standards had the top rail fitted to the top plate

If the front looks the same but the towel rail is fitted to the black top then it is the copy AGA made around about 2000 called the AGA Classic. Also the control door and the plate to left of it is a one piece door.

Is there a shelf on the back of the AGA?

AGA De Luxe from 1959 to 1974 The Pre 74 AGA

In the late 1950s AGA made a new style AGA. They called it the AGA De Luxe and it had Chrome Domes, a different styled enamel top with a raised part at the back behind the Chrome Domes. Also the chrome control area cover now looked like a door. 

It looks very much like new AGAs bought today except that raised shelf says it was made between 1959 and 1974. It is know as the Pre 1974 AGA. Also in the control door it doesn't have any vents.

They were originally coal fired and you can tell if it was originally coal fired as it will have a flow control knob, the chrome turn wheel just below the towel rail, on the left, in the photo below and if you open the lids you will see that the inner top plate has a smaller cap where the coal could be put into the AGA.

Gas and oil versions were produced from the early 1960s. A lot of the original coal fired ones have been converted to gas and oil and today you may see them converted to run on electricity. Also its not very often you see them in their original colours, as in the advert below, as most have been re-enamelled to have a black top and a whole range of different colours for the front and side plates.

Post 1974 AGA 1974 to 1995

After 1974 the De Luxe AGA didn't have the shelf on the top plate (enamel top) anymore. So the top was flat right to the back with a small up-stand.

Unless it was an AGA 30 Amp or AGA Power Flue AGA.

The door on front of the control box changed to have louvre. A new handrail brackets were added. The oven doors had asbestos rope seals (changed to ceramic ropes in 1980)

AGA 30 Amp AGA

AGAs first electric AGA that came out in 1980 and was in production until 2018. They were very much loved (I have one in my home that we have had for 13 years).They have two ovens or four ovens.
They work on Economy 7 Electricity so they are also known as the AGA E7.
They are different to other AGA of the same age in that they have a two plates that bugle out on the left hand side and on the top at the back there is a black cover that is the fan and power board housing.

The Gas AGA with Power Flue looks very much like the 30 amp - with the raised cover at the back - but on the left had side instead of having the raised bump it will have a control door.

AGA Dual Control and Total Control 2011

If you look at the top and quick check is to see if the AGA has top plate rings. If they haven't then the AGA is an AGA Total Control or AGA Dual Control.

On the control panel the Dual Control is going to have two knobs one for the top plates and one for the ovens. The Total Control has more.

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The AGA 3 Series is very much like the AGA City 60 with bits added. For example in this model below it has a warming draw to the right and an induction hob.