It'll be an easy job to replace that insulation with vermiculite, compared to digging the old Kieselguhr [aka diatomaceous earth] stuff out!

Some of the old solid fuel AGA's weren't suitable for use with wood, as the coke/anthracite furnaces were smaller than the wood-fired ones. The Brits may not be aware of that. Hence the oil conversions here.

The AGA in the Benambra homestead didn't have a wetback, so it didn't need to be run for hot water.

That was heated by the old wood-fired cast iron 'donkey boiler', which used very little wood.
One of these:

[Linked Image]


A half hour burn would have the water in the main tank boiling. It was a gravity feed system, with thermosyphon circulation through the boiler.

There's a build manual for the pre-1972 models on the Oz AGA distributor's site here, http://agaaustralia.com.au/aga-manuals/
Very useful, especially as it documents the exact locations where asbestos was used in these stoves.

Cheers,
Gadge

"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."

"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."