AGA Classic: the AGA R7 Series under its new name

Like the AGA you might have grown up with, the AGA Classic is designed to be ‘always on’, so the ovens are ready whenever you want to cook, and the kitchen stays warm all day. Until earlier this year, this cooker was sold as the AGA R7. While the name is new, the cooker itself is unchanged.

Edwards & Godding is a family business, and we've been working with AGA cookers since 1932, when we became one of their five original distributors. For three generations we've worked with these cookers – installing and servicing them for our customers across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and the South East and South West of England, and living with and cooking on them in our own homes.

What is the AGA Classic (formerly the AGA R7)?

The AGA Classic (R7) is a fully electric, cast-iron heat-storage cooker. AGA describes it as “the closest expression of the original AGA, refined for today”. Its three cast-iron ovens – for roasting, baking and simmering – are held at temperature together. Heat builds in the cast iron and radiates evenly into the food, so dishes cook gently and meat stays moist and tender. 

Because the ovens are already hot, cooking on a Classic follows a different rhythm from cooking with a conventional oven. There’s no preheating – the ovens are ready, so a casserole is brought to temperature on the already hot boiling plate, then moved to the simmering oven to finish slowly. A cake can go into the baking oven as soon as it’s mixed. 

But there’s more to it than that – there are four settings, from a low slumber setting up to high. You can turn your ovens down to slumber when you’re away for a weekend, and the kitchen is still comfortable when you come home. Turn it back up and the ovens are at cooking temperature in about three and a half hours. The boiling plate and simmering plate can each be switched on and off independently of each other and the ovens if you like, so a hotplate only needs to be on while a pan is on it.

Dimensions, oven details and colours are all listed in the full specifications on our AGA Classic page.

AGA Classic vs AGA R7: what has changed?

The name is the only change. In 2026 AGA replaced its model codes with names across the whole range, to make it clearer and easier to understand, and the R7 was renamed the AGA Classic. The specification is the same, so you’ll cook a Christmas lunch on a Classic exactly as you would have on an R7.

AGA Classic vs AGA Signature: how the ovens are controlled

The AGA Classic (R7) and AGA Signature (eR7) are both cast-iron heat-storage cookers, and both cook with radiant heat from cast-iron ovens. On both, each hotplate can be switched on and off independently. The difference is in how you control the ovens.

On the Classic, the three ovens are held at temperature together and are designed to be left on. With four settings, including slumber, you can turn the cooker down overnight or while you’re out. The Classic suits anyone who wants the traditional AGA, kept on through the day and run with simple controls. In a household where someone is nearly always home, that steady warmth becomes part of the day.

The AGA Signature on the other hand gives you full digital control from a touchscreen. Each oven can be programmed to a schedule and switched on or off independently. This means the ovens can be on when you come down for breakfast, off while you’re out at work, and back on in time to warm the kitchen when everyone’s home in the evening. Because you only run the ovens you need, the Signature also tends to cost less to run. For more, read our guide to the AGA Signature.

AGA Classic vs AGA Compact: full size or flexible footprint

The main difference between the AGA Classic (R7) and the AGA Compact (eR3) is size. The AGA Classic is a full-size AGA, 100cm wide and full depth. You can extend it with a 50cm module, a 60cm module or both, making a 150cm, 160cm or 210cm cooker. The 50cm module has a slow-cook oven and a warming oven, with a warming plate or single-zone induction hob on top. The 60cm module has a slow-cook oven with grill and an A-rated fan oven, with a gas or ceramic hob. In a kitchen where Christmas lunch is cooked for a crowd, a 210cm Classic gives you all of that alongside the cast iron.

The AGA Compact (eR3) is shallower from front to back, so it sits within standard kitchen cabinetry rather than projecting into the room. It comes in 90cm, 100cm and 110cm widths, and is available with an induction hob. Its ovens can be switched on and off individually. It’s a lovely fit for a city kitchen, or anywhere you’d like the cooker to sit flush with the units. Read more in our guide to the AGA Compact.

Where the AGA Classic fits in the new range naming

If you’re matching old names against new, here is the whole range in one place.

Our AGA Mini guide covers the AGA Mini (eR3 60), the smallest cooker in the range. If you owned an older model, our article on  the AGA Total Control explains what happened to it and what replaced it. 

The Classic is part of AGA’s current electric range. Because its ovens are designed to be left on, it has more in common with traditional AGA cookers than with the Signature, Compact and Mini, whose ovens can be controlled individually. For the full picture, see our guide to Traditional AGA vs Newer AGA Models.

Living with the AGA Classic: the always-on experience

Living with an always-on AGA changes how you use the kitchen. The cast iron stores heat and releases it steadily, so the room is gently warm from the first coffee to the bedtime chamomile. It truly makes the kitchen the heart of the home: the family drifts in to chat around the cooker, and the dogs claim the warmest spot on the floor. The simmering oven stays at a low, steady heat all day, so a bourguignon or a slow-roast joint can cook gently, without needing much supervision at all through the afternoon, and be perfectly cooked in time for dinner.

Because the Classic is kept on, its running costs are steadier across the year than those of an oven you switch on only to cook. From autumn to spring, much of that cost is warmth for the kitchen that you would otherwise be paying for through the heating. Turning down to slumber overnight, or while the house is empty, brings energy use down further. Our detailed AGA running costs guide has the figures for every model.

The Classic is fully electric, so there’s no flue and no annual service, and it can be room vented or externally vented. It’s compatible with solar and other renewable energy. If you’d like fast, immediate heat as well, a 50cm module can add an induction hob, and a 60cm module adds a fan oven and grill.

Traditional oil, gas and early electric AGA cookers were also designed to be left on. Read more in our guide to Traditional AGA vs Newer AGA Models.

What this means if you’ve been researching the R7

The AGA R7 hasn’t been discontinued – it’s simply now called the AGA Classic – so the research you’ve done still stands. Reviews, forum threads and owners’ accounts of the R7 all describe the Classic, because it is the same cooker with the same specification.

If you were quoted for an R7, that quote was for the cooker now sold as the Classic. We’re happy to confirm current pricing and talk through your plans, so you can pick up where you left off.

Talk to an AGA specialist

If you’d like to talk through how an AGA Classic might work for your family, give us a ring, drop us an email, or book an appointment at one of our showrooms n Reading, Berkshire and Woodstock, Oxfordshire,  where we will walk you through the options over a cup of tea.

We carry out a free site survey before every installation, to check the space and advise on ventilation – book a free site survey. If you’re replacing an existing cooker, ask us about the AGA Trade-In offers.