On the US website they have the traditional cast iron ranges as well as “normal” ranges that seem similar to those from Wolf, Viking, etc. According to the website, you do not have to have the current cast iron models on all the time; however, it takes the ovens an hour to heat up and the hot plates 11 minutes. I can’t see this possibly fitting into a modern lifestyle - if I get up in the morning and want an omelet, in the 11 minutes it would take for the AGA to reach cooking temperature I have cooked my omelet on a conventional range, finished eating, and am cleaning up.
Not to mention that here in the desert the last thing you want is some honking big pile of hot cast iron inside the house. Not only do you have to spend the energy to heat the sucker up, you need to spend the energy to get the heat out of the house.
However, looking at the AGA prices I don’t feel nearly as bad having splurged on a Wolf rangetop and double wall oven.
When you’re cooking with coal, this is a plus, not a minus. You get up in the morning, poke the fire and add coal, then go do something different. When you want to start cooking, the stove is sitting there ready to go.
You really don’t want to be adjusting the coal while mixing the omelet
One of my clients in Iowa has a huge natural gas AGA and they love it. They have a regular range top next to it that they use for pots and frying pans rather than the hot plate. She loves it for baking. I didn’t notice the kitchen being too warm, but it is a huge kitchen/dining room.