AGA Cookers Go Greener with Cool Covers (TM) from Novel Energy

January 10, 2012, Press Dispensary. Although AGA owners tend to adore their traditional heat storage cookers, a common problem is that the cookers are ‘always-on’, meaning they waste energy and leak heat into the kitchen, which can be unpleasant during summer months. For those who want their AGA to ‘go greener’, help is at hand thanks to the launch of Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles ( http://www.cool-covers.com ) from Novel Energy Ltd, which reduce the energy consumption of AGA Classics by up to 10% a year.

Designed as a simple retrofit option for the AGA Classic, Cool Covers™ are Aerogel insulated and magnetically attach to the underside of hob lids to obstruct heat transfer from the hob plates to the lids. Not only do Cool Covers™ reduce total cooker energy consumption, but they also cut CO2 emissions by up to 0.55 tonnes/year, decrease kitchen temperatures in summer, and act as self-cleaning spatter guards to keep the lid liners clean.

The Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles are the brainchild of Graham Hodgson, a technologist from the Northwest of England, who wanted to improve the ‘green’ credentials of his AGA Classic gas cooker. He started experimenting with insulation materials. However, whatever materials he used inside the hob lids, heat still escaped. Eventually, Graham discovered that he could address the “metal-to-metal thermal bridging problems” of the AGA Classic by obstructing heat transfer from the hob plates to the hob lids with a special insulated baffle device. Realising he was onto something, Graham decided to work with Novel Energy to get the idea commercialised.

The resulting Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles (patent pending) underwent 12 months’ of research and testing to define the specialist, high temperature textiles and space-age Aerogel super-insulation that could withstand 500C temperatures at the AGA hot plate surface. Hob Baffles are attached using magnets that discretely cling to the sides of the hob lid. A simple yet effective device, they can be retrofitted on - or removed from - any AGA Classic in seconds. They blend into the hob lids without being obvious additions to the traditional cooker.

Test results show that the Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles can reduce energy consumption by about 230Watts (2MWh per year), or about 10% of total cooker consumption. The energy savings convert into fuel savings of up to £120/year (oil), which equates to about 0.55 tonnes a year of CO2 emissions.

Andrew Shuttleworth, managing director of Novel Energy Ltd, says: “When the AGA heat storage cooker was first invented in 1929, it was lauded for its energy efficiency in comparison to alternatives of the day, such as open fires and standard coke stoves. However, the fundamental ‘always-on’ design concept hasn’t changed much since those days. By their very nature, AGA Classic cookers consume significant quantities of energy to keep their large and heavy cast iron bodies hot. Energy input is required continuously, even when the owner isn’t cooking, and much heat leaks into the kitchen. This can be great in winter but isn’t so desirable during summer months, when some owners may turn off their AGA and use other cooking methods.”

He adds: “AGA recently launched a new heat-storage cooker called ‘Total Control’ to address some of the heat leakage issues. It allows users to control when they want the cooker on or off, and which hobs or ovens to use. However, this doesn’t help the owners of the AGA Classic cooker - of which at least 750,000 models were made. Our Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles could potentially aid a large number of these people.”

An unintentional benefit of the Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles is their usefulness as spatter-guards: this function has proved a big hit with customers who have used the product to date. Andrew Shuttleworth explains: “Food spatters can make lid liners look dirty over time - especially on the simmer plate, which isn’t hot enough to burn-off the spatters. When installed, the Baffles provide a clean silver finish and, unlike the lids, can be swapped over. When the simmer lid Baffle gets dirty over time, it can be switched on to the hot lid to self-clean. It beats unscrewing and swapping over the lids.”

Cool Covers™ Hob Baffles can be purchased from select service engineers, or from the Cool Covers™ website at http://www.cool-covers.com. Energy savings payback time is less than a year.

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Notes for editors
Cool Covers™ is a registered trademark of Novel Energy Ltd., a company incorporated in England & Wales, registration no. 07095809, which exists to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise the environment with its products and services. Novel Energy Ltd also sells and leases top quality, market-leading LED lighting technologies through its Novel Energy Lighting products ( http://www.novelenergylighting.com ).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Andrew Shuttleworth, managing director
Novel Energy Ltd.
Tel: 020 8540 8287 / 07507 562 037
Email:
Site: www.cool-covers.com