Agas and liability

[Ian31637]

Our Airbnb is a Cotswold cottage and it has an Aga stove in the kitchen.

For those who are unfamiliar this is a large cast iron stove, oil fired, which is permanently on. The body of the Aga gets very hot.

So far it's not been turned on as it's too hot in summer. As it gets colder it might be nice for the guests if the Aga was on for cooking and heating but I'm worried about anyone, especially kids, burning themselves.

I can see 3 options:

1. Don't do it.
2. Do it but put up fireguards and warning signs. If the guests remove the guards it's then their responsibility.
3. Wing it, turn it on and hope no-one gets hurt.

I'm not keen on 3. 🙂

Has anyone got any relevant experience? If so what did you do and was it a success? Any other ideas?

I look forward to hearing your constructive suggestions.

Cheers
Ian

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ian31637 As long as you have proper STR liability insurance in place I wouldn't do anything bar a warning sign. To be clear I would NOT rely on Airbnb's 'insurance' in any way.

[Anonymous]

@Ian31637  It looks like your listing has central heating, a modern stove, and contemporary interior furnishings and style elements. So although some guests would undoubtedly be charmed by the old-fashioned cooker, I'm not sure if that group is precisely your target market. Aside from safety and liability, I'd also factor in the extra carbon emissions generated by a functionally inessential appliance, as well as its considerable impact on the indoor air quality. 

That said, your listing text does currently offer the Aga as an inclusive feature from October onward, so if you have any confirmed bookings for this period, those guests may already expect to have use of it. If you change your mind about turning it on, it's important to be transparent with the affected guests, on the off chance that this is a deal-breaker for one or more of them.

[Chris232]

@Ian31637 

Personally I certainly would not "wing it"

It only takes 1 guest to burn their hand and financially you will be in a world of pain if you do not have liability insurance.

Definitely get STR insurance to cover yourself as @Mike-And-Jane0 sensibly advises,.

Putting up signs will not stop idiots from burning themselves and then making a claim against you through one of the "ambulance chasing lawyers"

[Helen3]

Personally I wouldn't turn it on if you don't need it in the listing . The vast majority of people don't know how to use one . And then you'll get complaints and questions when they can't work outs how to use it. @Ian31637 

[Olga202]

Hi @Ian31637
How did it go with aga?  We have one in our unit and are wondering whether we should remove it, or guests will love it?

[Sandra126]

Had wood fired cooker in kitchen, cast iron, very hot, no problem. Also had no children below school age.

[Nicholas712]

Hi Ian, 

Wondering if you've decided what you're going to do here? I'm in America (where even less people know about AGAs), and I'm wondering if it would put me at risk or potentially be a negative for guests at any point in the future. 

I managed to find one secondhand unused for cheap, and we're renovating the kitchen anyway so it could go in, but we have aspirations to turn this house into an Airbnb eventually and I don't want to have to rip it out and install a new one later in the event that people don't like it.

Let me know what you ended up doing! I personally think most people would like it, but I really don't know for certain.

[Ian31637]

Hi,

I am using the Aga but have put a number of notices up warning about it being hot, and I have a nursery fireguard available for families if they want it. I have put a  note in my listing to say that I can turn it off or put the guard up in advance if required. 

I have had no problems; I left it as long as possible to turn it on this year as it isn't cheap to run, and I did have one guest express disappointment that it wasn't on. 

I think I was being overly cautious but it is sensible to have safety measures in place.