Advice on buying multi Fuel Stove

A._Badger

kiskat wrote: »

Hi. Can anyone help? I'm looking at buying a multi-fuel stove and am deliberating on either Hunter Herald 6 or Herald 8 Slimline as have been told that they are one of the best value for money and build quality, but can't seem to find many reviews on either of them. If you have one or have experience of running one, can you tell me what you think. Have you had any problems; what to look out for? At present I have an open fire and burn just about anything on it as live in an area which is not under smoke control regulations in the peak district. My other worry is not being able to burn what wood my other half brings back with him as he is a joiner so utilises wood from window/door frames which he has taken out of peoples houses and cut up to save going in landfill sites! Anyone wish to comment on this aspect also before I pay out a substantial amount for a multi-fuel stove this close to Christmas!

There's a lot of snobbery and nonsense talked and written about stoves. To a degree the 'you get what you pay for' adage holds true with stoves as it does with most things - but only to a degree. Beyond a certain point that other ancient law - 'the law of diminishing returns' sets in. That's the one where you end-up paying 30 per cent more for a two per cent improvement. Hi-Fi buffs will know that one!

I have a Hunter Herald 14 and at least one other frequent commenter here also has a Hunter and seems happy with his (as I am, largely, with mine).

All I can say is that mine works very well and hasn't let me down in the year since we installed it to replace a previous stove. It's a Ford not a Bentley, but none the worse for that. In fact I was steered towards it by my installer (who just installs - he doesn't sell stoves so has no axe to grind) because he has fitted a lot of them, maintains them and says his customers all seem happy.

As for wood, it's said you should be wary of wood that has been treated or painted and I suppose some of the stuff you might reclaim would have been. No doubt there will be howls of protest, but I'd burn it without hesitation - particularly having seen what my farmer neighbours burn on theirs and have done for decades!

One final thought, however. No stoves that I'm aware of like being fed housecoal - though some manufacturers say it's OK to burn. The problem is that it produces a lot of soot that clogs the stove's passages and then the chimney liner. If you do burn housecoal, exepct to have your chimney swept every three months - and even then run the risk of a fire!

FWIW, I'd stick to wood and smokeless fuel - though it saddens me to say that as a coal fire is far nicer to look at than a glowing mass of anthracite or Maxibrite!

Hope that's some help.

crphillips

Hi there,

Wood burners are great but there are some to avoid and unfortunately i'd class Hunter as one of them. I install around 400 stoves a year. I honestly think Hunter are one of the worst stoves around. My mother in-law used to sell them years ago but when i got involved in the installation side of things we completely eradicated them from our shop. We got sick of the constant come backs and it was the same issue everytime "my stove eats wood, doesn't put out any heat and the flames won't die down when i close the vents".

They're mostly (if not totally) made in China and are very poorly made. Check out Dunsley, Morso, Franco Belge, Jotul.......etc. Even a Tiger stove would be better.

Do some homework and see them in the flesh and have a play with the door handles and air controls. If your other half is a joiner he should be able to tell the good from the bad.

dollydolittle_2

Stove man came last night. Seemed to know what he was talking about and spent ages here. He thinks that if we have anything over 6 kw we will hardly ever use it at maximum, although he did say that if I really want the Rosedale it would be OK to use it not at max because of the cleanburn, but I got the impression that we should really consider lower output stoves.

The problem is that I want a minimal modern looking free standing stove (as opposed to inset) and there are hardly any mulitfuels that fit the bill. He doesn't think wood is going to get really expensive or run out in this area. So, shall I abandon multifuel for the sake of a smaller wood stove that I can run at max all the time? He did mention Handol, but once again, I've never seen any reviews.

Also, just in-case this is useful for anyone else: The two other installers who came said that we could have the stove set into the existing chimney breast, no problem. This one said he wouldn't advise it because although it could just be done, it would mean leaving us with only one brick between us and the outside world, which is not good from an insulation/heat retention point of view. He has advised us to have it free standing in front of the chimney breast (which is recessed, like a very shallow inglenook), and we have the width in the room to make that OK. He also measured our existing air vent and said that it is four times as big as it needs to be for a stove, so they will change that too. Just two things others might want to ask about it you are looking to install a stove for the purpose of keeping warm rather than just to look pretty.

suki1964

crphillips wrote: »

They're mostly (if not totally) made in China and are very poorly made. Check out Dunsley, Morso, Franco Belge, Jotul.......etc. Even a Tiger stove would be better.

As the owner of a Tiger I have to say I am very very happy with it.
5KW and it heats the whole floor of my house even eradicating the condensation problem we had in one bedroom which was causing mould to grow ( my house is 2000sq ft )

And its very economical to use, last nights burning from 6 till 1am was half a bucket of briquettes and just three logs. The controls are very good and responsive.

I burn just about whatever I can get my hands on as wood is very expensive here - and is usually soft woods. I do use reclaimed wood, pallets are used a lot. However I would say do make sure all metal work is removed. A friend had his stove glass shattered by an exploding clasp left in a pallet

crphillips

dollydolittle wrote: »

The problem is that I want a minimal modern looking free standing stove (as opposed to inset) and there are hardly any mulitfuels that fit the bill. He doesn't think wood is going to get really expensive or run out in this area. So, shall I abandon multifuel for the sake of a smaller wood stove that I can run at max all the time? He did mention Handol, but once again, I've never seen any reviews.

You could also look at stoves such as Charnwood Cove 1, Firebelly FB1, Nordpeis Smarty Classic or Smarty Stone (nice stove), also the Nordpeis Bergen.....etc. There are quite a lot of minimal, modern stoves out there if you get looking.

dollydolittle_2

Not sure whether I should have said thank you for that information or not as I have now fallen in love with the Nordpeis Trio II which ticks all the boxes... except price of-course! Oh but it would look so good.... sigh.

While I dream, is there any reason why cylindrical stoves are a bad idea? For example: presumably we'd have to cut the logs a lot shorter so more effort involved, but does it also mean you can't load as much wood so it needs refuelling more often?

BROSTE

Anyone got a DRU 64 or Charnwood Island II or a Franco Belge 8kw multifuel stove. Narrowed it doen to this 3 and not sure which one to go for. Ideally most importance is efficiency. Very gratefull for any advice anyone can offer. Many thanks

crphillips

Island ii is better than the Savoy.

The Dru stoves are quite nicely made but I'd still say they're not as good as an island ii.

I run an island I and it's great. I've installed thousands of stove and used many also and I went for the Charnwood out of customer service, build quality, aesthetics and functionality.

beanrua

I've got a charnwood - not an island, but it runs 10 radiators. I 've got an open plan house and it keeps it warm with a good steady heat. I love it.

crphillips

dollydolittle wrote: »

Not sure whether I should have said thank you for that information y ror not as I have now fallen in love with the Nordpeis Trio II which ticks all the boxes... except price of-course! Oh but it would look so good.... sigh.

While I dream, is there any reason why cylindrical stoves are a bad idea? For example: presumably we'd have to cut the logs a lot shorter so more effort involved, but does it also mean you can't load as much wood so it needs refuelling more often?

You can still get a big log in the contemporary stoves. Just stack it vertically rather than horizontally. Nordpeis are very nicely made. Worth every penny in my opinion.