Wood burning stoves>

crphillips

Hethmar - Hunter and Villager use very similar designs....i must admit that we don't really fit any Villager stoves....the only one is the solo/duo but these are not often at all.

Never rated Aarrow either and they're making the villager stoves now. My favourites are Charnwood Cove 1 , Morso Squirrel, Esse 100, Dunsley Highlander 5, Stovax Riva.....all brilliant stoves. Clearview are nice stoves also but we' don't have a dealership for them so only supply them every now and then.......i'd say Charnwood are up there with the Clearviews though and there are some better looking models in their range.

We're just in the process of installing full solid fuel central heating for a friend of mine who is sick of oil heating..........He wanted to do away with the oil completely but the only stove that was big enough to heat his house was an Aarrow. Because of this we've decided to keep the oil and use it to top up the system. I wanted him to have a Dunsley boiler stove as they're so robust and well built but they don't do them as big as Aarrow do.

pinkmami

Yes lime mortar for the pointing!!! Now thinking of an 8kw stove cos of what you have said. better keep an 8kw stove going than having to feed a monster. During the winter it's probably be on from lunchtime till bed time.

crphillips

A._Badger wrote: »

Take the advice of an installer who has seen your home and can be held to account if he gets his sums wrong - not someone working from a chart who has no idea what your room is really like. As I've said before, inglenooks can gobble-up heat (I have an even larger one than yours) so take reliable advice before you buy.

I wouldn't say thats a good idea in this case as she's had an installer visit and he's telling her to fit a 12kW stove into a room that needs approx 4.5kW..........his figures are way out!

One of our biggest sellers is the Chanrwood Country 4 and you'd be amazed the size of room that can heat and it's a very small stove. It would do a room 5m x 5m x 2.4m.

Check the figures in the brochures too as some manufacturers quote maximum outputs and some quote nominal.....there's a big difference bwteeen the two.

redlady_1

Oh wow PM, that is an amazing fireplace! You are really going to love your stove, that's for sure. Mine is 5kw and I tend to burn it full blast for a couple of hours in the evening and then turn it down (but not in sleep mode) Tonight, I got home about 7.30pm and it was a bit parky. But I managed to light it quickly and before I knew it I am toast again - although the curtain has been dropped tonight because I am a bit of a girl and don't like the cold.

My advice PM, is buy a stove you like at the suitable output. Get another company to come and quote just to put your mind at rest that what you are doing is the right thing. Otherwise, if you are anything like me, you will always wonder "what if"

Can't wait to see puctures of it in though. March 1st will be here soon enough and then you will think its summer!

A._Badger

hethmar wrote: »

The size of the fireplace opening shouldnt have any thing to do with "gobbling up heat"? if the stove is correctly installed and the flue liner insulated.
.

Sadly, not the case. A huge inglenook takes a long while to heat up, which it does before the heat reaches the room. This is why you will often see inglenook owners resorting to putting fans on their stoves in an attempt to force heat into the room. It also seems to lose heat, probably via the register plate, which it will do by convection up the blocked-off chimney, liner or no liner.

If you actually have an inglenook (as I have) you can place a thermometer inside the space and another outside it and measure the difference for yourself.

A._Badger

crphillips wrote: »

I wouldn't say thats a good idea in this case as she's had an installer visit and he's telling her to fit a 12kW stove into a room that needs approx 4.5kW..........his figures are way out!.

Except the OP has apparently visited the installer's home and seen a large stove in operation and he has, at least, visited her premises.

My scepticism about the theory of all this comes from having been sold a stove that proved too small, despite two supposed experts using their charts to tell me what would work.

What they hadn't appreciated was the paper-thin insulation of a 200 + year old house and no double glazing (which couldn't have been installed anyway as the building was listed).

I think a wiser counsel would be to get a second opinion from someone who has actually been to her home and seen it for himself.

suki1964

crphillips wrote: »

I'd really avoid the chinese stuff. the Tiger's and Firefox's aren't bad but they'll not keep the glass lovely and clean like a stove for around £500-£600 would.

To get something decent you need to expect to pay around £100 per kW of output.

We get a lot of farmers buying evergreen stoves but i know they're going to be fairly happy with them because they're out and about most of the day and just want something they can chuck a log on and come back to a warm house. If you have a nice living room and want to sit and enjoy the flicker of some lovely dancing flames with a nice glass of red wine, you need to spend more money and buy something thats had the time, effort and money put into designing an airwash system that actually works and keeps the glass clean.

Also the chinese stuff is a nightmare when it comes to replace any parts as everything warps and twists......most of the parts are held in by threaded studs with nuts and washers.......once these have had a bit of heat and moisture they rust and then when it comes to undo the nuts to replace a part you sheer the stud......then you have to grind the remainder flat, drill the centres, re-tap a thread, find a new stud, washer and nut and re-fit the new part.

Get a Charnwood, Dunlsey, Franco Belge, Stovax, Esse or similar and everything just lifts out in seconds and the new parts just simply fall into place.

If you really can only afford £300 or so then i'd recommend getting on ebay and buying a reputable brand second hand. Just make sure the essentials are in good conditions i.e., glass, baffel, grate, friebricks......etc. Don't worry too much if it looks a bit faded and used. 10 mins and £10 for a can of matt black stove paint and it'll look like new!

We have a 5kw Tiger and so far so good

Came with a 5 year guarantee as well so for the price - more then happy

So far no problems at all with keeping the glass clean. Some mornings we need to rub over with a bit of newspaper but thats rare. And control wise - we are learning but have is mostly worked out now and are more then happy

Swipe

When I moved home I took my 5kw Esse stove with me. In my old house the living room was half the size of my current one and the stove heated the room fine. My current living room is 7m x 3m and in current temps it struggles to maintain 19C unless you burn it hard so make sure you size it properly. it also takes a long time to heat up from first lit. Luckily I can raise my temps to over 20C within 10 minutes from cold with my heat pump air con unit so it's not really such a problem for me.

pinkmami

Oh people you really are confusing me now!!! On our plans from the architect he suggested a 5kw stove for the room once the partition walls are down thus creating a 20+ foot long room. But after seeing the installers nook & he has a 12kw & the room was smaller than ours & very toasty I'm wandering in 5 would be enough. Maybe I should go for a Charnwood 8 which is a happy medium!?!?!?!

redlady_1

Right, ignore what size everyone on here is telling you. Go to two different fitters and ask them to come and do a site survey. Whatever they tell you then go with that. If they disagree, then get a third out. They have seen your house and will have spoken to you about your wants and needs. This is too expensive to get it wrong. Is the architect an actual fitter? If not, then ignore him too! Then make your decision based on what you are happy with.

Opinions are like brains - we all have one and they are all different. :-)