Which Multi fuel stove to buy?

rainybird

I have a budget of £500 pounds to buy a multi fuel stove, I'm drawn towards the Aga little wenlock at the moment, but just wondering if there are any other stoves worth considering within my budget. I know if I paid more I could get a much better stove, but £500 is my lot.

A._Badger

rainybird wrote: »

I have a budget of £500 pounds to buy a multi fuel stove, I'm drawn towards the Aga little wenlock at the moment, but just wondering if there are any other stoves worth considering within my budget. I know if I paid more I could get a much better stove, but £500 is my lot.

whatstove.co.uk can be useful but you need to take account of reviews by clueless users.

I had a Little Wenlock (one of the real ones, made before Aga shut down the original Colebrookdale foundry in an act of sheer vandalism and shunted production to Ireland). The stove was OK but Aga's service wasn't.

If you are looking for a small stove, the Morso Squirrel tales a lot of beating.

alleycat`

I was looking at the Squirrel the other day.

It looks like it was made by I.K. Brunel (which i loved) but was a lot more than £500.

Do you know what Kwh you require and are you in a defra smoke exempt area?

Mojisola

rainybird wrote: »

I have a budget of £500 pounds to buy a multi fuel stove, I'm drawn towards the Aga little wenlock at the moment, but just wondering if there are any other stoves worth considering within my budget. I know if I paid more I could get a much better stove, but £500 is my lot.

Have you budgeted for the fitting/chimney liner/hearthstone/etc? The costs do add up alarmingly.

rainybird

i'm looking for around 5-6kw & no we're not in a smokeless zone, we have an open fire at the moment, which is very draughty, smelly & dirty. the £500 is just for the stove, not having the chimney lined, have got the chimney brushes & sweep it myself, & using the original hearth, have got some extra money for the other bits...plate & flue.

I also have a problem with birds coming down & flying round the house leaving soot everywhere so am going to get some cowls, any advice as to which are best to use when having a stove fitted.

Thank you.

hethmar

I think most of us will recommend stoves above your budget.

It may be best for you to check out some of the stove sites which give comparison and prices. But be wary of cheap stoves which will give a poor performance - it would be a false economy.

grahamc2003

I'm perfectly happy with my Little Wenlock (with no chimney lining) - works fine for me, I couldn't really think of what any other smallish stove could do better. Of course, I can't compare it to the other stoves mentioned since this is the only one I've experience of. Mine just has a single air input - I notice now the LW seems to have a secondary airflow too, which may give more options on how to operate it.

I used the top flue outlet when I installed mine - but this means it sits too far into the 'cavity'. I may move the stove forward so it's more into the room so the heat is radiated more directly into the room rather than into the inside of the cavity, and for that I'll use the rear exhaust outlet and a 90 deg flue bend thing.

For the register plate, I used an old fashioned blacksmith (didn't relaise they still existed before I searched him out), Cost £100 (4 years ago) for the (thick steel 4ftx2ft ish) plate with a hole cut in, and he came to fit it for that price too, and also stayed to help me lug the stove into position. Probably much more expensive today, and again more expensive from an installer I expect.

Your wishes for various things (like no lining) may come to nought if you have a HETAS bod around and he decides you need one! If you diy, one thing to ensure is that the whole thing is airtight all around the register plate and where it joins the stove, and where the flue pipe passes through it.

A._Badger

Rainybird - you're entering a world of pain, I'm afraid. If you self-install you will need the local council to inspect and approve your installation - and they will charge you a lot for doing it, as well as making sure you abide by building regulations. If not, you will need to hire one of the HETAS mob to do the installation for you. Expect to be told you will need chimney lining.

Our homes are no longer our castles, I'm afraid.

Mojisola

A._Badger wrote: »

Rainybird - you're entering a world of pain, I'm afraid. If you self-install you will need the local council to inspect and approve your installation - and they will charge you a lot for doing it, as well as making sure you abide by building regulations. If not, you will need to hire one of the HETAS mob to do the installation for you. Expect to be told you will need chimney lining.

And if you don't get the official paperwork, expect problems when you want to sell the property.

grahamc2003

Mojisola wrote: »

And if you don't get the official paperwork, expect problems when you want to sell the property.

What's the worst case scenario with this?

I'd expect

If the conveyencing process discovers a stove and
If theres a question 'was the stove fitted by Hetas if it was installed since stove regulations were passed (or similar)?' and
If the unqualified conveyencing clerk notices the answer 'No' and
If he can be bothered

then he may inform the buyer that the stove wasn't fitted to the regulations, and please instruct whether to continue with the conveyence, or possibly would he like to buy an insurance policy for £30 to cover this (or something along those lines).

If a buyer drops out at that stage for that reason,l then I'd assume that the sale would have fallen through anyhow for some other reason (i.e. a positive answer to the question, if it exists, of 'have any non-registered electricians ever re-wired a plug or touched any electrical fittings').

rainybird

Mojisola wrote: »

And if you don't get the official paperwork, expect problems when you want to sell the property.

If I do sell, I will be taking the stove with me...:)