Which woodburning stove is the best?

rrtt

Greenfires wrote: »

That is by far THE fastest way of blocking your chimney if you're burning wood. If you really have to try and keep the stove in overnight - you need to be loading up a good 40 minutes before you close it down, and then running the stove hard until you go to bed. This will drive off most of the volatiles from the wood and result in much less smoke sitting pretty much still in the chimney (and condensing) when the stove vents are shut. Remember that the only draught up the chimney is going through those vents - if they're all closed the draught is pretty much non-existent.

Not true, it all depends on the draw of your chimney, and being in such an exposed location, my chimney usually has the draw (draught) of a roaring express train even with all the vents shut down. Actually no amount of wood lasts that long in such conditions, so if I do want to keep it going overnight such as in the recent hard weather (we've had snow here both previous nights not to mention 80mph winds) I use chemical coal. I know that's not ideal, but since it's going to happen only 10-14 nights a year and it'll quickly be followed by the usual express train blast, it won't do significant long-term harm.

JoeMorgan_2

Hi folks
Currently building our new house which is going to be well insulated- cavity wall and 40mm on every outside wall/ ceiling. Our kitchen and sunroom are going to open planned. Our kitchen is 6.5m by 4.2m and our sun room is 5m by 5m. I want a multi fuel burner which will heat the rooms and the radiators, what size of kW output should I be looking at? Any suggestions for the best make?
Thanks in advance

timtak

We have a Clearview Vision and we love it. Easy to light. Loads of heat. Good control. No leaks. Durable. Clean chimney. And the famous clear view of the burning fire which looks slow motion and is better than TV.

But why is the Clearview glass so clear? It is supposed to be due to the airwash technology but I am doubting it. Even wth the airwash vent turned down/off the glass remans clear. Even with the upper baffle bent so the washing stream of air need not pass close to the glass, it still remains clear. And as suggested above, it seems to be just a box, with a similar venting arrangement to cheap stoves. And yet cheap stoves that I have experience do not remain clear and the wood burning stove experience is thus greatly diminished.

So what is the secret?

One differance between clearview and the cheap stoves that I have experienced is that the glass is double glazed. I found this out when I broke the inner pane. It has two layers of standard stove glass separated by a loop of the same sort of tape that is used to seal the door. We bought a replacement pane from an online supplier in Scotland who cuts to any size.

So while I love my Clearview, they are expensive -- about four times the price of a similar sized box. Before purchasing another I think I will experiment with adding another layer of glazing to a cheap stove. I am not suggesting that alone will make it a Clearview, but it may reduce soot deposits on the glass.

rrtt

Woodwarm stoves also have a double layer of glass Timtak, and also keep relatively clean I've found, tho you need at least one daily 500 degree blast for a few mins to keep it clear. Also a dream to light and control.

Williwoodburner

If your wood is dry and properly seasoned the glass doesn't get dirty.
:money:

timtak

Thank you for the Woodwarm advice (they look great), and partial corroboration of the double glazing hypothesis.

There is a youtube video of a "Woodwarm Foxfire 4kw" (google) which also suggests that the the double glazing is responsible for the "clearview" (sic) of the fire. They look to be even better than Clearview from the reviews but, they are similarly priced.

I am rather thinking of buying a Chinese stove since I am in Japan.

It occurred to me that another simpler way of testing the double glazing hypothesis, is simply to remove one pane of glass from my Clearview and see if it soots up, when I use non-properly seasoned (thank you Williwoodburner) wood.

Ms.AEJ

I have been quoted £2883 from start to finish for installation of stove and making good walls ets. The breakdown is:
Charnwood C4 stove £894
Oak beam for mantle £100
904 stainless steel twin wall flue liner 5"5m £665
- vermiculite
- register plate
- 5" to 5" flexi adapter
- 500mm 5" stainless steel pipe
- 45 degree 5" stainless steel angle x 2
- 5" pot hanging cowl with rain & bird guard
Masterboard fireproof boards £159
Limestone Hearth £400
- front hearth 54" x 20" half bullnose (cut into 2)
- Back Hearth 36" x 12" cut into 2
carbon monoxide detector £30
TOTAL - 2248

Fitting, plastering ,Labour etc £550

Is this a good price????

Robwiz

It looks like a high price to me. I would say the ballpark figure for installation, twin wall flue, CO detector, fittings, etc. should be around £1000 to £1200 all in. So I reckon around £2500 would be a fair price to allow for the hearth work

rrtt

Dunno about prices, all v. individual - but I'd never again go with WOODEN fireboard + vermiculite. It wasn't strong enough, broke, and I had half a million vermiculite bits burying most of the furniture and floor in living room! Make sure you get a metal board. Also, the chimney man who did all the flues in new house (£1295 each signed off incl all parts & labour) said it's a bad idea to use vermiculite, so he didn't. Nor was he a fan of cowls as he reckons they inhibit the proper escape of the smoke, fumes etc

Edited to add - hearths can be surprisingly complicated things - there are numerous regs about depth of fireproof material, size of hearth itself, proximity to flammable material such as floorboards (esp on upper floors), ventilation required if 5Kw+ etc, so £400 doesn't surprise me (tho much depends on price of your tiles or limestone)

Ms.AEJ

rrtt - Metal board instead of wooden fireboard etc...what is the cost of that? I thought you had to have cowl etc but I have to admit I am pretty clueless.

I am getting another quote next week so I will see what they quote.