Penman Collection Stoves?

chrisaw

We're in the process of choosing a multifuel stove to be installed in our house. We liked the look of the Penman Collection Heritage 100 5kW stove, but are finding it disconcerting that we're unable to find a single independent review of it online. I've had my suspicions confirmed today that it's Chinese-made, however, I don't want that on it's own to preclude it (there are plenty of people out there with positive experiences of Chinese-made stoves). Equally, though, I want to be sure that we're not in danger of buying a crock. Anyone with insider knowledge or personal experience?...

chrisaw

I've done some more digging around this morning and have found the same stove being marketed by Capital Fireplaces as the Sirius Sigma 490. Have found a video of the stove being demonstrated on Youtube, but still no online reviews. Anything?...

A._Badger

chrisaw wrote: »

I've done some more digging around this morning and have found the same stove being marketed by Capital Fireplaces as the Sirius Sigma 490. Have found a video of the stove being demonstrated on Youtube, but still no online reviews. Anything?...

That's really its own answer. They haven't sold enough to generate reviews.

If it were me, I might wonder about the long term availability of spares for a stove that wasn't selling in large numbers.

silverwhistle

I think Badger has put his/her finger on it. It's possible for a chinese foundry to make a decent enough casting but all the internal bits, door handles and so forth are likely to be less well made and a pain to source.

rustyboy21

It is based on the Gallery firefox 5 with a different door, if that is any help to you. Cast iron, built in China by a reputable manufacturer, Firefox has been out for 10 years and still available. Parts freely available too. A number of manufacturers buy the same casing and change the door on it and call it their own.

chrisaw

Thanks rustyboy21, that's exactly the information I was after. We've decided to look at other brands, as given the price of the Penman (£850), we think we can get a more reputable brand for less. We've been looking at ACR and Esse, but any suggestions for a good 5kW for £700-£800 would be welcome.

alleycat`

We've got a Stovax Stockton 5 (it's about 4 years old).

It's in your price range (steel as opposed to cast iron) and it's supposedly british.

I believe the model now available is somewhat changed from my mk1 variant but i don't know what the difference is to say if it's markedly different or some tweaks.

I won't tell you it's excellent because, honestly, I've got little to compare it directly against (first stove we've had on this chimney) but it works well enough for us and i don't regret buying it.

It has some design flaws but they are minor in nature.

Specifically:

The ash pan (MF version) isn't as wide as the grate so some of the ash falls into the stove base and means it's more messy to clean up.

The "airwash" control is a sod to see in a dark room and if, like myself, you've got big hands it can be fiddly to move precisely.

The top door hinge "pin" has a tendency to ride up over time (can be knocked back in easily enough).

As it's a smaller stove it won't take logs of the size you'll probably wish to use. This means the reload time is a bit more often than ideal (wood).

Mostly these are trivial things but for some people it would be a deal breaker.

It came up beautifully when i gave it a colloidal black re-treatment this summer (was going grey with usage) and the fire ropes are still in pretty good nick all things considered.

Parts are easy to get, not that i've needed to replace anything so far.

A._Badger

If you haven't already found it, whatstove.co.uk can be useful but bear in mind that user reviews can be very misleading (look at Amazon!).

All the same, given enough reviews, you should get a reasonable consensus.

Esse, by the way, is an old and highly respected manufacturer. You might also want to check out Charnwood.