Which woodburning stove is the best?

Pansy_Potter · 18 January 2012 at 2:05PM

I have one woodburning stove and am about to purchase another traditional type design (not modern) about 10kw output. Interested in finding out which ones everbody rates as best and why. I bought my first stove about a year ago, it was very reasonably priced and has worked well so far, there are some expensive models out there and just wondered what everyones opinion is, do they really justify paying a premium price tag? There surely cannot be that much difference, they are hardly high tech???

Mojisola · 18 January 2012 at 4:07PM

We've got a Clearview and highly recommend them. No experience of other makes, though.

w50nky · 18 January 2012 at 4:44PM

Lots of reviews by stove owners on this site>.. http://www.whatstove.co.uk/ .
There are lots of stove owners on this forum and each seems happy with their choice of stove. I would find a stove that you like the look of and in the size that you require and check out the reviews and ask again on this forum as I am sure someone somewhere will have one fitted.

I also have a Clearview and love it. They are pricey though.

muckybutt · 18 January 2012 at 5:00PM

I dont really think anyone can answer that for you, it has to be down to personal choice, and financial reasoning.

Skulls · 18 January 2012 at 6:45PM

I have a Villager AL bought off e-bay for £250. It replaced a China import and is so much better. If the weather's not too cold then I only use one half of the fire box, but if it gets cold then I fill her up and boy does it throw out some heat! Ticking over it needs refuelling every 2-3 hours. It's most probably one of my best ever purchases, since my neighbours have seen it all 5 have bought one and all are very pleased.

woodlice · 18 January 2012 at 7:33PM

The problem is there aren't that many people who have had more than one stove. I've had a Tiger plus for about 6 years which I acknowledge could be better but for the money I'm happy. Also its not just the stove to consider as stove's will behave differently depending on the chimney and the situation of the building.

highrisklowreturn · 18 January 2012 at 8:11PM

I have had no problems with a waterford stanley - easy to use, light, controllable, can burn overnight with coal. Would happily buy from Stanleys again - I think their 10kws would start around 750-1000.

IvanDrago · 19 January 2012 at 8:28AM

Clarke stoves from machine mart are excellent for the price. I have one and love it.

Greenfires · 19 January 2012 at 9:23AM

Sorry to disagree but the only time I'd recommend a Clarke stove would be if someone wanted a cheap and very heavy Chinese ornament that looked a bit like a stove! I'm actually removing one for a customer today as I've advised her it's not suitable for use in a house she owns! There are no seals on any of the doors, the castings are so poor there are gaps between them, the flue design is so poor that it's effectively self-blocking after a period of use - the list goes on. The fact they leak so much means they are basically uncontrollable - possibly okay for a garage or workshop - but I wouldn't have one in the house. I don't know if every model they do is like this, but I've seen a few around and they've been very poor indeed.

Andy

grahamc2003 · 19 January 2012 at 10:15AM

I remember the choice of stove is a pretty difficult decision. The key point has been stated before - most people have experience of just one stove, so all they (that includes me) can say is say whether they think that particular one is great or not, but not whether it is much better or worse than other models. So Installers/sweeps etc would have the best views.

I just bought one on the name (taking any reviews I could find into account a bit, but I don't have great confidence in internet reviews on review sites) - figuring AGA wouldn't put their name to a heap of junk. Obviously, AGA ranges are bomb proof, so I expected (rightly or wrongly) their badged stoves to be too. The stove price isn't worth skimping on since the price compared to the total installation price isn't great.

So I went for an Aga Little Wenlock, and installed it myself, with lots of help from these forums. Works great for me, as it has done for about 5 years now.

Critical factor (in my amateur opinion) is to match the heat output to the room you want to heat. You want to drive the stove hot to avoid all sorts of problems - running a 12 kW monster low all the time isn't a great idea, better to run a 5kW hot and get the same heating. I don't know what the spec tables show, but 5kW (nominal, it blasts out more than that if required) heats my 100m**3 room sufficiently, although I can't heat the hall too if its really cold (by keeping the door open for example).

smcqis · 19 January 2012 at 1:22PM

the correct and obvious answer is of course a San Remo UK built 5 year warranty

Which woodburning stove is the best?

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