The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: GribinIsaf on October 20, 2020, 09:12:11 am
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The other night there was an sudden load sound and a long crack appeared at the side of the front panel of our stove. It is a Euroheat EFEL Harmony 1 Wood and Coal Stove (although we don't burn coal) It was installed in July 2001 by our predecessors. I have done some research and a replacement front panel is available although our local heating engineer is sceptical about the practicality of fitting it.
So we are balanced between repair v replacement. Our main source of heating is a wood burning Rayburn in the kitchen that heats water and radiators. This is the sitting room stove that is just for heating that room and sending a bit of extra heat through the house.
I am aware that wood burning technology has moved on a bit recently but don't know too much about it yet. Has anyone recently put in a stove which they are really happy with. I think we would want a free standing traditional design to fit in with the way the room is laid out.
Many thanks for any thoughts.
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We had a Jotul 3 at the last place. Small but very efficient to the extent that it didn't have an ash tray- the wood burned to almost nothing, just fine white dust. The air vent took air down across the glass to keep it clean which worked very well. We started with oak and then discovered compressed wood briquettes which took the surface temperature from 250C to 320C without any damage to the fire. We have heard plenty of complaints of performance from people who have bought cheap units. Our fire here isn't up to much either - cleaning the glass and emptying the ash pan every morning is a real pain.
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We've had wood burning Clearview stoves for years (from Ludlow) - I love them - pricey but far superior to the cheaper type we have in our holiday let. They also have the air vent to keep the window clean. You can download a catalogue
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I've always had Morso's in previous houses (no chimney/free wood in this house :'( :'( ) The Scandinavians know what they are about. My last one was a Squirrel - 5kw I think - lounge was 20 sq m. Had to keep door open as it produced so much heat - not attached to a boiler so as to have independent heating
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We heat our house just with wood and have two stoves. A Dursley Yorkshire which has a boiler on it and a double sided Woodwarm, both of which I'd highly recommend. The Yorkshire tends to work flat out or not at all and heats our hot water and some upstairs radiators, it has a thermostat and turns itself up and down as needed by the demand.
The Woodwarm is a joy, very efficient, lovely big window (countryside TV) burns very efficiently and is very controllable. Were I to need to put in another stove, it would be a Woodwarm, without question.
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Many thanks for replies so far. You have given me some names to start looking at.
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As others have said, steer clear of the cheap stoves otherwise you'll likely experience cracking again. A lot of it is down to personal preference, we had 2 Brosley stoves in our last house, they were modern looking stoves although they have more traditional styles, the efficiency of the stove was fantastic and the quality of the components was quite apparent too. We almost bought another one when we moved to the farm but opted for a Nordpeis (Scandinavian, who burn lots of wood) and whilst the stove looks and burns brilliantly it does have a tendency to catch ash in the door when you burn top down and the deposit it on the hearth when you open the door to reload.
Stovesonline.co.uk have a database of stove which is quite helpful for researching
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Which ever stove you finally decide on i would totally recommend getting a stove fan for on top of it. They move the warm air around very well and so much so that we can use our wood burning stove to warm up the entire house now. Where as before it would only do the sitting room.
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Thanks for the further thoughts Kiran and Scarlet.Dragon - two more names to investigate. And the Stovesonline.co.uk database looks worth exploring Kiran, thank you.
alang - yes, we already use a stove top fan and agree with you about the improvement it gives.
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Have two Aarrow arada stoves. They’re fine but not as good as the clear view pioneer oven I had in the last house.
The air wash isn’t so great, not sure they’re so efficient but the main thing I miss was the clear view was so controllable.
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We have a Jotul, very happy with it.
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We have two stoves but the clearview is easily the best. More controllable and better quality
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Just to say, we went for the Fireview eco 7kw which is a new model from Woodwarm.
(There seemed to be some concern about the state of the business at Clearview)
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If you need it cheap, and you don't mind a DIY project, I've had the pleasure of being warmed by a rocket mass heater once. It is so efficient that it even burns the fine particles that make up the smoke. Some are so well made that the exhaust is just steam and carbon dioxide. Plus, they really crank out the heat, both while in operation, and even for some time after the fire has gone out. They use less fuel to produce more heat, and create less pollution. It's a real pity they're not approved where I live or I'd have one myself.