Help choosing a stove

[growforest]

Dowling Stoves are a well-kept secret. Nicely made, if you like rugged engineering. Worth a look. Fill and sit well back.

[log_hauler]

I have two Stoves, one is a Stovax cast Iron and the other a Charnwood Steel (cast iron door) and to me there is no difference between the two. I have been told that cast iron has a longer life but I will probably have to wait for a long time before this becomes apparent.

 

So is there a difference between either in everyday use?, not that I can find? Hope that helps.

 

I have three stoves - a Charwood Country 4 (steel plate construction) , a Stovax Regency (cast iron) and some unknown (probably Chinese) cast iron. All work okay- the Charnwood is the most modern and efficient of the three. The cast iron Stovax is about 15 years old and now has 3 good cracks in it- so for longevity I might avoid cast iron- but then again a plate steel stove might burn through eventually? I don't fire up the unknown stove often enough to give it a fair lifetime testing. The best advice is to buy something semi-decent (preferably British), don't pay a fortune but don't expect it to last forever. That said with a decent British stove you should expect to able to obtain spares for them for many years. I recently got a new throat plate for our Stovax and it is a really old design. If you buy a £200 Chinese stove off E-bay I doubt if you'll be able to find the dealer again next year let alone spare door glass for it!

 

Definatley spend the extra £300 and get an established brand.

[firewood]

does anyone own a "Country Kiln" stove?

 

WOOD BURNING STOVES COUNTRY KILN INGLEWOOD MULTI FUEL STOVES AND WOOD BURNING STOVES

 

If so, are they any good?

[kevinwalker]

you wont get a better stove than a WOODWARM but any stove fom a country that has harsh winters forever will be a good ,yotul,morso ones like that ......kws woodburners thats me

[County4x4]

I wouldn't touch Country Kiln with a very long pole! Quite a few HETAS fitters have refused to fit them for people. They are not made in Scotland at all as they make it sound on their website - neither are they HETAS registered. The stoves are Chinese imports and according to someone in the know, will cost them about 30 quid apiece.

 

If you can find it on the Moneysavingexpert forum, there's a very enlightening thread on there about one guys experience with them, which he said that he would never have believed if he'd heard the same story from someone else!

Here you go:

 

Country Kiln woodburning stoves? - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

 

Andy