Recomend me a stove

[Stereo]

Pretty down on the Villagers huh?

 

An honest question. Why are Clearview so good? You mention that they are more efficient. How do they achieve that? I'm not being a plank, genuinely interested. I see a stove as a big black metal box with stuff on fire in it. I can see that boiler design may affect the efficiency but for a non boiler stove? How does a Clearview get more heat out of the logs and into the room?

 

As I said, genuine question. We've been in various rented places and they all had Villagers and we have one now which I bought from a farm shop when I was converting our barn as that's all I knew.

[cousin jack]

morso,morso,morso.jotul

 

[mendiplogs]

Pretty down on the Villagers huh?

 

An honest question. Why are Clearview so good? You mention that they are more efficient. How do they achieve that? I'm not being a plank, genuinely interested. I see a stove as a big black metal box with stuff on fire in it. I can see that boiler design may affect the efficiency but for a non boiler stove? How does a Clearview get more heat out of the logs and into the room?

 

As I said, genuine question. We've been in various rented places and they all had Villagers and we have one now which I bought from a farm shop when I was converting our barn as that's all I knew.

HI stereo my euro heat stove cast iron mate it has no fire bricks a lot of good stove do not have them our stove will keep going for hrs with 2/3 logs and when the fire out cast iron is still very hot with the cheaper stove there made thin metal no when fire goes out the cast iron stove will hold the heat in our stove weight is 160 kgs plus and it very good on logs and the cheaper ones eat them all the best jon

[Paul Smith]

These get a very good rating!

 

http://www.stevedowling.co.uk/dowlingstoves/hand_built.html

[corylus]

Pretty down on the Villagers huh?

 

An honest question. Why are Clearview so good? You mention that they are more efficient. How do they achieve that? I'm not being a plank, genuinely interested. I see a stove as a big black metal box with stuff on fire in it. I can see that boiler design may affect the efficiency but for a non boiler stove? How does a Clearview get more heat out of the logs and into the room?

 

Have just installed a Clearview 400. Charcoal in it this morn!

 

I've had a Clearview 500 in larger rooms for many years. I dont know why they are so efficient, but suspect it has something to do with the secondary combustion air being pre-heated as it travels round inside the stove before 'washing over' (and keeping clean) the door glass, which is double-glazed (with an air gap, unlike the euro-heat which has two sheets of glass next to each other, if memory serves me right).

 

Euro-heat was the only other stove I considered, they look almost spot-on. Only thing I wasnt 100% on was the air controller which looked more prone to long term problems, whereas the Clearview's are v simple. I imagine that the Euro-heat controls have been designed with their 'remote control' option thingy in mind. Whatever next. AND you have to open a door to get to them!!

 

I too wondered at the old adage of cast being superior, but 12+ years of a non-cast Clearview (never replaced firebricks, cos they are still OK) have dispelled any concerns. The arguments about cast retaining heat better are spurious, as it just means it takes a bit longer to heat the room, but goes on heating a bit longer for a given amount of fuel, in very simplistic terms. Look up 'thermal mass' if you want more gen.

 

As for Morso, only have experience of 2, both of which need looking after, ie bits burning though need replacing.

 

Have a Jotul 402(???) as well. Simple woodburner. No problems with that.

 

BUT as for the £300-500 stoves, they will indeed cost you more in both terms of logs used, and replacement bits, thats if the spares are available.

[corylus]

Just had a thought regarding Morse/Jotul and any other Scandinavian stove manufacturers.

 

I presume the Swede's etc burn mainly softwood (albeit slower grown than ours), but does this affect stove design. Does softwood have different 'volatiles' to hardwood?

 

I would be interested to know your thoughts, scrub that, i would be interested if you would pass on your 'knowledge' on this!

[Stereo]

So is it the case that my Villager A Flat has fire bricks to protect itself from the heat of the fire and this means that a lot more heat goes up the shute instead of out through the body of the stove and into the room?

 

I'm still considering a smaller Clearview for the lounge and then move the Villager down to the shed with a back boiler as it will do the job down there well enough and is nice and big so we can chuck in all kinds of offcuts and stuff we get.

[corylus]

So is it the case that my Villager A Flat has fire bricks to protect itself from the heat of the fire and this means that a lot more heat goes up the shute instead of out through the body of the stove and into the room?

.

 

Yes firebricks protect your stove (to a point), but it doesnt mean more heat 'goes up the shute', the implication being a negative effect on efficiency. (Clearview stoves have fire bricks but are amongst the most efficient.)

 

The 'physical' design of the stove, ie how it combusts the gasses and 'extracts' the heat thereof before entering the flue, dictates its efficiency (not including effect on the stove of a poorly functioning flue).

[blazer]

Swedish Stovax for me - freezing up there so they must be good. We spend our winter nights by our Stovax listening to Abba CD's:laugh1:

 

We have a Stovax Sherraton for say 12 yrs runs most of the winter at peak cold we can use 5 large baskets of logs per day, needs a few spares after the winter but most pleased with it. They or others in there range will run back boilers.

[Perkins]

I use a Stratford Eco 20 (water heater) and a Morso Badger (room heater), both of which are excellent. The Morso has a tertiary air inlet which is an excellent idea.

 

Primary air comes in through the bottom or side of the stove usually and helps get the fire started. Secondary air is normally an air wash vent above the glass or ducted up the back of the stove before emerging above the glass. Tertiary air is warmed and presented to the fire box just above the burning logs, via lots of little holes (see Morso Badger), ensuring proper mixing of the volatile gasses with the combustion air, right in the heart of the fire. This means you can burn the wood efficiently and with the minimum amount of air, hence reducing the throughput of air through the stove and heat loss up the flue. Once up to temperature, it's looks like liquid flame gently rolling and swirling around the firebox. Compare this to the leaky chinese-made stove from Machine Mart which roars away burning a log every ten minutes, and you'll see what I mean.

 

Stove temperature also matters, because hotter stoves burn more efficiently. Bear this in mind because adding a water jacket reduces the efficiency of the stove because the internal walls are much cooler than a standard room heater type stove.