Multi Fuel Stoves (Not A Gas Bottle Question!)

[Damaged]

Hi all,

I wonder if anybody can help me?

A couple years ago I built an Isokern chimeney and fire chest in my house and since then have had a bloody great dog basket which has been brilliant, trouble is her who must be obeyed now wants a stove instead.

Now I know as much about stoves as I do about brain surgery but I've looked in a local "Designer" fire centre and anything decent seems to be about £2K but I can see similar looking ones on fleabay for about £400.

Would this be like comparing a Murex to a Sip?

Are there any features apart from heat output and air wash that I should be looking for?

Cheers in advance,

Mick.;

 

[Bobtail4x4]

I am undergoing the same trauma,

after taking lots of advice I am told to buy a Hunter. or Broseley

some cheap stoves are made from recycled cast iron, others are made from cheap steel.

 

[Damaged]

Cheers Bobtail,

Can anybody else suggest any respected makes please?

 

[steve238]

I have a Villager stove and it is a great bit of kit!
They also have a great after sales service when it comes to spare parts,i have ordered a new door glass and seal kit and a couple of other spares and it arrives very quickly.
I would get one with the grate so you can also burn coal as i find you get a better fire when you burn logs and coal together.
If you have a big budget have a look at the Jotul burners they are very nice.
http://www.villager.co.uk/usefulinfo.htm

 

[madkayaker]

Ive got one and its great keeps the whole house warm it only a little one i will take a pic when i get chance

 

[TechnicAl]

If its got firebricks inside it should be Ok

I bought one for £100 off ebay and its great.

Machine mart made in China

 

[TechnicAl]

I have a Villager stove and it is a great bit of kit!
They also have a great after sales service when it comes to spare parts,i have ordered a new door glass and seal kit and a couple of other spares and it arrives very quickly.
I would get one with the grate so you can also burn coal as i find you get a better fire when you burn logs and coal together.
If you have a big budget have a look at the Jotul burners they are very nice.
http://www.villager.co.uk/usefulinfo.htm

I helped Villager set up their welding, so they have my seal of approval

 

[chriskelland]

Hi,

Are you going to burn only wood? or just about anything? Do you want hot water?
As far as makes I had a Hunter and it was great. it had a grate so I could burn most solid fuel. Wood burners usually dont have a grate you burn the wood on top of the ashes.All the makes mentioned are OK. Hunters I know are all welded construction, in fact I have another Hunter now we got gas for heating one of these gas fired log effect jobs. If you go for multi fuel, be prepared for a lot of dust in the house when you empty the ashes unless you buy a Tippy.

Chris.

 

[wallopadonkey]

lo there i sell rocal, dovre, stovax,villager and yeoman what do you want to know?
i would start with the size of room you want to heat
what fuel you want to burn wood is hotter!
type of installation you want ie.- seperate flue or use existing chimney
we have a rocal coral reduced to £1200 from £2k in our window at work 13.5kw on wood lol
mostly peeps buy 6 - 7 kw for a decent sized room as they then dont need to fuel it too high to get enough warmth
i have a stovax stockton 7 inset convector it is amazingly good in our small room

 

[Damaged]

Cheers Gents, I knew somebody on hear would know about these things!

Sorry if I wasn't very clear, I need to burn both coal and wood.

It's a large room so I'm looking for something around 13Kw or so, would prefer a "riddling" grate (I think that's the correct term) and would be using an existing chiminey.

Wallopdonkey where is your shop? Do you have a Website?

I'll measure the fire place opening tonight, should help narrow things down a bit.

Thanks very much.

Mick.

 

[wallopadonkey]

that is a big stove fella will need loads of wood to go well most 13 x 15 foot rooms need little more than 7 kw stove

a 7kw should take 14 inch logs no probs

riddling grate is really for the benefit of multifuel wood burns best on a bed of ash so you really only agitate the ash bed to get it going after it has been shut down for a long time (at night for instance gets the embers glowing to start up again)
and to rake the coals cos they get stifled when you dont rake the ash out
shop in llandudno north wales

 

[Sam]

I personally cant see past Morso they are cast iron and ornate very nice looking stoves.
I have a Dove in my lounge 6m x 8m puts out 10+ kw 34,000 btu hot water also have a morso squirrel 4/5kw in the music room the squirrel is probably or was the most economical stove on the market.
If you buy second hand you can still get parts for them I have just renovated the squirrel last year I bought that second hand 14 yrs ago. Watch out for stoves that have the boiler and stove all in one if when the boiler finally gives up you have to replace the entire stove. Coalbrookdale also make a nice looking stove. I had one of them in my flat. These stoves are multi fuel.

 

[colinh1301]

We also have a morso and cant fault it. Its a really good quality cast iron. Ours as a system where the incoming air is passed past the inside of the glass before going on to feed the fire. It ensures the glass stays clean and really works well.

 

[Damaged]

Thanks for all the replies gents,

Room dimensions are approx 27' x 18' and it opens out into the kitchen at one end.

Am I correct thinking I need something around 13Kw?

The fire place opening is 890mm wide x 670mm high x 530 deep.

Any further help will be greatly appreciated.

Mick.

 

[Sam]

W X D X H Morso Dove 664 x 522 x 695 10+kw also gives 34000btu water Have already stated size of my lounge I have the stove on tickover and shorts and t shirt is all you need we have not lifted past -1 in the afternoon this past three days and no one has been cold it has also been as low as -5 in the morning yesterday and today. You will probably pay £1300/£1400 but well worth the money they recon in getting your money back within three years as they burn aroung a third of the fuel as a conventional fire and look a lot better it will become part of the family I can assure you.

 

[Damaged]

Thanks very much Sam.

 

[Biscayne]

Not a recommendation for a particular make of stove, just for a design:

Our first stove was a Hunter midi 14 which we ran on wood spring & autumn and coal in the winter. The grate bars ran left to right, (the longest dimension) and would gradually ‘sag’ from the heat of the coal. They were quite expensive to replace.

When the boiler went we replaced it with a Charnwood CW50B, where the grate bars run front to back and are therefore much shorter.

15 years later the same bars are still in good order.

It may be that the cast iron used in the Hunter was of an inferior quality but I would always go for a short length grate bar in future just to be on the safe side.

 

[Alzax3]

Many years ago I worked for a stove seller/chimney liner in Wales (I guess somebody had to!) Squirrels were around then, were and are still good - You can't go far wrong with a Jotul though - very well made and they just 'work' They have a 'different' sort of styling, all different shapes but they're a love-them-or-hate-them sort of thing. I've got a Model No1 which is incredibly solid, years old and puts out around 12kw. Fair few on fleabay, and if you're lucky and they're near you, might be a bargain to be had......

 

[Splatterer]

Don't forget to check if you're in a smokeless zone.
You aren't supposed to burn wood unless in an exempt appliance.
and guess what? They're more expensive.

That said, I'd just had a run in with the council over my nice new fence, just like the one down the street, but mine had to be taken down, grr.
But no one's knocked on the door asking about my stove (probably because I get on my saop box about having a permit to all the loacls...)
So maybe smokeless zones are getting a little more relaxed than they were.

Mine is a Lovenhome, 4.7kw.
Steel is a better material for quickly heating up, say if you mainly fire it up in the eveneings after work.
Cast Iron heats up more slowly but the heat seems to last longer.

I'd go for the biggest window you can, makes a brilliant focal point lit or filled with pine cones and frilly stuff in the summer.

 

[armalites]

I have a Clearview Pioneer 400

I thought long and hard before buying it at £1100.

I haven't regretted that once since I bought. I would buy another tomorrow

It's simple and well made and also have a really good resale value.

Lights really easily and is very controllable. If I stick a decent hardwood log before I go to bed and wind the stove down it will still be running 8 hrs later.

The glass stays clean too.

My wife is a childminder so we don't run it when there are other kids here but we started it before Xmas and it had not been out once through till January.

They do pop up on ebay

I was advised it's better to run a smaller stove hard than trying to hold back a bigger stove.

The Pioneer 400 is the baby of the fleet and easily gets a 15x15 room to a point where it's too hot. Also certified for smoke free zones(once up to temp we get absolutely no smoke)

We bought a thermal fan and that moves the warm down to the end of our kitchen which off of the room where the stove is and 6m away.