Having been determined to not spaff more than £600 on a stove, now it comes to actually committing to one (eventually I have the £), I’m finding myself in love with some of the steel offerings and I’m worryingly close to blowing £1300 on one of these, for no reason other than aesthetics and the open/close latches are oooooh, so so nice. Never seen any other stove so well made – It’s lovey!

Anyhow, anyone else with steel stoves and any thoughts to share? Worth the extra money, or regrets once it’s been sooted-up?

..and pics, obvz.

does it look better in real life ? dont think the photos make it look anything special …..

Yup, much much better. It’s fappin’ lovely.

You know how the door normally just uses the handle itself to drag into the main body of the woodburner to close? This has a series of springs & latches running up the side, which lock into the main door.

It’s spring loaded and…sorry, I’ve just made a mess.

Anyhow, question is about the steel V cast thing. Do those with the steel feel it was worth the ££ after a few years of use?

You could get a Contura i5 for that money, i can easily keep mine going overnight with the glass still soot free in the morning.
I have had embers still in the grate 30 hours after last log went on, incredible stove and i’ve used a lot of stoves.

This has a series of springs & latches running up the side, which lock into the main door.

Sounds a bit over complicated to me, potentially going to jam maybe?

remember the KISS principle …..

springs and levers sound great but theres a reason the wedge latch is still popular…..

Sounds a bit over complicated to me, potentially going to jam maybe?

Guaranteed innit. Thought the same myself though.

If I hadn’t wanted to cook on the stove I’d have bought a Bullerjan.

springs and levers sound great but theres a reason the wedge latch is still popular….

It could be that it’s cheap?

Having never even considered burners in this price range, I’d have hoped that some of that price was in the quality of some of the features, such as the fancy-pants locking mech.

Twinw4ll you hunk of brocolli-munching manliness, hoped you’d make an appearance and your contura looks lovely, but struggling to find much detail for it online?

I have an Asgard 1 stove in my studio.

http://www.adurofire.com/asgaard-stoves/stove/asgaard-1/

I think it cost around £500. It had won some efficiency award and that was a clincher for me. I have it on most every day in the winter and it’s a cracking little stove. It’s a lot lighter than our cast stoves in the house. The main benefit is that it heats up more quickly. It’s a simple design, the only moving parts are two slides on the floor front. The firebox is small for its output.

It will keep a kettle simmering on the top.

Its worth keeping an eye on eBay. I picked up a second Dovre Astroline stove for about a quarter the price of a new one recently. Stoves aren’t for everyone.

I have a modern style steel stove. A Firebelly. Burns well. In fact I’m just about to light it.

Steel is great – I have two Clearview and love them. My main concern with cast iron is that it can crack which knackers the control ability.
Personally I think there’s nothing wrong with a simple latch.
BN – Centura stoves are wood only not multifunction.

Which firebelly can I ask? I’ve seen one model burning (dunno which) and it was quite impressive but when I’ve looked into them they look painfully expensive.

In the line of recommend what you got, we have a Burley, mostly chosen for a combination of efficiency, big window and one of the biggest fire boxes for its size, as I am too lazy to put some of the bigger logs through the firewood processor twice. Ours is the 5kW one, Holly…? Not cheapest, not too spendy.

@ bearnecessities – it’s a single sided FB1. We also have the logbox for it to sit on (no fireplace in our house).

Whether it’s worth the money is hard to say as it’s the only stove I’ve ever owned. But it cracks out a good heat and looks good in our modern home.

I’ll second the Contura 51, lovely stove but really because I fancy being a lovely hunk of manliness too 🙂

Have some info: shameless plug

😀

My local stove shop had a Termatech TT20 burning in the showroom for the past year or so. Very impressive piece of kit for the money.
It was sold off to put in a Neo 3 (same as that^ on but with the side windows) around a month ago. It has been a major disappointment in comparison.
That lovely door latch has also developed an alarming degree of shonk after such a short time too.

Keeping close your £600 price, the Burley isn’t pretty but is unbeatable for performance and the flame pattern is awesome.
If you are spending more then the Termatech is ace. My current fave though is the Rais Viva. I fitted one for a mate recently and it is superb.
It’s good to hear there are satisfied Firebelly owners out there, a rare thing ime!!

And steel is indeed real .

Sooo, about to commit to an Esse 100 for £1k.

Am I stupid? Anyone with experience of these?

Hi Rich

I had a very old Esse dragon in my property, ended up replacing it with a hunter from a local company in Hebden bridge.

The hunter is great – I would also recommend the company who supplied it – many years of experience and good prices too.

http://www.qualitystoves.co.uk/

HTH

Alastair

http://www.stovey.com but then I have a vested interest by doing some of their design work

I have an esse 100. Is ace. Huge firebox for a 5kW stove. Burns well, lights easy, glass stays clear. Had it since September so no idea on longevity but seems well made. It has fire bricks which are replaceable but I think you need to be careful putting wood in not to crack them. Only thing I’ve found is that the primary air control is quite fine. So not much movement makes a big difference and there isn’t much throw in the control. I’ve set it doesn’t need much fiddling though.

I prefer it to the charnwood country four in our living room. And that is a great stove.

Edit – I got it for less than 1k. About 900 I think.

It’s good to hear there are satisfied Firebelly owners out there, a rare thing ime!!

Really? Genuinely been quite happy with ours. We tend to run it with the vents fully open to avoid creosote get the chimney (it has two 45 degree bends in it), so we get through plenty of wood.

Gripes? Painted finish can scratch, but really only noticeable close up. Also the hinges have dropped very slightly, so a bit of a catch on the lower vent lever as the door is closed. That’s the only issue in 4 years.

TBH it’s the only stove I’ve owned, so no direct comparators, but no complaints here!