Hi Guys,
With the current renewed popularity of wood/multifuel stoves I thought I would give an honest review of a budget stove I recently bought. I searched this forum and found very little in the way of reviews and honest opinions, so here gores.
Just to make it abundantly clear, I do not sell these stoves, and I have no affiliation with the manufacturers. I have no vested interest whatsoever.
I had always wanted to get rid of our open fire and install a much more efficient multi fuel stove. Unfortunately I was short of funds, so Esse , Morso and the like were out of my range. Inevitably I ended up on Ebay looking for a bargain. I did consider a second hand stove from a quality manufacturer, but was put off by some of the forums I visited. The primary reason being that they could have cracks in them that would only be evident when the stove reached full running temps. The last thing I wanted was to spend hours installing the stove only to find that the damn thing had a crack. So new was the only option.
I eventually plumped for a 'Firefox' 5 MF stove. Never heard of them ? Me either! Anyway, I bought it from the bay for the princely sum of £299 delivered! I won't give the name of the Ebayer, but it came next day! The first thing that shocked me was how bloody heavy it was, 85 Kilos to be precise. The body is one piece cast iron, something you normally only find on more expensive stoves, with twin air controls, one primary, one secondary/ airwash. It also came with comprehensive instructions (in English!), a heatproof mitten, mattblack handles in case you didn’t like the chrome ones fitted and an ashpan / riddle tool. The stove didn’t come with any flue (I’m not aware of any stoves that do!) , and the retailer stated it was a 6 inch flue, when actually it was 5 inches. Thankfully I noticed this prior to ordering the flue.
Due to a small opening in my chimney breast I could only accommodate a 5KW stove. It is worth noting that the quoted 5KW was achieved using anthracite on max settings. The room it was going in wasn’t huge, but was extremely draughty. Original wooden floors and awful windows didn’t help. Add to that the 3 foot thick walls (with no cavity) and the room was very nippy. It is also worth mentioning that the room had been warm with the open fire at full tilt and the one room rad on full. The room dimensions were 13x13 with an 8.5ft ceiling height.
After installing the stove, I was stunned at how quickly it heated up the room, and even more so as I turned that rad off. Within an hour using some pretty poor cool and wood the room was toasty. So much so that all air controls had to be shut down. It was immediately obvious how economical this thing was. It’s a little Heath Robinson, but the only way I could measure the efficiency was to compare how many coal scuttles I used with the open fire compared to the stove. Typically I would use a full scuttle per night, i.e between the hours of 5pm and 11pm. I am using a little under half a scuttle now with the stove, and its warmer! The rad in the room is also now set to the off position permanently. The central heating had also been off for the previous 24 hours before I lit the stove, so no stored heat either! The air controls have a marked effect on the heat output and even on minimum setting offer a very comfortable output.
I live in North Wales, so it goes without saying its bloody cold, currently -4 outside. The stove has been running every night for the last two weeks, and its superb. The first two fires are to be run at minimal temps to ease the stove in.
In conclusion the stove offers superb output at a fraction of the previous open fire cost and is of excellent quality.
Negatives? The only two negatives are that the company I bought it from stated a 6 inch flue when it is actually a 5 inch, and the pin on the riddle tool broke, which required a cut down 2 inch bolt as a replacement. Other than that I cannot fault it!
Bring on another winter.
EDIT: I still haven't run the stove on anthracite, but nevertheless the fire will stay in overnight. Nice to come down to in the morning
With the current renewed popularity of wood/multifuel stoves I thought I would give an honest review of a budget stove I recently bought. I searched this forum and found very little in the way of reviews and honest opinions, so here gores.
Just to make it abundantly clear, I do not sell these stoves, and I have no affiliation with the manufacturers. I have no vested interest whatsoever.
I had always wanted to get rid of our open fire and install a much more efficient multi fuel stove. Unfortunately I was short of funds, so Esse , Morso and the like were out of my range. Inevitably I ended up on Ebay looking for a bargain. I did consider a second hand stove from a quality manufacturer, but was put off by some of the forums I visited. The primary reason being that they could have cracks in them that would only be evident when the stove reached full running temps. The last thing I wanted was to spend hours installing the stove only to find that the damn thing had a crack. So new was the only option.
I eventually plumped for a 'Firefox' 5 MF stove. Never heard of them ? Me either! Anyway, I bought it from the bay for the princely sum of £299 delivered! I won't give the name of the Ebayer, but it came next day! The first thing that shocked me was how bloody heavy it was, 85 Kilos to be precise. The body is one piece cast iron, something you normally only find on more expensive stoves, with twin air controls, one primary, one secondary/ airwash. It also came with comprehensive instructions (in English!), a heatproof mitten, mattblack handles in case you didn’t like the chrome ones fitted and an ashpan / riddle tool. The stove didn’t come with any flue (I’m not aware of any stoves that do!) , and the retailer stated it was a 6 inch flue, when actually it was 5 inches. Thankfully I noticed this prior to ordering the flue.
Due to a small opening in my chimney breast I could only accommodate a 5KW stove. It is worth noting that the quoted 5KW was achieved using anthracite on max settings. The room it was going in wasn’t huge, but was extremely draughty. Original wooden floors and awful windows didn’t help. Add to that the 3 foot thick walls (with no cavity) and the room was very nippy. It is also worth mentioning that the room had been warm with the open fire at full tilt and the one room rad on full. The room dimensions were 13x13 with an 8.5ft ceiling height.
After installing the stove, I was stunned at how quickly it heated up the room, and even more so as I turned that rad off. Within an hour using some pretty poor cool and wood the room was toasty. So much so that all air controls had to be shut down. It was immediately obvious how economical this thing was. It’s a little Heath Robinson, but the only way I could measure the efficiency was to compare how many coal scuttles I used with the open fire compared to the stove. Typically I would use a full scuttle per night, i.e between the hours of 5pm and 11pm. I am using a little under half a scuttle now with the stove, and its warmer! The rad in the room is also now set to the off position permanently. The central heating had also been off for the previous 24 hours before I lit the stove, so no stored heat either! The air controls have a marked effect on the heat output and even on minimum setting offer a very comfortable output.
I live in North Wales, so it goes without saying its bloody cold, currently -4 outside. The stove has been running every night for the last two weeks, and its superb. The first two fires are to be run at minimal temps to ease the stove in.
In conclusion the stove offers superb output at a fraction of the previous open fire cost and is of excellent quality.
Negatives? The only two negatives are that the company I bought it from stated a 6 inch flue when it is actually a 5 inch, and the pin on the riddle tool broke, which required a cut down 2 inch bolt as a replacement. Other than that I cannot fault it!
Bring on another winter.
EDIT: I still haven't run the stove on anthracite, but nevertheless the fire will stay in overnight. Nice to come down to in the morning
