My family have been manufacturing, designing and selling stoves for generations. I started my own stove company at 21 and enjoyed a lot of success with it, until my wife got ill and I sold my company to care for her and our 3 children. I handed my company to my brothers and father and I now make videos about all things stove related and a few other projects just to keep you entertained. I've no idea whether what I make is of any use or interest to anyone, but I've always wanted to do it. I love making things and stoves are in the blood!
I'm very lucky to have a family with a good reputation in this industry, and I have a wealth of knowledge and experienced built up over generations, which enabled me to help thousands of people get the best product for them. My reviews are independent and as unbiased as I can make them.
Also check out my other channels, which are all about wisdom, success and making things:
Thanks a lot. That’s strange regarding the dealers, but hopefully it’s because they’re doing in store deals of some kind! Definitely worth a phone call to a couple tomorrow, as they will have correct pricing, however I believe that the RRP is roughly £3,150.00 Inc VAT.
I cover this better in some other videos, but yes typically you will get less heat initially. On the flip side you will build up thermal mass in the masonry fireplace, which will continue to bleed heat into the room much more gradually.
It’s not that it can’t, it’s just this stoves focus is not in that direction. You could daily use a sports car, but that was never the intention. Similarly this stove is focused on very clean burning, and a bright, fantastic look. This generally will mean that it will need re-loading more often, which is less conducive to a constant use stove. Having said that, you can keep this in for longer periods, it just requires a touch more forethought.
Hi. Love all your helpful videos. I justed your opinion on our situation. We are fitting a peanut 8 but can only fit a 5" liner as our chimney is narrow. Our chimney is already clay lined, in good condition and had a successful smoke test. Do you think it would be ok in this instance to not use a steel liner? Thanks
Great review, we’re glad you enjoyed it and cooked some tasty food on it! A black heatshield is normally sent in the box with these stoves which hangs on the silver rail covering the fire box blocking most of the heat once the fire is up to temperature. This helps to make cooking more comfortable, apologies for this.
In Star Trek the captain of the Enterprise in the series Enterprise was Jonathan Archer. That logo is definitely ‘starfleet/star trek’ and calling it Vulcan definitely suggests the makers are Trekkies …. I hope this is not a Kobayashi Maru… 😂
Oh mate, you’ve got it all going on. If only I’d had this inside pop culture knowledge, I could have played on this even more! Jonathon Archer, I had no idea 😆
Yes you can. The rule is that if your stove is not DEFRA approved (FYI Clearview do make DEFRA approved stoves), then you must burn smokeless fuel. You can use wood for lighting, but the primary fuel source needs to be smokeless.
Do you think this would be worth it on a roughly 10 year old charnwood island 1? Its a multifuel that burns through wood quickly! Or failing that any issues with placing a firebrick cut to size to match the grate for the top of the grate?
I like it. Great if have lots of powercuts and live in a rural area or just like cooking with wood. Could do with a larger model with back boiler for hot water.
Such a wonderful opening statement about the current state of society and the future of the channel, you and Amy seem wise beyond your years, bravo. As for the stove, it sums up your opening statement perfectly, some things are worth the wait, the journey and the prize, I hope your children remember these years and lessons and look back on them with fond memories. Always a pleasure to sit down and watch a new video from your channel pop up. Kind regards Tony
I’m a little Leary of something like that which can rob some of the heat from the stack for proper draft. These new clean burning stoves are so efficient that they don’t have much heat going up the stack anymore.
Valid point for sure, but I do like that these possibilities are still out there. If you use some nice dry fuel then you’ll keep any possible problem in the very much unlikely category.
I love this review. I have had our Charnwood Haven going for a couple of weeks now and glad to see there are a lot of similarities... some things better, some less so, but what at asset to a house these things are!
@@TheTortoise It lies in really well. The firebox is little bigger than the size of a shoebox, but after about an hour of getting up to temp, the wallpaper is threatening to slide off the walls.
We cooked 6 Cornish pasty’s in ours and a casserole ontop! In reference to standing in front of it and cooking- C&J didn’t send you the optional heat shield that goes over the front of the stove glass, drops the temperature right down.
The Esse Bakeheart works differently. It does not divert the gasses to heat the oven therefore the stove and hot plate gets up to temperature way before the oven does. The coals heat the oven. You just need to adjust your preparation time, the stove heats the room / house all the time you are waiting on the oven reaching temperature. Many full meals can be completed just using the hot plate.
Yes, I've got an esse as well, does the rads, oven, hotplate, heats the room, all on a bit of wood, I use anthracite as well, I keep it in 24 hours in winter. Had the gas taken out.
It does come with a insulated cover as an additional attachment so you can get it hotter faster and don't scorch yourself making your carbonara sauce. Looks good for those places that would suit it.
I tried something similar with a sheet of stainless steel, drilled small holes in it. Anyone have any experience with Mazona stoves? They have a good deal on at the moment.
The mazona stoves (I suspect) are relatively simple imports with their own door design. Assuming I’m right then watching a review of a: Woodford The ACR we tested Or a Saltfire Will give you an idea of them. Often these are quite similar stoves with different doors.
Thanks for the information it’s been very useful. Can you advise if I can mount my tv over my log burner? I’m moving into a house with log burner and ideally I’d prefer the tv mounted above fire due to space. What’s your thoughts on this ? Thank you
There are certain distance rules and it’s a good idea to have an oak beam or something below the tv to push the heat away from the tv. Strangely I’ve never heard of it going wrong, because I would assume the heat would wear things quicker, but so far I’ve never heard of an issue.
Best idea is to polish it. Which essentially means using a sander with 60-80grit to flatten the stone. Then step up the grits to 240, and finally a slate oil and you should be golden. Or if you prefer a more riven look, then just use a slate oil, which is all I’ve done on mine.
Really useful review. Have seen comment elsewhere, but expert analysis here is most useful. Strikes me that manufacturers with metal base trays or grates already have the heat disruption sussed. So that leaves the oxygen flow issue, which a bed of ash normally regulates? So in most modern stoves where is the improvement? Hope manufacturer comes back with more on what else it adds beyond these 2 factors, as we all love an effective stove add on (if it is durable, which mesh isn't?). Great review - thanks.
Yea I think you can do this, but if you want to keep the stove lit for longer periods this added stodging of the ash can also work against you (unless you’re remembering to riddle the grate from time to time). I tend to find that if I’m using coal based fuel it’s because I want to run for long periods, and in this situation I found it being open worked better. No doubt if you tend to use coal based fuel for the evening, closing it has its advantages.
Iv used them 4 or 5 years back ,they are as you describe in your video ,they noticeably improve , i liked the product ,hmm but as much as i remember the disappointment was they didn't last that long before disintegrating .
Interesting I’m still using this one to try and work out its weaknesses and strengths. Mine is still in good condition, but perhaps it’s temperature related, or I simply haven’t had it long enough. Thanks for the feedback though!
Yea it’s an interesting one. I wanted to wait before testing this, to use the right type of stove that I thought it would improve. As I say, with modern stoves the difference is not easily apparent, but older stoves and open fires it was great. Your Clock will be a fairly impressive thing on its own, but you could certainly try it. It’s not too expensive to be fair.
A bag of silver birch is done and dusted within an hour. It burns far too fast and and as a consequence is very poor value for money. Oak and the very best hornbeam firewood are much better value for money in terms of how long they take to burn.
