Burley Hollywell 1905 stove Hot

After months of deliberation we decided on this fabulous stove because, after all, we want a log burner that is considerably more efficient than the old fireplace. There are plenty of traditional, pretty & not so pretty log burners on the market, none of them near as efficient. The Burley Hollywell is a simple design that frames the magical dancing flames through the large clear window (check out the video on Youtube if you haven't seen the Hollywell in action).

Heat output seems more than previous 5kW log burners we have had, and provides ample heat for the lounge diner of our a semi-detached house. Often we leave the lounge door open to let heat escape upstairs, and find we don't need the central heating even on the coldest winter days of recent.

It takes good size logs, and will accept more than the manufacturers 12" recommendation if you place vertically/diagonally in the firebox.

Very easy to light, window remains clear in normal use, control works well, minimal ash to clear every few weeks, door handle & air control remains cool to touch even while log burner is hot. Large door gives good access for cleaning & adding logs. It's not intended for overnight burning but sometimes the fire will restart from the ashes of the night before.

Only small criticism was the door handle retaining screw worked loose & needed a drop of nut lock glue to fix permanently.

It came supplied with a moisture meter, fire glove & ash spade - all at a good price if you shop around or negotiate with your installer. Although its not HETAS certified don't let that put you off as it has all the relevant regulatory approvals. Sales & technical support from the factory was excellent.

Stove Expert Replied: Good review.

We had our Burley Holywell installed in the living room of our 3 bedroom 1960's chalet-style house last September, along with a flue liner. It replaced an old open fireplace that we had used previously.

We chose the Holywell because it was engineered specifically for burning wood and we live in the middle of an estate forest so that is all we would be burning. We were also attracted to the simple lines of the thing which are very stylish, the very large viewing window, and the published efficiency ratings. The fact that it is designed and manufactured in the UK was also a plus point - I called Burley with come questions when we were having the stove installed, spoke to a very helpful lady who was able to answer some of our questions and ended up speaking to the chap who designed it who was incredibly helpful - excellent service.

Now that we have gone through one winter using it almost every day, we couldn't be happier with our choice. The stove is very easy to light and gets up to running temperature quickly. The single air control is very responsive and it is simple to adjust the heat output / burn rate as desired. The airwash works very well and after a whole day and evening of burning the glass only has a thin layer of white ash on it, which is easily removed with some damp kitchen roll.

The heat output has exceeded our expectations - it heats our 6.5m x 4.3m living room easily and we found that we were leaving the downstairs doors open to allow the heat to drift around the rest of the house - it has certainly cut our oil consumption dramatically. Compared to our old open fire, we found that we were using much less wood to produce much more heat - a 1kg log lasts about 45 mins on our preferred setting, and once the stove was up and running we did not need the central heating on at all.

We love looking at the amazing flame patterns created by the air-introduction system. Rather than having vents directly open to the air, the controller regulates an opening at the back of the stove through which the air is drawn before being injected into the firebox through a series of small holes all around the interior of the stove. These holes are positioned in such a way as to create a vortex which, when there is sufficient fuel in the box, creates what I can only describe as a "flame whirlwind" when the controller is fully open. It's certainly a talking point whenever visitors come around.

Finally, the wooden handles are an excellent idea as they remain cool to the touch no matter how long the fire has been burning. The door handle does become loose after a while but this is easily tightened up with an allen key. We've never tried to keep the stove in overnight, so I have rated this as 3.

We did a lot of research before choosing a stove and found the reviews on this website very helpful, so hopefully this review will help others with their decisions. We would happily recommend this stove to anyone.

Stove Expert replied: Feedback always good and by customers being honest may help others in their choice.

Excellent stove, it has made our winter fabulous, we have saved a fortune on the oil central heating as we only need to have it on for an hour in the morning and just before bed, of course it has been a very mild winter, looking forward to seeing what we save in a cold winter. I particularly like the look of the stove, which really was a selling point, others seem too fiddly, it's simple lines are great of course the efficiency rating was also a very good selling point, let alone the price, it did seem a bit too good to be true. We've never had a stove before but have found it easy to get used to. Burley were very helpful when I rang to get a replacement moisture meter and ask a few questions.

Stove Expert Replied: Honest review of this stove - maximum marks - can't ask for anything more!

This is great stove. We bought it from Cosi stoves in Canterbury, who also did the installation just before Xmas 2011. We've been running it since then without any issues. It's hot, easy to light, doesn't make the room smokey, and is straightforward to keep running. Overall, very happy with this.

Stove Expert Replied: Nice feedback from happy customer.

Iv had various stoves over the last 25 years, so am fairly familiar with their abilities and operation. The Burley "debdale" 4kw in my opinion is awesome. The build quality is very good, operation easy. It lights quickly and simply, the handle locks in a slightly open position for a good draw and quick lighting. I bought it because of the technical features it boasted. At first I thought this might be the usual manufacturers "blurb", but on operation I could not believe how good this stove is. The "cyclone tech" really works, heated air is injected over the top of the fire creating a secondary burn, which swirls round cyclone style, just amazing, Iv never seen a better and more amazing flame pattern. The burn is so complete that we've used it every day now for a month and there is still only an inch of ash in the bed. On opening the door the fire box is nice and deep so you never get ash falling out onto the harth. The baffle plate is wire mesh which get super hot and also ignites any ash or creasote particles that evade combustion, added to that are rods welded into the canopy which act as heat exchangers, convecting lovely hoy air into the room. All in all a reasonably priced, quality stove, which boasts one of the best efficency ratings of any stove on the planet.
The only negative and its a very small one is that on very windy days when the fire is drawing hard its difficult to damp down, compared to say a stove with a wheel control air vent. But then thats only on very windy days, usually on a normal day, shutting the lever off almost puts the fire out!!!
My advice "BUY ONE"

Stove expert says: great that you are getting such a great experience with this stove. The difficulty to control the stove on windy days is really more to do with the chimney than the stove. Perhaps consider fitting a draught stabiliser.

We bought this stove after much deliberation, we viewed many stoves and were finally convinced to choose this one after reading all the good press on its efficiency.

The stove has a very simple clean feel to its lines and the large viewing glass really means you can see the flame pattern when it burns. We looked at many 5kW stoves and most of them had very small viewing panes, and I think I would've felt I'd lost out if I'd have gone for a different one now!

The build quality is excellent, but I'd agree with the previous reviewer on the handle. I'm sure it's easy to tighten up the timber if it comes loose, and the simplicity of the handles do add to the general feel of the stove.
I've used stoves in several different houses and I find that the controls for this stove are very simple but work perfectly.

We bought the log store that sits underneath the stove (not shown in the picture above), and it really adds to the feel. A bonus for us, it also keeps our house rabbits away from the main heat!

We have a Victorian mid terrace and this stove easily heats up the ground floor (2 rooms knocked into one), we often leave the doors open in the house as it gets too warm! I'm looking forward to our first full winter with the stove.

I've rated it low on burning overnight only as it's not designed to work like that, and so it would be unfair to say it was good at this. Maybe the website controllers can add a 'not relevant' option??

A brilliant little stove, that I would recommend to anyone.

Stove Expert Replied: Nice feedback and lots if information in comments!

We spent a considerable amount of time researching stoves and finally settled on the Burley after reading their product literature and seeing one in action in a local shop. We had saved for some time so could have purchased any stove but ruled out some as they just seemed too expensive. We couldn't see in what ways the other high end brands were better than the Burley.

Stove is very good to use, very easy to control and the wood / metal handle remains cool enough to use without the glove. My only minor criticism is that the door handle can work slightly loose but is easy to tighten up. I am sure this could be fixed with a little thought. The air control on the bottom is particularly easy to use and I think this is better than many other types offered on other stoves.

The firebox is a good size and the stove burns very well. The big door is great and the flames look very good. We only burn good quality seasoned wood and I am sure this helps. It seems very efficient and heats our room and surrounding space well.

Build quality is very good and on a par with the other stoves we looked at. I don't think there is much between the top end stoves and can't see the reason for the big differences in price. The margins between the different makes is possibly the difference. The stove has the benefit of a double glazed door and the glass does stay very clean - very impressed with this when compared to others.

Overall we are very pleased with the Burley. It looks very good (better than the pictures) and fits well in our very old cottage. It has good proportions and rather than being overly wide it is more narrow and tall in shape which we like. Heats up quickly, burns well and is controllable. Compared with the others we considered (clearview, woodwarm and morso) I consider this to be very good value.

Stove Expert Replied: Fair review for a cheaper stove and customer happy with overall performance. Prices do vary so it is worth shopping around to get the best value for your money.