The Charnwood SLX20i inset stove has cast iron doors with a plate steel body. The multifuel grate can be adjusted for wood burning. The two front opening doors allow for logs of up to 280mm in length to be used.
Bought this a five years ago and had it slotted into an existing fireplace with back boiler connections. The year before we installed it, we used 2 and a half tanks of oil - approx 2,500 litres
. The year after, we used about 500 litres as the oil is the back up for the stove now. I do manage to get wood locally (sometimes free!) and some turf and have a number of storage areas where I season, dry and store the fuel. Good storage is key to a wood burning stove and to getting cheap wood. In the heart of winter I normally use smokeless coal nuggets and the fire will burn for two months solidly without going out. Fuel costs about 350 for the coal (20 bags) and between between 200 and 400 for 9 cubic metres of wood and turf.I think it is a great stove but the chimney needs to be right and it took the installer a little time to fix the draught on the chimney - not the stoves fault - it was the chimney that wasn't high enough. I live in Ireland and happened to find a supplier in the local town. I really like it - it has one control and is easy to use.
Stove expert replied:
Great savings on heating oil, the proof of the pudding etc....
Removed fireplace & open fire early in 2012.Purchased & inserted this stove c/w optional boiler for heating domestic water.Very happy with performance to date.I burn hardwood seasoned blocks
& smokeless coal.I would highly recommend this stove & would purchase another one.Sitting room very cosy & warm with plenty of hot water.Very well finished & easy to operate.Took some time to get used to, but worth the wait.Congrats Charnwood.
Really wouldn't recommend this to anyone .. After all the hard work of altering the fireplace and fitting it we can get no or hardly any heat from it unless the door's are open .. The top doesn
't even get warm and no hot air coming out of the vent .. I've tried every fuel recommended for this to no avail .. Granted its well built and very easy to light and use but will it put heat out . no chance .. as far as I can see an open fire would have been better as it would have heated the house better than this really disappointed PS only rated over night burn at 1 as haven't tried it yet
Stove expert replied:
Inset stoves should be insulated around the firebox, has this been undertaken to ensure that the heat generated goes to the room and not to the surrounding materials. Worth checking out thoroughly.
We had our SLX20i installed in the summer of 2010 with the optional back boiler linked to a Gledhill tank that also has inputs from our oil boiler, solar panels and also an electric immersion
heater.The main body of the fire is cast iron, with enamelled steel decorative panels. The boiler is stainless steel (there is a mild steel version but we went for the stainless one for just £20 more as we thought it would last longer) We kept the fire burning solidly through the very cold spell in November/December 2010 and it did very well in keeping the house warm with very little input from our oil central heating. Being inset it turns our chimney stack, which is in the centre of our house, into a massive storage heater, warming most of the building much more than our previous open fire.We have burnt a mixture of seasoned logs, kiln dried hardwood logs and house coal. It is good on all of these but especially so on Wildfire coal briquettes, which are now our fuel of choice for extreme cold weather. These are very easy to keep in overnight by turning the fire down and closing the airwash a bit.Keeping the fire in with wood takes a bit more care but opening up the controls in the morning usually gets it going again.We are a little disappointed about heat levels to the room, mostly when the water tank is cold and the back boiler is taking much of the heat, but it runs happily with the doors open and soon heats the room.Overall, we are very pleased with the fire, which has drastically reduced our dependence on heating oil for both house heating and hot water.
Stove expert replied:
It is a good thing to try different fuels on any new stove installation as they do vary greatly. The heart of the home in more ways than one for this customer.
