Review of Charnwood SLX45 stove
Huge improvment on open fire but with some issues!
Fitted correctly with a steel flue we have this for a year now replacing an open fire without boiler. We integrated our existing oil system with this unit for a dual system and it works very well but find we need to adjust our stats a bit to avoid waste when on oil only as they are usually more open to ensure we lose heat from this unit. We have a 1350 sq ft house with converted garage to heat so not huge and this unit does the business very well, our sitting room is quite small so it is about the best option as it has a 3kw output roughly into the room which means the door stays open regularly! We burn coal and coal briquettes only (no wood to keep the flue clean!)and find a middle size bucket and a half is plenty for a 4pm light till sleep time. I agree that it also heats the chimney breast upstairs so keeps the main bedroom warm easily too. I would say anyone in a smallish/medium house would do well with this. The main problem I have is smoke leaking out of the doors at the top. I had this adjusted a little by the installer but still a problem, next the Rep from has been at it only today so I hope this will resolve the issue as it has been impossible to put a big fire with fuel at the front of the firebox without fumes into the room. They are blaming a poor draft etc but this is not really the issue at all as fumes come out of it even when the door to the room is open. The room itself has a vent and also if you open the doors on the unit it does not smoke and has enough draft. The airwash is not very good, the glass will stay cleaner if you keep it turned up high but I like to get the system up and hot then close it right down so the fire will stay-in for the night, this presents fumes(no more I hope)and black glass. Apart from this I think the unit is superb if a little pricey, if you are used to oil then you may need to allow a lot more time for your system to heat up (water + rads), an hour on oil first while lighting I find does the trick. Hope this review is of help to someone out there!\n\n
Stove expert replied: Honest feedback from customer, is there another chimney in the house? Flues can be problematic but usually these can be overcome - may be worth speaking to a Chimney Expert if the problem persists!!
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