The Harmony 1 cast iron multifuel stove can be fitted with a boiler, a riddling grate and cast inner burnplates. There is a front and side loading door. The ashpan is removeable.
Have bought a cottage and inherited an Efel mk1. Reading the reviews would expect it to be warm but is hardly kicking out any heat. Needs replacement glass as cracked but apart from that, any
thoughts?
Stove expert replied:
A cracked glass will allow air to get into the firebox that is normally prevented by a solid glass panel. The amount of heat that is produced will depend on the quality and type of fuel and where the air controls are set. Have you had the chimney swept since moving in? Have you got the manual for guidance?
Installed a couple of years ago, now getting used to this stove. Got it in just in time for a really cold winter and SO glad we did. It's heating a lounge that is effectively a single 1-up-1
-down cottage, so BIG ceiling height. Was toying with the ESSE 200 but on advice from our local stove supplier opted for this more powerful stove. He was right and it sure pumps out some heat and the steel/cast mix means it warms up quickly. We find that, once lit, it can be run with minimal air supply (top vent open about 5mm) and it burns happily (using kiln dried logs) producing enough heat to keep the room comfortable around 22C. Open it up and it's capable of really raising the temperature, had it up to 28C once so this stove is very capable of heating large rooms.We clean the glass before every firing, bit of newspaper, spit and ash works wonders and leaves a nice clear view of the fire. Although the glass only soots if you close it right down or if a log falls forward onto the glass. Opening the top vent fully as the fire dies down helps stop sooting too. We've never burned overnight, it heats up fast enough there's no need to.Very pleased with this stove. It wasn't cheap but I think it's worth the outlay.
Stove expert replied:
Great feedback, stove seems very controllable.
I Fitted my stove in 2002 with a back boiler for extra hot water when it is lit . It has had the baffles remove in the top of the stove each summer to be cleaned of any build up and I have
never had any problems with it. The only part that has been changed is the glass in the door which cracked due to myself being too energetic in cleaning it .
I managed to damage my old (50 years ?) Rayburn Royal to such an extent during annual servicing that I decided it was really beyond economical repair. I have an Everhot range, so don't need
the cooking facilities, and have decided to go for a multifuel with small boiler. I was pretty much decided on the Charnwood Village with that fancy new flue boiler, and for sure it seems to be a good product. However, the descriptions and excellent reviews of the Nestor Martin Harmony 1 have, at the crucial decision stage, swung me to choosing one of those. It's on a knife edge at the moment, and I will probably be making an irrevocable decision in the next couple of weeks, so if anybody wishes to advise me, please do so. I realise this is not a "review" in the conventional sense, but I promise to come back in a few months (in the depths of winter) and let you know what decision I made, and whether I think it was the right one . . . .I've rated it straight down the middle for now.
I have had my Harmony 1 multifuel stove for 12 years and it goes on in November and unless it gets mild it says on without going out until end of Febuary, I live in a small cottage and when
we have the stove on its keeps the whole house warm their is no need for heating so we use less oil so our fuel bills are reasonably cheap. The one disadvantage is that though it is lovely on once its going it throws out large amount of heat so sometimes in the middle of winter we can be sat in the cottage in shirt sleeves, but if it came to it I would buy another. It has lasted a long time with the minimum of care , it gets black leaded twice a year and the inside gets dismantled and cleaned thoroghly in the sping. It is the best investment we have made and after 12 years I am still happy with it I would recomend it to anyone.
Stove expert replied:
If a stove is working 24/7 it should be let out monthly to give a thorough clean, insuring that the throat plate / baffle is clear of debris to enable complete combustion to occur effectively and flue gases to effectively disipate to the outside.
This is a fantastic woodburner, it also has excellent heat retention qualities.
We can run it all day on less than a small basket of logs. We would definitely buy this model again.
We really did our research for this beast and so far so good it seems to have paid off. It is very efficient, easy to use and is heating the house effectively. We bought this stove 1 month
ago and apart from a slight hiccup at the beginning when it was leaking due to a faulty part from the manufacturers it now feeds 3 radiators, 2 of them are double, and we are looking to add another rad. It heats our new kitchen extension which is a room roughly 7 metres by 4 metres but we leave the doors open to the rest of the downstairs. It lights within seconds and heats up very quickly. It has a 8.5W rating to the room which heats our space easily. The stove's side door is excellent making it very easy to feed the fire whilst keeping any smoke from escaping which does happen when you use the front opening. We can get logs that are 22" long into the firebox which is very large. The airwash system is great but will get better with experience. So far I couldn't fault our decision. Burning overnight - don't know haven't tried it - ignore rating.
This stove is excellent in almost all respects. Its been installed since Xmas 08 It burns the fuel really well with very little ash and the airwash is good as long as you keep a bright fire
in the box. overnighting is possible with a mix of wood and non wood fuel but closing down the air to make the fuel last all night means the glass needs a clean in the AM. The back boiler is moderately efficient with a good fire in the stove and as we use it to pre heat water befor it goes to the HW Tank It helps to save immersion costs. The only downside to this stove is the TEMP. of the handle when a good fire has been burning for a while. It gets HOT! A glove is supplied but everybody MUST know to use it. I'm sure this problem could be designed out. Otherwise an excellent stove, well made with nice appearance, not the usual utilitarian look of many of its competitors. Recomemnded.
We bought this fire just before Xmas and found it to be excellent,we wish we had bought it years ago. Although it is dual fuel you can separate the two systems which both burn very efficiently
.We would say that the back boiler hasn't been quite as efficient as we would of liked. This could be because of the distance between the fire and the hot water cylinder. All in all it is a excellent fire and we would recommend it to anyone.
We loved this stove the minute we first saw it at a friends house it is stylish and wow what heat we leave the door open and heat the whole house with it and we have a big old draughty house