WhatStove?

Review of Clearview Pioneer 400 stove

Foolproof stove, easy to light and control

DANIEL PRINCE 10 years ago

I had the pioneer 400 installed about a month ago and I can honestly say thats its transformed the house. We live in a small mid terraced cottage, open plan downstairs with open stairs and it heats the whole house.

It lights with little effort, 4-5 pages of tightly screwed up newspaper surrounded by 3 large handfuls of kindling and a single firelighter is all it takes to get going... 5 minutes later I can lay a couple of small split logs on (must be seasoned!) and it is blasting away within 10-15 minutes.

The controls are foolproof, the wheel controls the air from below (for smokeless fuel) and the push lever controls the air from above (which wood needs)... simple.

I've run it overnight with both smokeless coal and wood and after some experimentation I now think I've cracked it. The first couple of times I think I had the controls too low and the window tarred up... with wood I load it up and open all the controls to get it nice and hot, then close the wheel down completely, and leave the lever out around 20cm... it burns clean and slow throughout the night and just load it and open the controls in the morning to get it blasting it again.

With smokeless fuel, I just leave the wheel open around a 1/4 of a turn as well...

I have a temperature gauge on the side which is very useful and I recommend getting one (mine came free with the stove). You can easily see when the stove is up to around 400f and can then turn all the controls right down.

My only gripe is with the ash pan below, its actually slightly narrower than the grate above it, so ash falls either side of the pan which makes it a messy job to clean out... the handle on the front also came loose which I think is because of a small grub screw that needed tightening...

All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase. I did a LOT of research and at the end of the day, it came down to this and the charnwood, but virtually everyone I spoke to said if you can afford it, go for the clearview as they are a league ahead... I am not disappointed.

Overall rating:

5 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.6)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.6)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4.2)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 4.6)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Handle operation 3.5 flames (avg 4.2)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 4.5)