Installed the Severn Boiler model around 25 years ago, probably the best thing we ever did during a long renovation of a cold solid granite house. As we lived on site the Severn became a life saver during the winters! We have 12 rads and burn dry wood 99% of the time. Using wood all the rads are pleasantly warm, stove nuts will heat them fully. We connected to our oil fired system through a Dunsley neutralising tank and find that with the Severn thermostat we have complete control, there are few exceptionally windy nights that have the thermo flap banging but a slight adjustment up or down sorts that. We burn anything as I'm in the building trade, I mean anything and it never falters, the secret is that everything is tinder dry.
Reviewed by Lea Cook May 08, 2011
Last updated: June 02, 2011
Caolbrookdale severn
We live in Aberdeenshire about half a mile from the coast and are fairly exposed, when we bought the traditional granite farmhouse the Severn was installed in the kitchen (it used to run the central heating seemingly very efficiently until the previous owner had oil fired installed for free because of their age), my first instinct was to get rid of it because it was so huge and was set out in front of the chimney breast, am I glad that we didn't!!!!!!! We moved in in September and as the weather worsened quickly realized that our granite house had no insulation, was extremely draughty and FREEZING, even with the heating turned up to over 22 the thermostat never turned off! (It turned out the previous owners could not afford the oil and used to heat the whole place with electric heaters). There being no way we could afford to run the oil fired central heating 24/7 and as I hate to be cold I resorted to lighting the stove.
We have never had a stove before and had no idea what to expect but after headaches and nausea every day and feeling quite unwell we started to check around the stove and realized that the flue pipe at the back was not cemented in properly we reasoned it must be leaking, although the carbon monoxide alarm did not go off, once that was done the headaches stopped and I got the hang of working it what a difference, we bought new glass for it and redid the ropes, polished it up and now plan to move it back under the chimney breast to free up the space it takes. The airwash is poor and soots up the glass very quickly but this it's easily cleaned, the ash does drop out as another reviewer said but I could get away with only emptying the pan every two days if I wanted too. The thermostat just does not work at all from my experience, when we recently opened up the chimney breast behind to take a look we realized that there is just a hole where a solid fuel cooking stove has sat at some point so the flue pipe just pokes into it not into a liner so it does not always draw as well as it should but that is not the stoves fault.
When we fit the stove properly and add a liner we will put in a flue damper to help control the stove because of thermostat not working properly and to combat the very strong winds we get here.
We burn peat and wood and it gets up to temp quickly for such a large stove and pumps out the heat for very little fuel input really, it has saved us untold amounts on our heating bill and if they still made them I would buy another like a shot, we would have liked to run it in tandem with the oil central heating for convenience in the morning but because it's a combi boiler we can't do that. We have never tried to run it overnight but I have stoked it up and left it for long hours in the day time and it idles nicely so I imagine it would burn overnight well with anthracite but it is so quick to light and puts out heat so quickly why bother.
Our experience with the Severn has prompted us to buy a Bohemia 60 (after reading reviews on this site actually) which is to go into the large lounge at the opposite end of the house and when the insulation is all in place on the outside walls and roof we are looking forward to a very cosy and much cheaper winter this year!! The Coalbrookdale Severn - my hero!!!
Stove Expert Replied:
If this stove has an intergral boiler then it should no longer be used as recommended by the Health and Safety Executive unless it is filled and joined to the water system.
The installation sounds suspect and as you have already had headaches etc I would recommend that it be re-installed by a professional before the next season. Do not take any chances when using stoves, they can prove lethal if not installed correctly.
Reviewed by Conor J November 20, 2010
Last updated: November 22, 2010
Coalbrookdale Severn Stove
We have had a Coalbrookdale Stove happily burning for over 18 years at this stage (started 1992). If I could sum it up in one line, this stove is a mean machine! It is the pride and joy of our home and it is still brought up in conversation amongst relatives, some naming it "The Daddy of stoves"...
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I'll sum up good and bad similar to Martin's review
Good: We have the model with the boiler and vertical flue which heats 8 radiators and the water with ease. Similar to Richard, we can fill it right up with a bucket of anthracite in the morning and it burns to night. A small top-up or rattle will keep it glowing through-out the night. We once took 9 showers, yes nine hot showers out of the stove (admitted, the stove was running like a furnace).
Good: This stove will burn anthracite, coal, turf (Ireland), various grades of wood and even house-hold rubbish. See FUEL: for a breakdown of the various burning characteristics.
Good: It is obvious this stove is of high build quality and superior materials. The outer faces are solid cast with a attractive rough look and feel (this may be from casting, I don't know). The interior is a solid lump of heavy metal, mostly cast I think. As far as I know, the original boiler is still in our stove after 18 years. We have had to replace the glass (golf-clubs!) and the sealing rope around the door a few times. About ten years ago, the stove was let run full of anthracite, on a very windy day at 8 (fully open damper) for over an hour. It turned the vertical flue red and cracked the walls of the chimney and two rooms. The only damage to the stove was a crack in the small round flue collar.
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Bad: One bad point, possibly our own mistake, is how the stove with the vertical flue is installed. If you can picture this: The stove sits on the floor, the flue slots in the top of the stove and into a curved hood which turns into the chimney liner. This doesn't allow much room for movement...or removal. To replace the flue collar we cracked we would have to dig under the stove, then drop the stove down from the vertical flue. Not a fault of the stove, but keep it in mind.
Bad: The damper in this stove is a little gimmicky for the bulk of a stove it is. There is a thermostat attached yet I don't think ours ever worked. The damper is suspended on a long spring-loaded arm which is adjusted by the control knob on the side. The arm is too light a metal and on a windy night the damper will flap at a certain position. The numbers run 1 to 8, eight being fully open, yet we cannot leave it between 5 and 7 as the draft causes it to flap.
Bad: On the damper again, the control knob is mounted on the side of the stove. As we learned in the red flue incident, the knob is to easy for young kids to turn, resulting in open dampers unattended. The knob could have a child's lock or be better hidden
Bad: Since maybe three years ago, the stove has become a bit harder to control. We live on the Atlantic coastline of Ireland, 100 metres from the raging sea so gale force winds are common. Unfortunately at times, these gales overwhelm the damper, turning the stove into a blazing inferno. The stove can handle it but it does worry me sometimes. Again, it has only started becoming hard to control three years ago so the stove probably needs some TLC, a new flue collar which has been cracked for years and a touch up at the sealing points.
Bad: Airwash doesn't work and the glass can get horribly tar coated leaving the panes sticky and stained. A blazing fire will strip the bulk of this away however so low heat burning is normally the cause.
Bad: To back-up Martin's point, opening the door when the stove is full will cause the ash to fall down the front and onto the step. This can be annoying as you have to sweep after every opening.
Bad: The ash-pan is rather small for the depth of the hearth and usually a lower temperature burning will have you emptying the ash every day or two.
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Don't let my amount of bad points put you off however. I'm simply being more detailed here on smaller points. Overall, the pros far outweigh the cons.
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Fuel: GOOD quality Anthracite is excellent for sustained medium heat burning and low ash output. As of recently, the anthracite in my part of Ireland has been rubbish so we burn a high quality coal. Coal can give a three / four hour blast of intense heat but leaves a fair bit of 'rocks' if burned out at low heat. Surprisingly, wood can ramp the heat of the stove right up however this stove will eat wood as fast as you can put it in! Wood is great for helping light the stove. Rubbish is okay for burning in the stove. Plastics burn well, albeit at high heat and it leaves a mess behind. Paper is a no go as the heat required to completely burn the paper is unsafe, needing open damper. Otherwise, a lump of ash is left smothering your fire.
Overall, an excellent stove that would make a smouldering paste of the Chinese rubbish coming along these days. They aren't being manufactured any longer AFAIK, but if one became available, I wouldn't have to think twice.
Stove expert says: What a great review, and really focussed on the stove itself too. A load unit would probably help to reduce tarring of the window as it will maintain a good firebox temp. A draught stabiliser would help to reduce extreme draw on these really windy days.
Bought one of these as looking to heat a semi-detatched 3 bedroomed ex council house. After working out what heat output was required we opted for the Severn, I can honestly say that it was the single best thing I bought on the home improvment side of things.
From having a house where you would be walking around all wrapped up against the cold (1 open fire and 2 storage rads) to walking around in shorts and tee shirt, and that was with the thermostat on 2!!! and it also provided the focal point of the room as well. They are not cheap, but quality never is, you get what you pay for!
Installation was pretty straight forward if you overlook the fact that you will need a minimum of 4 very strong chaps to man-handle the brute.
On average we used about a bucketful of anthracite a day, we would empty the ashpan every 2 days or so. We not once burned any wood in it but have no reason to believe it would be any less efective.
It was brilliant at providing the central heating with a water pump hooked up to the timer. As soon as the pump came on it would start to make the fire draw until the set temp was reached. It was slighly less good at heating the hot water, it was more like very very warm water. As the previous reviewer mentioned, the airwash system is not the best, we would give the glass a wipe every time we fuelled up. Never ever had a problem with the fire staying in overnight, in-fact, we once went away for 3 days, when we came back the fire looked and felt as though it had gone out, however 5 mins after turning the stat up to max we had a nice orange glow once again. If you are in the market for a good central heating stove look no further.
No longer made this'll be a one to score on Ebay. I swapped out a Stovax Regency (see my Stovax reveiw)for this boiler model. I have this running back to back with a Dowling Sumo 40Kw (see that reveiw too) both feeding a Dunsley. They don't make them now because CBD (Aga) can't complete at this quality against the imported Chinese stuff. It weighs double any other stove save another CBD. Proper heavy mild steel where you need it (in the boiler to handle the temp changes and thus no cracking) and cast-iron where you want it to look pretty. So you can repair when the boiler eventually does go. But hell, it'll outlast any other before it does. I run smokeless coal. You can get a 10Kg bag straight in it, i removed the throat handle to make this easy still. Burns 3 x 10kg a day at flat out max.
Good: Output is as quoted: 11KW to water. 3-4 to room. Good for this. I use mine on very mild days to take chill off, but that s 'cos a I have the Mutha! (see Sumo review) Control is good, provided you have stat set and maintained well. An Ebay one will very likely need complete re-caulking, mine did. New stat pad and of course door seal rope 9mm. Watch feet & doors when you move it. best taken off first. I broke mine. My fault not the stoves.
Bad: Air wash isn't really a goer, needs a clean every day, even when burning at flat out, it still needs a wipe, daily. So not the best. Ash pan is tiny. So you are forced to empty every day, but then I'm spolit with the Sumo (empty a Sumo every 2-3 days yet burn twice as much!)
Bad: Also when you open doors with max capacity, ash falls to the hearth, not into ash pan. So messy to use and annoys missus.
Good: few stoves are made as decent output boilers, I have a larger house to run, (22 rads) so you have Aarrow stuff or this. Go for top prices on Ebay as a result, but then compared to waht is now made, so they should. A ten year old one still has more in it than a new China made cast iron boiler. Put a stat in to control the cold water entry. (Or it wrecks 'em -applies to all stoves) Lastly Parts are a doddle. One regret, still not enough for me, I need say 20Kw to water, but thats me. Most will find a Severn doing their house if they have 7-8 rads. Use a Dunsley for linking. There is a 15kW non-boiler model, but really you may as well do you rads and water too. 'sides 15Kw is tooo much for all but an massive open plan room. Buy one.
