Dovre 250 stove Hot

We had this stove installed July 2010 and are now into our second winter with it. Without doubt it has been a worthwhile investment, this is a great little stove which packs a punch. Like others we've not got it burning overnight but to be honest we've not noticed an issue with this. The heat it gives out mean the room it heats is warm the following morning, and often the rooms it feeds into are as well. For a little stove it takes reasonably sized logs, although we do trim the very large ones down and it is incredibly easy to light and control the burn. A year on it still looks very smart.

A great buy which we would thoroughly recommend to anyone

I looked at lots of Stoves before purchasing the Dovre 250 wood. It heats my main room and also other rooms in the house. My heating has gone off and the Stove is on. Its a great purchase and wish I had installed one years ago. I also had my chimney lined, although extra cost was worth it.

Like many people who are considering installing a stove for the first time I was somewhat lost as to where to begin in comparing the features I desired, with the availability of a stove on the market to actually meet these. I hope that my review of this stove will assist others in their decision to go the stove route, as I literally spent tens of hours in narrowing my choice down to this little beauty (of which we now have 2 installed in each of our separate lounge and dining rooms). I made my decision based partly on the comments on this site hence why I felt it important to add a review.

The Stoves I opted for were the Dovre 250 multifuel with short legs and optional smoke control kits.

Both of our rooms are approx 5mx4mx3m in size and we have limited size fireplace openings (these stoves just squeezed into our chimney openings leaving the required space surrounding them to the inside of the chimney breast).

I have had gas coal "effect" fires installed in smaller rooms in my previous property with a rating of 5kw and was always disappointed with the poor level of heat I actually got from these so was initially a little sceptical about "only" having a 5kw rating on this stove.
I have to say that these stoves are great at belting the heat straight out into the rooms and make them nice and toasty within a short space of time - they are far more efficient than any gas fire could be in my opinion. There is also the added benefit that you can keep a 2 litre camping kettle on top of the stove throughout the evening to make a few cups of tea / coffee without having to boil kettle!

We have turned off the heating to our downstairs and rely on lighting our stoves to keep warm. Whilst time will tell, I am not convinced that we will be able to heat the entire house from the two stoves on the coldest of evenings, as our house has an above average number of bedrooms. The boiler may not yet be completely redundant but I do feel that we will save money through a combination of a) sourcing logs from a competitively priced farm and b) ensuring our friends will pass any logs to us should they have tree surgery works undertaken, as our gas bill has been extortionate over last two winters.

In essence, my desires when choosing a stove were:
- Reasonable cost
- Top quality cast iron construction
- Multifuel
- Airwash
- Large as poss. viewing window
- Ability to accept realistic sized logs (to 30cms)
- DEFRA Smoke Exempt (with optional smoke control kit)

This was the only stove to meet all of these requirements hence my decision to "take a chance".
MY WIFE AND I ARE TOTALLY DELIGHTED WITH OUR CHOICE. THESE STOVES HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS.

From an operating point of view, I find that if I set a roaring fire to get the flue to a good temperature thus maximising the draw, the controlability with the dial and slider improves dramatically, to a point where you can have the stove either roaring or slumbering after half an hour or so. The draw achieved and controllability is especially pleasing as one of my chimneys has had the stack historically reduced and I have had to have a 600mm pot fitted to get near the necessary height.
I have had no issues with the movement of the knobs or slide controls.

I set the fire with a layer of screwed up paper balls, kindling on top of this (the better the quality, the easier the lighting) and finally a small log. As I put the next log on, I will usually add 2/3 homefire coal briquettes also (hence benefit of multifuel) as I find these aid me in keeping the heat up and seem to reduce the number of logs I need to keep adding through the evening. I use hardwood logs sourced from a local farm and season these in my self constructed log store (much better value than ready built).

The ash pan works well, catching most of the ash and there is a knob you pull out to disturb the grate above so that the ash falls through to ash pan. Relatively little ash is produced compared to the quantity of log burnt. I have made a basic cover to transport the ash pan from stove. This avoids the problem of ash being dropped from the ashpan as you transport through the house to outside (and you don't need to buy an expensive, unnecessary and awkward to store metal box to put ash pan in when you transport it).

I from personal choice also went for a 25 year guarantee 904/904 liner as I intend to stay in my house for many years and as long as you sweep twice a year and stick to quality fuel, then this should last for at least that period.

I use a mixture of paper with vinegar, a glass cleaner and also a scraper (the type you use to scrap dried paint from glass) to remove any marks from the glass window. The scraper especially works well and with care you don't damage the glass.

As for overnight burning I don't feel that any small stove will successfully do this but if I add a few briquettes just as I go to bed, I find that these are usually warm enough in the morning to relight a log quite easily.

In essence I have to concur with many of the comments for this stove on the site and strongly recommend.

Not a comment, just looking for some advice.

What width rope do I need to replace the door seal

Thanks

Mark

Stove Expert Replied: This is a trade secret for manufacturers, a good spares ordering company is: http://www.stovespares.co.uk/

We installed this stove to the living room of our cottage in the middle of December 2010 but have waited until we had a few months use of it before writing these comments.
We ordered the multifuel model of the Dovre 250 from Stovesite, it arrived very quickly and very well packaged being fixed to a wooden pallet (save the pallet, it makes good kindling!).
The stove came with a tub of grey Dovre fire cement, more than enough to seal the flue pipe connectors. Also included is a simple rake like device to rake out the firebox and a multi use handle to open the two air controls and the front door. The door is a good size and the window is a nice and large.

We've burnt both logs and coal and both burn great in this stove. When turned up full the stove belts out a lot of heat; we were able to turn off the central heating in our cottage and open the doors to the other rooms to let the heat through the house. The living room heated up to 24 deg C.

During the first few uses the paint must have been curing because it did emit a very strong plastic like burning smell, we couldn't see any fumes but there must have been some as the smoke detector in the hallway was set off a few times. Probably best open the windows for the first few firings. The smell sometimes comes back if you accidentally over fire the stove by leaving the air vents open too much.

Lighting of the stove and subsequent cleaning out the firebox is easy.
There's only three tiny annoyances that we can say against the Dovre 250. The ash pan was painted with a matte black paint, this peeled off after a few uses but it is galvanised so thankfully hasn't rusted. The black finish from the lower air control knob is wearing off to reveal the silvery cast iron under it, it adds a bit of character I suppose. The airwash doesn't always keep the window totally clear, it is possible to clean the window while it is in use by rubbing the inner of the glass with a fine piece of wire wool - and wearing gloves!

We've never been able to keep the stove burning overnight when using wood but it will burn fine overnight with coal.

They seem to be made in Belgium (I think). Every component is cast iron so the stove is pretty solid. To move it you can strip out all the internals such as firebricks, baffle plates and grates. This lightens the stove enough to be moved by one person.

We're still looking for a good supply of hardwood logs in our area (Angus) but we've used the kiln dried hardwoods that come in the small poly bags, these logs do burn well but it's an expensive way to use the stove.

Stove Expert Replied: Wire wool on glass is not a good idea as the surface may become scratched which will then lead to not being able to clean it at all. Try a damp cloth dipped in woodash or vinegar, Use only smokeless fuels and dry seasoned wood.

Dovre 250
The stove was already in my house when I moved in three years ago so I do not know how old the stove is but this year having just had the chimney swept
I was told that I needed a new baffle plate as it had burnt through & new fire bricks, the total cost of the parts over £230-00 which is nearly half the cost of buying a new stove
Before buying a stove one should check what the cost of the replacement parts
will cost, as you would if you buying a new car.

Wow - what a lovely stove.

I had been looking around for a good while for an affordable stove that would

A) Not cost the earth (cost me £600 + install)
B) Legally burn wood in a smoke free zone
C) Be easy to light
D) Be controllable
E) Look good

I wasn’t disappointed.

The good bits:
It does what it says on the tin. I have had little fires just taking the chill off, and large output fires for hours heating up the room instead of central heating. The door is massive, so it not only looks great, but you don’t’ have to chop your wood quite as small. It is very controllable. Contrary to the other reviews my top vent is very easy to move, and I have a good amount of control. Very very good output. It looks great too with a large window. Build quality is good, and it’s easy to keep clean. I love the shelf by the door that collects most of the bits so it doesn’t go on your hearth. I haven’t got a lined chimney, and this stove has so much draw, if I open the vent and the fire empty and out, often dust / ash will blow up the chimney – just great!

The bad bits:
The handle just doesn’t quite do what I want it too… if fits on the ash pan great, it opens the door fine, clinging on round the back so as not to scratch the paint, but it doesn’t really have an answer for open the vents / closing them. Minor point. Also the log holder (that keeps the logs off the glass) prevents the air wash system working. So, the bottom of the window seems to go black, easily removed with a damp cloth. Lastly, again a small point, to sweep the chimney from inside, or just to clean well, you must remove the log holder, fire bricks and top panel, all very easy to remove and replace, apart from the log holder, which is just very difficult. 3 small points.It doesn’t burn overnight on wood, no small stove ever will!

Stove expert says: please note that the main point of lining and insulating a chimney is not to improve draw (although this is often the case) but to reduce tar deposits in the chimney which lead to chimney fires. Sounds like the draw is too strong on this chimney and it might be wise to fit a draught stabiliser or flue damper as well as lining and insulating the chimney.

I really would recommend this stove, its great.

If my partner and I ever had to share out our possessions we would have a custody battle over our stove - it's that good!

Not only is the Dovre really well made, but it is also beautiful in it's simplicity. Really easy to light, and with regard the door getting sooty - we just rub it clean with the newspaper that goes under the kindling.

The stove kicks out enough heat to keep our front room toasty and take the chill off the whole ground floor. We've given up using the central heating on all but the few subzero nights of the year, so we reckon the stove paid for itself in just two winters. We've also used the top of our stove to cook food and I especially recommend it for crisping off the bottom of pizza!

So much more fuel efficient, cosy and safe than the previous open fire we're already eyeing up a larger model to heat the whole of our house for next winter.

We have a small lounge and small builders opening to the chimney. We chose this stove as it is a small stove with a large glass area. It has exceeded our expectations, it has real character with the flames often more entertaining than the telly!



Last winter 2008/09, as gas prices went up and temperatures went down we were warm, and felt warm, which you sometimes do not feel from a radiator ! The stove is hot in about 20 mins and totally burns all wood to a fine light coloured ash which we empty every four or five days. The glass gets a little discoloured at the bottom and we clean it every three or four days with a wood ash / water mix.



Our stove is cast iron with a solid floor, we use it every evening in winter and after two years it still looks great.

Despite its diminutive size, this little stove absolutely kicks out heat. Even with wood that isn't particularly well seasoned, it will quite happy roar away, allowing me to switch off the central heating for the evening. The only slight hitch is that the top vent is quite hard to move and has a small amount of travel between open and closed, making the stove a little difficult to control on windy evenings.