WhatStove?

Review of Dru 44 stove

This is my second woodburner and what a GREAT WOODBURNER!

S Webb 10 years ago

Just to give you a bit of background...Ive always wanted a wood burner and after saving for more years than I'd care to remember started to build my own corner fireplace complete with hearth..(Following all the safety and legal requirements you can save yourself a lot of money )We have no chimney so opted to go straight up through our bedroom and out through the roof with twin wall 6" pipe which was fitted by Hetas qualified body.I did everything else due to safety reasons and insurance reasons the Hetas guys did the pipe work.My first stove kept smelling after reaching 400 temp and got me down for several years after trying everything from extending the height of the pipe to a rotating chimney top to draw out/stop back draft etc.What a waste of money and years of denial!The DRU44 4.9kW for me it's more like 6.5 to 7 kW (THAT'S ONLY MY OPINION)has changed everything for our whole family it's a dream to light and easy to control and IT WILL DO AN OVERNIGHT BURN!One review I read while doing our research said it wouldn't...14 hrs after building the fire up the night before and fine tuning the air intake no problems!The solid cast silver handle will detach as it does get hot...The grate has a circular section which attaches to a rod (this get hot as well)that you can pull to drop the ash into the sturdy ash pan.Airwash system works very well but sometimes the glass will need a clean especially if doing an overnight burn and I use a damp sponge and dip it in the burnt ash and wipe it over the glass which works great. We burn logs 12" and smokeless coal...We have a ten year old 3 bed semi and the DRU44 heats every room.. so as soon as the fire is going we turn the central heating off.Any questions I'm more than happy to answer.. if I can and help/try and prevent that nightmare from taking hold(as it did initially for me) and wasting big money.

Overall rating:

5 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.8)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.6)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.8)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 4.3)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.2)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 4.2)