WhatStove?

Review of Esse 100 stove

A few years with the Esse 100 MF

Andrew Cichocki 8 years ago

Excellent stove now but not without it's initial teething problems.

The initial installation left quite a bit to be desired plus the stove went through wood like there was no tomorrow as the draw was too much up the chimney, this caused it to burn too hot which warped the baffle plate and cracked the vermiculite bricks as well as sucking all the heat up the chimney and the constant noise of air whistling into the stove.

So I redid the whole thing myself, properly. I got a new baffle plate from esse which is now thicker as well as new firebricks, I also found the hinges were different lengths causing the door to not seal properly at the top, Esse sent me new hinges for free 12months outside the warranty!, excellent service. I also converted the stove to rear flue box with damper. I extended the handle so it can be controlled from the side of the stove. Always open this before opening the stove door to prevent smoke getting inside.

It burns so well now and is so controllable and uses less than half of the wood it used to, flue temperature has dropped by 100 Dec C whilst stove temp has gone up by 100 Deg C. It is easy to light and leaves very little ash, and is quiet.

I have put a Vulcan fan on top of the blanked top flue plate and point it backwards which increases the room temperature by a full 2 deg C for no extra fuel and keep an open stove top kettle on top for adding humidity as it gets to dry otherwise.

I keep the door open to the living room where the fire is and put a Bionaire mini fan just by the door opening blowing air at floor level into the living room with the stove in it, this displaces the hot air in the room and circulates the heat throughout the rest of the house, also the ionising function quenches any smoke which may escape when opening the door to the stove.

With all this it can get too hot after a few hours and the stove hardly burning, no need to use the central heating at all.

My ratings are now after my changes to the original installation.

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.9)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.1)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.3)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4.4)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 3.9)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 3.8)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 3.9)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 3.9)