WhatStove?

Review of Esse Ironheart cooking range

Disappointed with Esse Ironheart

Howard 11 years ago

We've had this stove since 2009 as a replacement for an old Rayburn Regent, which always burned well but could only run on anthracite.

The Ironheart looks great, but that's about it. The quality is questionble and the performance are a huge disappointment. The metal stove panels are flimsy (that is today, flimsy compared to our superb Clearview multi-fuel stove in the sitting room). The Ironheart hotplates do not fit flush, the fire door droops slightly to the right. It's a nightmare to light, filling the house with smoke if the chimney is cold, even with every possible air vent wide open. Not bad once it gets going, but has to be tended at all times. We dare not go out for a few hours and expect it to still be alight on our return, as it can't be closed down fully as it smokes if we do.

But this is certainly not a multi-fuel stove as described by the manufacturer. It's not fitted with a riddle, so you can't burn coal as it soon clogs, which causes the fire to go out. The 'air wash' is useless, even with the driest of wood, it constantly soots and tars the glass door, which has to be cleaned with a hob cleaning cream every morning to keep it fairly clear. Overnight burning is impossible.

I wish we'd paid a bit more and had a state-of-the-art wood burning Rayburn installed. We've never experienced problems with Rayburn over the course of 30 years in several different homes.

Please don't tell me that the problems with tarring and sooting on the glass is due to using unseasoned wood. Our wood is seasoned on a 4-year rotation and is stored in a dry wood shed. Logs are brought into the house to dry out further for several days before use. The same logs burn perfectly on the Clearview stove. If only Clearview manufactured cookers!

Stove expert replied: The flue may be a big part of the probelm from your comments and this would be worth investigating as getting an improved draw my solve many of your issues with how it works and the glass not staying clear.

Overall rating:

2 flames

Build Quality 3 flames (avg 3.4)
Quality of finish 3 flames (avg 3.6)
Value for money 2 flames (avg 3.6)
Ease of use 1 flames (avg 3.8)
Ease of lighting 1 flames (avg 3.7)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4.3)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 3.5)
Controllability 3 flames (avg 3.6)
Handle operation 3 flames (avg 3.6)
How likely are you to buy it again? 1 flames (avg 3.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 1 flames (avg 3.6)