WhatStove?

Review of Esse Ironheart cooking range

Perfect in almost every way

Andrew Cissi 9 years ago

We have had an ironheart for 4 years now and I love it. We are 1000 feet up a mountain in Wales it has transformed a damp unused dining room that people rushed through to get to the sitting room into a cosy family room - I am so fond of it that its lit in mid summer if the sun so much as hides behind a cloud. It can be fired up for breakfast at weekends taking the chill off and for tea or burned hard all day in winter - what ever you need. When we have a really cold snap it can be frankly hard to keep up so I put in the coal grate and that will stay in all night and fire up 1st thing - makes a ghastly mess though and you are left with coal ash which is a real nuisance to dispose of. There is no doubt its not labour free but provided you have a really good supply of wood this is great - we have our own woods and its no small job to keep this beast (and our Jotul 600) fed so its probably not ideal unless you have access to proper quantities of wood (and space to store it) at zero or small cost. Don't know what it would cost to buy it as I have all my own to deal with. Its only got one oven and you can't just leave it like and aga but the window into the fire box is utterly hypnotic - like having a lava lamp. A Marshall might have been more substantial and better made and possibly more practical but we are weekenders so having the fire visible was a big issue.

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.4)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 3.6)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 3.6)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 3.7)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4.3)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 3.5)
Controllability 4 flames (avg 3.6)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 3.6)
How likely are you to buy it again? 4 flames (avg 3.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 3.6)