Review of Firebelly FB2 stove
Highly Recommended
We bought a Firebelly FB2 with back boiler direct from the factory in Halifax (which is recommended cos I got a good discount and they threw in two tins of touch up paint and a 1m length of flue for nothing). \n\nOur house doesn’t have a chimney breast so the flue exits the stove vertically and goes through the wall to the outside the up to ridge height via two 45 degree bends – the outside flue is a Selkirk twin wall stainless flue – expensive but very very good, and easy to install.\n\nLighting the stove couldn’t be easier, and I’m surprised at the comments above about lighting problems. It’s so easy to light that we don’t use the secondary air control at all, we just fully open the primary air on top of the stove, and light it with a single match. Then close the door and it roars into life. Use plenty of newspaper, and dry sticks and it never needs more than a single match.\n\nThe airwash system works very well, unless damp or unseasoned wood is used, or if the secondary air is left open. Following the manufacturer’s guideline of burning wood that is beginning to split is good – bags of logs bought at petrol stations are very rarely good enough, most of em have only been chopped down a few weeks before they’re sold. But if dry wood is used, then the glass stays clean.\n\nThe back boiler has been plumbed to four radiators upstairs, and also to the hot water tank via an ingenious device by solar coil (www.solarcoil.co.uk) which is a simple heating coil that replaces the electric immersion heater in a standard hot water tank. We’ve had a long sustained period of cold weather this winter (Dec 2009 – Feb 2010), yet by leaving the living room door open into the hall, and because of the radiators upstairs, the Firebelly has heated our four bedroom detached house, and also provided hot water for a big steaming bath. The gas central heating doesn’t come on at all when the fire is on.\n\nBad points – the tool for controlling the stove is dreadful – nothing more than a bent piece of steel, and it can scratch the paint on the stove if not used carefully. A shame really. Also, the secondary air control is very jerky, it’s like changing gear in an old tractor! We don’t need to use the secondary air, even for lighting, which is just as well, cos it’s not the best.\n\n\nIn general, the stove is excellent, it heats our whole house in the cold winters and the back boiler is well worth the expense and the extra effort of installation as it also heats other areas of the house via the radiators. I would recommend it to anyone, it gets very hot, it works really well, it stays clean and it’s British. (and no I don’t work for Firebelly, or know anyone who does).\n\n\n