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Review of Fireline FP5 stove

Fireline FP5

Phil Sime 12 years ago

I have been using this stove almost constantly for the last couple of months and I have to say it has met and exceeded all my expectations.\n\nIt has been installed in place of an existing open gas fire. We decided that although we didn't legally have to, we would use a 5" liner in the existing flue after reading about potential issues with draw.\n\nThe fire is easy to start and being steel (as opposed to the iron stoves) gets to work quickly producing heat in to the room. I have only used seasoned hard wood and smokeless coal.\n\nWhen running at normal operation the air wash works well, keeping the glass clean. Of course once the vents are closed the glass does get dirty but that is too be expected. The stove is very controllable, I'm not sure if it was designed this way but the top (airwash) vent works in 2 ways, you have the horizontal sliding action but as the handle is on a screw (to lock the vent) you can use this to open, or restrict the flap, we only discover this after closing the vent but then we got a noisy whistling sound that disappeared once the handle was tightened.\n\nOvernight burning. I wasn't expecting much in this department, but have been pleasantly surprised, loaded up with wood and the vents set to min, the fire was still going 8 hours later. With an over night burn using ecoal we can easily get 10-12 hours out before the fire would have to be re-lit.\n\nFuel Usage, I'm glad we went for a duel fuel stove in the end, I have found that ecoal gives a more controllable heat and I'm sure it works out cheaper (unless of course you don't pay for your wood)\n\nThe riddling action is sufficient to maintain a good burn with out having to open to often.\n\nCleaning/emptying is simple with the tool and tray provided. I have found using a ceramic hob cleaning tool (razor blade in a handle) very good at removing soot from the glass.\n\nThe only problem we have is that I think the stove is a bit to powerful for our room so think hard before choosing the the KW output for your requirements\n\n

Stove expert replied: Good review of this stove.

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.7)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 3.8)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 3.3)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 3.8)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 3.5)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 3.6)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 3.5)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 3.4)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 3.4)