WhatStove?

Review of Merlin Midline stove

disapointing

Mark Johns 7 years ago

I was informed by my installer that this was the Rolls Royce of stoves and the one to go for! He didnt tell me that the Hwams and Conturas e.t.c were ferraris!! My goodness what a difference! I cannot wait to have this merlin removed and one of the class scandanavian type stoves installed. I cannot fault the heat output of the merlin but the airwash is non existent. All I read is over rated rapid air movement which alleges to keep the glass clean. I'm afraid you need to run it quite hot to achieve that! Turn it down and it blackens before your eyes in minutes! The door handle is dreadful, quite cheap and nasty and ill fitting. I have emailed the company twice about the possibility of a replacement but they haven't even had the courtesy to reply!!

Lets be fair and say it does the job of keeping my house warm. But so would a cheap diy barrel stove constructed with help from you tube videos. If you want a pretty picture of nice flames forget the Merlin and go for a proper air-wash stove. All in all an extremely disappointing purchase with disappointing expectations

Stove expert replied: A stove should not be shut down all the time as this will lead to blackening of the glass, it needs to work so depending on where you set the controls and how fast the rate of burn is will depend on how clean the glass stays. Of-course this also depends on the quality of the fuel being used.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 3 flames (avg 4.4)
Quality of finish 2 flames (avg 4.4)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 5)
Ease of use 3 flames (avg 4.4)
Ease of lighting 3 flames (avg 4.6)
Firebox size 3 flames (avg 4.6)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 4.8)
Controllability 3 flames (avg 4.6)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4.4)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 5)