WhatStove?

Morso Owl stove

Overall Rating:

4.5 flames

based on 16 reviews    (View rating breakdown)
Morso Owl stove

The Morso Owl is an imported Danish cast iron stove. It is multi fuel and has an ashpan and grate.

Technical Data
  • Height: 688mm
  • Width: 487mm
  • Depth: 490mm
  • Flue Diameter: 150mm
  • Fuel: Multi fuel
  • Nominal Heat Output: 6.5kW
  • Efficiency: 80.1%

Add your review of this stove

Review Ratings Breakdown

Build Quality 5 flames
Quality of finish 4.5 flames
Value for money 4 flames
Ease of use 4.5 flames
Ease of lighting 4.5 flames
Firebox size 4.5 flames
How well does the airwash work 4 flames
Controllability 4 flames
Handle operation 4.5 flames
How likely are you to buy it again? 4.5 flames
What is your overall satisfaction? 4.5 flames

Most Recent Review

  • Great stove

    Alan Busson 4 years ago

    Have had this stove for over a year. Very impressive. Easy to light and keeps in very well. Ashes are easy to empty and there is no mess. Airwash works well. Nothing to complain about. The
    important thing is that living 1200 feet up a Scottish hillside, it keeps us warm.

    Stove expert replied: Good review for this stove, nearly full marks all round.

    Overall rating:

    5 flames

Most Popular Review

  • Great Stove

    Richard Davies 12 years ago

    I've had this stove for just over a month now, this stove replaced a Morso Squirrel. There was nothing wrong with the Squirrel apart from needing a larger output stove. This stove is very easy
    to use, lighting is simple and once going easy to control. I primarily burn wood which burns efficiently and cleanly which is evident by the nice secondary burn you get hovering mid firebox. Once going which takes approx 30mins it really throws out heat, our sitting room is 6m X 6m and gets pretty toasty. After a month of regular use I have yet to empty the ashpan and its only half full. The airwash works good if secondary air supply is open, less efficient at other settings. I don't burn the stove overnight therefore can't really comment on this aspect. This stove is a premium product however you normally get what you pay for. Overall I'm very pleased with my owl quality product that does what it says on the tin. Would buy Morso again without hesitation.
    Overall rating:

    4.5 flames

More reviews for Morso Owl stove (page 1 of 2)

  • So good we've got t'woo

    Eric 12 years ago

    We bought two Owl's and had them installed in a sitting room and kid's play room a couple of years ago. Went for Morso as we had a Squirrel in another house that served us very well. I find
    the Owl very controllable and had one of them on through the night a good few times last winter. Once you find the sweet spot with it you are laughing. You really do have to control air intake related to the type and amount of wood used (have never used any other type of fuel). We are burning birch straight from the tree unseasoned at the moment with very good results. The best results we have though have been with well seasoned oak. I like the idea of the removable handle but find it removes too easily when you don't want it to. I have a large fire guard that completely covers the stove in the playroom so very rarely need to remove the handle. The glass does not stay completely clear but that does not bother me. It's a stove, not a TV. Also love the look of them. Nicely proportioned and uncluttered. Brilliant.

    Stove expert replied: I can't stress enough the importance of only burning dry wood with a moisture content of less that 20%. You should never burn wood straight from when it is cut. Advise changing this with immediate effect!

    Overall rating:

    4.5 flames

  • Good stove, shame about the paint fumes.

    Benn 12 years ago

    We bought this to replace an oversized Godin in our French house. The build is good and the controls are fine but as soon as the stove gets anything like hot, the paint emits sickly paint fumes
    - even after me burning it as hot as I could get it half a dozen times when I first got it. We have to burn tiny amounts of fuel, blackening the glass and everything else or risk nausea and headaches! We spoke to the dealer and that is meant to be normal and to do with the paint curing. I can only guess that the stove being so small cannot get hot enough to cure all the paint on it. I think I might get rid and buy an older model...

    Stove expert replied: Sounds more like an installation issue rather than a problem with the stove, get this checked thoroughly as these are good stoves and reliable. Perhaps it is more to do with the flue when hot!!

    Overall rating:

    3 flames

  • The Owl...

    John Clark 12 years ago

    We've had our Owl since winter 2006, and we are very pleased with it. It does what we need although in hindsight we should have purchased a lager stove given the volume and 'lossiness' of the
    area it is in (a 10kW would have been more appropriate, and in the future we may move the Owl to our front living room (which is smaller) and add a larger stove in the back living area instead). What we've found is that it's nigh on impossible to get a proper overnight burn with the Owl - I think the firebox is just too small, or perhaps it is our chimney. This is when burning with either wood (oak mainly) or anthractite briquettes. With the briquettes and some care it is almost possible to have the slightest hint of warmth about the stove after eight hours (from very hot at say 10pm, closing down on either lever, to trying to get the stove going at 6am). Therefore, if there's a knack to doing an overnight burn with the Owl I have yet to discover it (and would love to know how). It may be that the tertiary air control is fixed at the rear and cannot be adjusted, thus preventing a full shut-down. On the plus side, it's exceptionally well made and even after five years of moderate usage (autumn->spring only) it is still almost as new. We enjoy the flames and find that although occasionally difficult to light (usually due to not being able to squeeze enough wood in there to guarantee a cold start up to temperature without a fresh load) once it is up it is great. I'd probably give the stove a 4.5/5 if I could, but I've rounded down due to the few little quibbles I've mentioned.

    Stove expert replied: Just as this Owl owner predicts the secondary air cannot be fully shut down. It is one of the reasons why it is a Defra Exempt stove. In fact forget trying to overnight burn in almost any Defra Exempt stove. On the plus side this stops inefficient burning which will tar up your chimney (increasing the risk of chimney fire) and producing lots of smoke. Perhaps it is time for us to consider removing the 'overnight burning' rating as it doesn't really apply to many stoves these days.

    Overall rating:

    4 flames

  • owl multi fuel

    Glenys Woodward 12 years ago

    We have been very happy with this multi burner, and have heated our home for a brief time when our central heating was broken. I am amazed anyone would have a problem burning it overnight.

    Stove expert replied: Morso again comes up trumps, good well built stove that gives the heat expected.

    Overall rating:

    5 flames

  • Brilliant!

    Craig Webster 14 years ago

    We installed this stove for a customer, and then stayed overnight on the site numerous times. The quality of the stove is excellent, and the controlabilty is very accurate. The large window
    allows for an unrestricted view of the flames inside. I will definitely use this make/model again!!
    Overall rating:

    5 flames

  • Good, but not as good as a Clearview

    Stephen Tan 14 years ago

    We bought this stove because we live in a Smoke Control Area and it was the smallest one that was approved. It has performed well but as other review suggests, it needs to have the wash on high
    in order to keep the glass clear. (This comment also applies to very dry seasoned wood!) This is a bit of a bugbear for me as we can't have clean burning and low wood burning rates at the same time. It does goes through wood at a fair rate - quicker than I would really like. I would say that it goes through about 2-3kg per hour depending on the wood. You can get it to go slower, but this involves lowering the wash and soot starts to form on the glass. I would guess that you would need to recharge the stove about every 60-70 minutes. I would reccomend getting a stove thermometer as this helps greatly with gauging the temperature of the stove. My only point of comparison would be to a Clearview stove. My parents have owned 3 Clearviews over 12 years. To compare the two brands, there would be no competition - the Clearview wins in terms of airwash, ease of lighting, build quality and time taken for fuel to burn. If you pack the Clearview, then you can leave it low for 2 hours easily and not have gunk on the glass. This is not true of the Morso which will exhaust all fuel on just over and hour and will fog if you leave the wash turned down. As stated above, the only reason I bought this was because it was the best fit for a smoke control area. It is a decent enough stove but compared to a Clearview, comes up short. If I could have, I would have bought a Clearview Pioneer 400. In terms of going through wood, you'd get better value because the Clearview won't go through as much.
    Overall rating:

    4 flames

  • Review Morso Owl Convector stove

    Mike Bourke 14 years ago

    Being new to woodburning we have soon got used to our new stove, it is a really useful addition to our home. I had not realised the exercise one gets in keeping a steady supply of free wood
    and the space required to store it.
    Overall rating:

    4 flames

  • Great stove

    Alun Ap Rhisiart 14 years ago

    It works great with both logs and coal - or a combination of both. With wood the glass stays very clean, it can get sooted up a bit if you burn coal when the coal burns down (this may be to
    do with the quality ouf our smokeless coal, though). It is nicely controllable, and it is safe to keep the logs near to it to dry - the stove really is a convector, heating up the room overall, not just the nearby bits. It puts out plenty of heat, but we just open the door and let the excess go out into the hall to heat upstairs. In power cuts we heat saucepans on the top, too. It gives the impression of easily lasting a lifetime. There are others we would certainly consider, such as Clearview, but we would have no hesitation about buying another of these.
    Overall rating:

    5 flames

  1. 1
  2. 2