Review of Stovax Riva 55 stove
Initial impression very poor
The Hetas engineer who fitted our stove said he had never seen so many disclaimers in the manual before. This is the 4th stove we've had and by far the worst. Air controls just don't seem to work, a terrible smell of smoke is produced and no way is this an 8kw stove. I also have experience of fires and the main problem seems to be the lack of secondary air - the air that is admitted over the top of the fire to burn off the gases to give a cleaner burn. Every time we open the door to refuel - regardless of how much fire is in the stove - it emits lots of smoke into the room. We spoke to the supplier and Stovax and have been told it's too much / not enough ventilation. Too much / not enough draft. I could believe all this were it not for the fact we have a Clearview stove in the adjoining room that has the same ventilation and draft (same chimney, different flue) but works perfectly. Uses far too much fuel too... even with it shut as far as I dare without blackening the glass even more. Reading the installation guide it shows that unless you custom build a fireplace for this stove, it's not suitable anywhere else. Unlike all the other stoves we have had where you just lay the fire, light and forget this one is far more convoluted. Don't forget to buy some Jif to clean the glass should decide to go for this stove.
Stove expert replied: From what you have written above the installation seems to be the cause for the disappointment in the stoves performance. As you have another working flue in the property it could and is most likely is affecting the way this flue is performing. The fact that you are getting smoke back into the room on opening the door is indication that it is not drawing enough when the pressure is changed on opening the door. You also say that you are using lots of fuel for little heat production again indicative of a flue draw issue. The installation should be checked thoroughly on both stoves and do make sure that there is enough ventilation provided in both rooms.