Stovax Stockton 5 stove Hot

I installed a stove last year through from a very reputable company. I only managed to use a few times so far. On even a small windy day smoke comes out from both air wash control units. My living room has already gone black in colour. Installer has got my money now so he does not care about this anymore.
My luck it has become a ornament......One big mistake.

Stove Expert replied: Speak to a flue specialist as this should be able to be sorted so that you can use the stove, flues can be problematic if you are in an exposed site. Do not give up!!

We had our stove fitted in November 2011.Nice looking stove but we think it was fitted too far back.The walls on either side of it are too hot to touch.Salesman told us it would heat the hall and dining room.
as well as the sitting room .We are struggling to heat the sittingroom!!Certainly disappointed with the volume of heat.

Stove Expert Replied: Clearance around the stove should be 150mm either side, 150mm at the back and 300mm above so if this is not the case it may be best to get the stove moved forward with a rear flue and allowing the radiant heat to circulate into the room rather than into the surrounding materials.

Had a stovax stockton 5 fitted just before Christmas. Fits in well and a good size glass door to see fire. However when it warms up there is a plastic, fishy almost toxic smell that is very unpleasant. Have been told this is because it's new and it will burn off but its now February and the stoves been used roughly 20 times and the smell is still there. Is it likely to be the stove or could it be the chimney which had a new liner fitted? Thanks

Stove Expert Replied: Yes it could be from flue but normally this would have disappeared by now. Have you spoken to installer? Does the smell get worse if the stove gets really hot?

had the stove for 6 years now good little runner. glass cracked bottom right corner early this year. replaced with new no problem, 10 months later cracked again in same place. seems to crack but the fire wasnt even on. just thinking might be more to it now,didnt seem to think i tightend the clamps to much when i replaced the glass last time. wonder if you have any idea on the problem.

Stove expert says: glass can be a trixy problem. Metal expands and contracts at different rates than the glass, which isn't actually glass at all it is a borosilicate. Anyway - you need to make sure that there is a good seal behind the glass - sometimes this takes the form of a gasket, a rope or a tape. This also allows for some movement. Then you need to make sure you don't tighten the glass clips too much. I would look to replacing the seal perhaps even with something thicker if this is a recurrent problem.

I have had two of these stoves installed for around 18 months now and on the whole am pleased with them. In purchasing two I was given a good discount, from memory they worked out at just over £500 each with the optional smoke control kit fitted (required if you live in a smoke control area) For the money I was really pleased with the solid construction and thickness of the body of the stoves.

The stoves are quite solidly built, I had reservations about buying a steel rather than cast iron stove, but as yet there have been no signs of distortion or any other problems. The paint has marked in places, but this is to be expected on any stove and is easily remedied with a can of stove paint.

They light easily and come up to operating temperature very quickly when using good quality dry wood. With the optional multifuel grate I do struggle to get more than 2 or 3 medium sized logs into the firebox at once, so at full burn regular top ups are required. However I would imagine this is the same for any stove of this output - a larger firebox would mean a larger heat output and probably overheat the room - 5kw stoves by definition have smaller fireboxes! Overfilling can result in the glass blackening in places where logs are too close to the glass, otherwise they generally keep clear. The size of the glass window is good for a 5kw stove and does provide a really good view of the fire. An added benefit is that the manufacturer says it is ok to burn the stove with the door open (taking usual precautions re dogs, rugs, children, granny etc) so if you want to toast a muffin or two you can! This will no doubt play havoc with the efficiency, but for that occasional open fire feel it is worth it.

Although I have not intentionally tried to overnight the stove, when I have occasionally used smokeless briquettes I have come down in the morning to find still glowing embers which with a bit of kindling would relight. That said all I ever need to light the things are a sheet or two of paper and a good couple of hand fulls of kindling.

My couple of little gripes are as follows:

The firebricks supplied don't seem to fit very well, and the instructions provided didn't make it clear where they should be positioned as they are a couple of inches shorter than the firebox is deep. There is no means of securing them to the sides of the stove, other than sliding the back half inch between the body of the stove and the back / top baffle plate. Two bricks are supplied for each side of the stove, and one sits on top of the other again with no means of support other than the back / top baffle plate. They can therefore become dislodged quite easily, and ash builds up behind them. When they start to disintegrate a bit they will become more unstable. Not a major concern as they are cheap to replace and not a complicated shape like some brands, so should always be able to find a suitable size even if stovax stop production. Just need to be a bit more careful in loading the stove than I would otherwise be.

The other gripe is the smoke control kit. This basically works by preventing you from shutting down the air wash completely to slow the burn right down. Whilst this helps prevent smoke pollution it does mean that with a strong drawing chimney the fire will roar away even with both dampers shut down as far as they will go. It is impossible to get a nice, gentle burn. this means more top ups than would otherwise be necessary and can overheat the room. This may not be a problem for everyone, it will vary from chimney to chimney (Ours are approx 26ft from the top of the stove to the exit, lined with double wall stainless tube and insulated) I am considering fitting a chimney damper to reduce the draught so hopefully this will solve the problem. If this solves the problem I would remark the control ability as a 4 or 5, as the other controls are easy to use and robust enough to outlast the stove itself.

On the whole I think these are great value little stoves. For not much more money than a no name imported job you can have a smart looking, solid well built stove that should last well if properly fired, with the added benefit of knowing that they are properly certified and (hopefully) that spares will continue to be widely available. I would recommend to anyone looking for a smart, efficient small stove that won't break the bank. I don't expect it will last a lifetime, but at £500 quid if I get more than 5 years I will be delighted - and so far all indications are that it should last much longer.

Stove Expert Replied: Try a little fire cement to secure the liners in place it would put your mind at rest and they will be held firmly.

We had always had Villager stoves before, but moving to a new area we found our local stove shop didn't stock them and would only install one if they sourced it and we paid full price. So we changed to Stovax. We have the Stockton 5 with the multi-fuel grate. It throws out good heat, is very easy to light and, thankfully this winter, is very easy to keep in overnight. The door glass does darken but that is easily cleaned with damp newspaper or for the odd stubborn bit ceramic hob cleaner (when it is cold).

The actual quality of the stove I am not so sure about. Within a year the door rope had failed, we have never experienced this before. The rope is a special soft rope and doesn't seem particularly hard wearing. Not 2 years old and our stove badly needs a repaint - will be this summers task, new rope - again! and despite never having run too hot (the description of this in the manual is alarming) the door glass has tiny bubbles in it now all along the top and it too needs replacing.

From the design point of view, it isn't easy to convert from multi-fuel to wood. Our Villager just had the grate lifted out, this is a much more complicated operation. Also while we appreciate the riddle we find that the way the sloping log/fuel bars are angled when we riddle any ash at the front works its way up through the bars on to the door and then, inevitably, onto the hearth the next time the door is opened.

So heat for output it has been great. It is currently our only form of heating. But for quality of build, plus the miserly guarantee (Villagers are 3 years, Stovax only 1) I am not completely convinced.

Stove Expert Replied: With the need to repaint and the glass problem it may be that the stove is being exposed to higher than normal working temperatures and would be worth further investigation to prevent further damage to the appliance. This could be due to an over-drawing flue, not all the time but on occasions. Have you noticed that the stoves performance varies in different weather conditions?

I bought a Stockton 5 woodburning stove after quite a lot of research and settled on this model as it fitted well into our fireplace and it seemed pretty good value for money. I also liked the overall look which is on the traditional side but still has a bit of modern feel to it. I have to say since it was fitted about a month ago I have been absolutely delighted with it. It lights easily and quickly and provided you don't overload it has excellent flame controllability. Another bonus is that it burns well with the door open which may be result of a good flue draft but at least provides the option of giving our relatively large living room an open fire feel when we want it. When shut down to desired level it really wacks out the heat although I haven't needed it to stay in over night so can't comment on this aspect. The glass door does eventually tar up after several uses when its closed right down even with the airwash but it takes five minutes to clean so what the hell. Anyway although I can't comment on its use as a multiburner, as a woodburner it has more than lived up to all my expectations and some !

The Stockton 5 is a small stove for small rooms and in our room even in the bleak mid winter it will keep or room warm and toasty. In Spring/Autumn it will warm the whole house until it gets to below freezing then we use the door to the room to regulate how much heat escapes to the rest of the house.We live in a smoke sontrol area so the fire will only close down so much to ensure a smokless burn hense the need to open the livingroom door to control the heat. In the last two years it has lit first time every time and will burn overnight using homebrite ovals again 100% success with solid fuel (never with wood but we were advised of this by shop who sold it to us.) We also use solid fuel if we have to pop out for a few hours or if we have guests for dinner keeps the fire on and the house warm and you don't have to check the fire during dinner. Now then I've marked down the fire box size it's a small stove and it is a small fire box bear this in mind when you're chopping your logs and some will need further trimming from suppliers. A small fire box will mean regular refuling but the bigger your fire box the greater the output in our case we needed the smaller output to match the size of the room.
If you are after a stove on a budget I can whole heartedly recomend this stove for the average sized semi. Buy good hard wood logs from a reputable supplier bring them in to further dry a couple of days befor you burn them and you wil have no trouble. If you are new to this remember stoves are hard work You need somwhere to store the logs and keep them dry you need kindling and paper to light them. A stove is a fire and can't be switched on and off like central heating so it will never be as controlable as gas. However I have found that my total fuel bill has gone down and I've never felt as warm. Stoves, they're worth the effort!

This is a good value and versatile stove. I have a small living room in an early Victorian cottage, and the heat output is more than adequate - in fact when it really gets going, I have to open the door to the other room. I would suggest that those complaining about the poor heat output are either burning wet wood, or should have chosen a bigger stove. I bought the multi-fuel version and ran it mainly on smokeless coal for the first winter. As with any solid fuel stove, it takes 30 minutes or so to establish a firebed, but once you get it going it gets really hot. Burning smokeless coal, it would also just about stay in overnight. Then as I got a good supply of dry hardwood, I converted it to a woodburner for the winter just gone - easy, just remove the grate and riddling rod, 2 extra bricks in the side and hey presto, you have a dedicated woodburner. Performs really well burning wood, gets hot quickly and is controllable. As with any stove, it just takes a little trial and error to work out the best air settings, and this will all depend on the draw of your flue. The only minor gripe I have is that after 2 years the black finish has gone a light grey in places, assume this is just due to the heat affecting the paint finish. Can easily be touched up with a product called 'colloidal black'. In summary, I would not hesitate to recommend the stove. No doubt it is not the best stove on the market as reflected in its price - if you want a top of the range cast iron stove, you will have to spend a lot more money. If you just need a small stove for weekend and evening burning in a average/small room, this is more than adequate.

Stove expert says: these stoves have a sprayed finish so do not use colloidal black - use an appropriate spray paint.

Bought this stove 5kw after website said it would be adequate for our room. Had been told it would heat the whole house. This does not even heat our small lounge adequately. I am VERY dissapointed & wish I had bought a cast iron stove. Seems to consume a lot of logs and just doenst give out any heat! The idea was romantic but this was a waste of money.

Stove expert says: this sounds like a problem which is not related to the stove nor whether it is made from steel or cast iron. Almost any stove will manage to give out 5kW of heat given the right fuel and chimney.
It sounds like this is down to poor fuel, undersizing of the stove, or strong draw from the chimney or a combination.

My stove is a multifuel, has the optional smoke control kit as I live in London, my chimney is lined and insulated. I'm pretty happy with this stove, but there are (always) a few minor niggles. Ok, negative first the log guard stops the bottom glass self cleaning sometimes, the front side air bricks are a bit loose and fall down occasionally when clearing the thing out, the hingepins work themselves out, but they only take a tap with the detachable handle. However, these are minor points, positives: the firebox is a good size and takes decent size logs for a 5kw stove, the smoke control works very well for logs, once the stove gets hot enough to reburn the exhaust gases, and dare I say it housecoal too especially if mixed with a bit of smokeless, nice big window. The stove is best run hot and mine likes hardwood logs, briquetted smokeless fuels (phurnacite is, in my opinion, the best so far, homefire-ok, taybrite a bit ashy, haven't tried ancit or sunbrite) less good with pure anthracite large nuts, ok with small nuts but you have to run it hot and watch for it getting too cool as you then have to stick a log on to revive it (housecoal is ok for lighting it). Overnight burning, well it has the smoke kit on so it shouldn't be any good, but it will burn the above briquetted fuels overnight, but not logs or anthracite, so better than I thought. Doesn't have a single control, but so what, the riddling rod is very useful for raking it out. Installed autumn 2009 and used late 2009-10 it has been pretty good, so a recommendation, it's a good stove!

Purchased 2 stoves for holiday cottages. Tried it ourselves and in addition lived in one of the cottages while our kitchen was refurbished. Easy to light and controls work well. Possible to keep glass clear of soot, but not easy. Heat output adequate for kitchen/dinner and living room,but it is supplemented with radiators. There is never a complaint from holiday makers about lighting or keeping alight, but few manage to keep glass clean. No permanent air ventilation required, important in our installation. Would buy again as its good value.

We find ourselves looking forward to cold days when we can justify lighting the stove! One match and we're away. The heat it throws out fills the whole house with a welcome glow. Controls are safe, easy to use and very effective. As with all gadgets, it takes a modicum of practice to reach full satisfaction, and any defficiences can probably be put down to fuel or wind strength/direction, or need for a bit more enjoyable cold weather practice.

It has a good ouput and easy to use with nice, dry logs. However, even slight moisture makes it much more temperamental. Works well with smokeless coal, including overnight burning with large nuggets. Ash pan could be a little deeper.

Updated my 18 yr old Morso squirrel for this stove wanted to see dancing flames through clear glass this stove was very efficient at consuming my winters supply of 3 yr seasoned hardwood in 10 weeks so when the recent cold snowy days come no wood the heat output was not as good as my old morso but that was cast iron. I have since sold this stove and replaced it with a modern cast iron one from a company thats been around for 150 yrs happy again at last.