We purchased the Woodfire RH17 DS stove from an on-line company for installation in our new build house, in a 3/4 height wall separating the living room from the dining room.The stove looks
amazing and appears to be well made. Installation was simple and the supplier has been amazing. Their pre-sales support was fantastic. Their team are very knowledgeable and we used them to design and supply the flue as well. Their after sales support has been equally as good too and they have quickly fixed the problems that we have encountered.Positives of this stove:+ A lot of stove for a low price. We were on a fairly tight budget and could not find anything similar for anywhere near the price.+ Clean, uncluttered appearance to the visible parts of the stove. The simplicity of the glass doors and controls are lovely.+ The stove itself is very well made and put together.+ Dimensions suited our installation perfectly.Negatives of this stove:- No matter what we try, it has proved impossible to keep the glass doors clean. I do not think there is enough air flow over the glass. I also think having just a single air control instead of two does not help this problem. We are burning dry, seasoned hardwood and still the glass needs cleaning every two weeks to be able to see the fire. The supplier sent us a moisture meter to check the wood we were burning and it was all dry enough (under 20% moisture content). For me, this is the biggest negative of this stove as, to me, the point of a double sided glass door stove is to see through it and see the fire.- The firebricks that came with the stove broke down and crumbled quickly. We are told that harder bricks are now being made, make sure you get these.- The rope seal around the doors failed after approx. 12 months use, letting smoke in to the room. The supplier sent a replacement which we have fitted and this works well.- Make sure your stove is UK spec with a hole in the top of the firebox for sweeping the chimney. Ours was not. but again our supplier fixed this, but it should not have needed fixing.Summary:As long as you don't mind cleaning the doors quite regularly then this is a great stove at an amazing price point. If you have a larger budget I would suggest looking at similar stoves with better air controls.
Stove expert replied:
Great comments and the positives certainly out-way the negative of having to clean glass about once every couple of weeks, this is certainly not excessive. Many stoves will need the glass cleaning more frequently and just takes a short time to do to maintain the clear view of the flames. This stove is the heart of this home!
