WhatStove?

Review of Aarrow Ecoburn 5 stove

Small but powerful.

Dave 10 years ago

We found we had a leaking flue in our 200 year old holiday cottage, and the cheapest option was to replace the open fire with a stove & liner. The fireplace isn't huge, so we were limited for choice, and the Ecoburn 5 seemed to be the best option.

Overall we've had no major problems - the stove gets a lot of use from holidaymakers, probably more so than in a normal domestic setting, as it has the novelty factor. Kit for holiday lets has to be robust!

Guests don't seem to have any trouble lighting it, and we get appreciative comments from out winter vistors.

When we stay, we notice it puts out a lot more heat for a lot less fuel than the open fire it replaced, but I guess that's true for most stoves.

The only down sides are the small firebox - 8" max logs (but then we needed a small stove, so knew we'd have to put up with that), and we find that the the throat plate gets dislodged fairly easily when guests overfill the firebox, and guests can't work out how to re-position it correctly. This results in no airwash, and poorer burning.

Will just stay in over night with a full load of logs, and a bit of kindling on the embers in the morning to get it going again, or more easily with some multi-fuel briquettes.

One day we'll open up the inglenook and have something a bit bigger, but for now the Ecoburn 5 is great.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4.5 flames (avg 4.3)
Quality of finish 4.5 flames (avg 4.6)
Value for money 4.5 flames (avg 4.5)
Ease of use 4.5 flames (avg 4.7)
Ease of lighting 4.5 flames (avg 4.7)
Firebox size 2.5 flames (avg 3.9)
How well does the airwash work 3.5 flames (avg 4.3)
Controllability 4.5 flames (avg 4.6)
Handle operation 3.5 flames (avg 3.3)
How likely are you to buy it again? 4 flames (avg 4.7)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 4.5)